The DEI preference cascade
23 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, behavioural economics, discrimination, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, gender, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination
Get To Many Moons, Not Just One
17 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture Tags: space
Over at Behind The Black, the blog of space enthusiast Robert Zimmerman, he has some suggestions for the US space industry and in particular NASA’s Artemis program to land humans on the Moon. The advice is directed at Trump’s nomination for the head of NASA, Jacob Isaacman, a billionaire who has already flown in space […]
Get To Many Moons, Not Just One
Is Indian food the world’s best?
24 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in economics of media and culture
From my latest Bloomberg column: Why is the food so good? I have several overlapping hypotheses, most of them coming from my background as an economist. Interestingly, India’s culinary advantages can be traced to some good and some not-so-good aspects of Indian society. First, food supply chains here are typically very short. Trucking, refrigeration and […]
Is Indian food the world’s best?
The Missing Myths
04 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, discrimination, economic history, economics of climate change, economics of information, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, environmentalism, financial economics, gender, global warming, health economics, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, free speech, gender wage gap, law and order, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination
Michael Huemer’s Progressive Myths is the best book on wokeness. One of its many strengths is its focus on basic facts. As the author explains:I have selected beliefs that can be debunked fairly quickly and forcefully. Many other progressive beliefs require long argumentation and subjective judgment calls to assess. About these more difficult issues, I…
The Missing Myths
Creative destruction
02 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture Tags: creative destruction
The Great Enrichment
30 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture Tags: creative destruction, The Great Enrichment
Are You Even Aware That There Is Another Big UN Climate Conference Going On?
18 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of media and culture, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: climate alarmism
Yes, outgoing President Biden fell for this scam and sent off billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funds. Put this at the top of President Trump’s agenda: zero this one out. Once it becomes clear that the U.S. isn’t going along any more, maybe we can even save the annual expense of sending thousands of people off to these remote corners of the world.
Are You Even Aware That There Is Another Big UN Climate Conference Going On?
1814
12 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture Tags: economics of borders, maps
What planet are they on?
09 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction, legacy media
New Zealand’s newspaper chiefs’ views on how the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill works is somewhat at odds with the text of the Bill. Google today, admirably, said they’ll stop linking to New Zealand news outlets in search if the Bill goes ahead. News Publishers’ Association’s Andrew Holden and Stuff’s Sinead Boucher aren’t happy about that. But…
What planet are they on?
A lot
04 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of media and culture Tags: economics of languages
Against personal definitions
02 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights Tags: economics of languages, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
An argument against the use of personal definitions of words can be framed around the concepts of communication efficacy, shared meaning, and societal cohesion. 1. Undermines Effective Communication The primary purpose of language is to facilitate clear communication between individuals. Personal definitions of words undermine this goal by distorting the shared meaning that allows people […]
Against personal definitions
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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