An excerpt from Chapter 3 of *Unbeatable*
Excusing the Government
Excusing the Government
22 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, labour economics, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics
Pro-Market & Pro-Business: Firms Strive to Satisfy the Customer
22 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, property rights
Econ 101 is Underrated: Pharma Price Controls
22 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, health economics, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: 2024 presidential election, patents and copyrights, price controls, price discrimination
Econ 101 is often dismissed as too simplistic. Yet recent events suggest that Econ 101 is underrated. Take the tariff debate: understanding that a tariff is a tax, that prices represent opportunity costs, that a bilateral trade deficit is largely meaningless, that a so-called trade “deficit” is equally a goods surplus or an investment surplus—these […]
Econ 101 is Underrated: Pharma Price Controls
Kevin Gentry Talks With Me About Trade and Phil Gramm’s and My New Book
20 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought
TweetThanks for the honor, Kevin! The post Kevin Gentry Talks With Me About Trade and Phil Gramm’s and My New Book appeared first on Cafe Hayek.
Kevin Gentry Talks With Me About Trade and Phil Gramm’s and My New Book
David Friedman on markets, governments and whether we need either?
19 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, David Friedman, defence economics, economics of crime, economics of regulation, environmental economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, property rights
Is this a gold mine? Iwi might need consulting (for a fee) before your development can be given RMA consents
16 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, resource economics, urban economics
Bob Edlin writes – West Coast Regional Councillor Allan Birchfield has whipped up a fuss in his neck of the woods by challenging the Ngāti Waewae representative Francois Tumahai over the iwi’s role in resource consenting. The iwi – it seems – must agree to gold-mining consents in gold-mining country, presumably after appropriate consultation or engagement […]
Is this a gold mine? Iwi might need consulting (for a fee) before your development can be given RMA consents
The Mainstream World Is Not Free-Market
10 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice
An excerpt from Chapter 1 of *Unbeatable*
The Mainstream World Is Not Free-Market
Policy whiplash risks eroding NZ’s investment stability
10 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights
Roger Partridge writes- Resources Minister Shane Jones recently floated a novel idea: Government-backed insurance for oil and gas investors to protect them against future policy reversals. Let that sink in. A New Zealand minister is contemplating taxpayer-funded insurance to compensate companies against… the decisions of future New Zealand Governments.
Policy whiplash risks eroding NZ’s investment stability
Have The Intermittent Energy Blackouts Begun?
03 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: celebrity technologies, solar power, wind power
As Schellenberger points out, with just “a hair” more frequency variation it could have been far worse. Will that happen some time soon? I’m not going to pretend I know. But I do know that the electricity system in most of Europe and many U.S. states is in the hands of crazed fanatics who have no idea what they are doing. My own bet would be that there are many far worse blackouts to come, until this idiotic “net zero” thing is abandoned.
Have The Intermittent Energy Blackouts Begun?
The Iberian Blackout
02 May 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: solar power, wind power
What happened and early lessons
The Iberian Blackout
Trump Admin Sues to Block Blue States From Taking Fossil Fuel Companies To Court Over Climate Change
02 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: climate activists, nuisance suits
The Trump administration filed lawsuits Wednesday against Michigan and Hawaii in an attempt to block the states from seeking damages in court against fossil fuel companies for alleged environmental harm.
Trump Admin Sues to Block Blue States From Taking Fossil Fuel Companies To Court Over Climate Change
Housing affordability
01 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
‘Rule of Two’ medicines approval needs improving
28 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: drug lags
Eric Crampton writes – Come the next pandemic, we are going to be in the same stupid mess that we were in during the last one. Trusted pharmaceutical regulators overseas, like those in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the UK, will have given provisional approvals for vaccines that are safe. And Kiwis will have to wait, […]
‘Rule of Two’ medicines approval needs improving
Pandemic Preparation Without Romance
25 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
My latest paper, Pandemic Preparation Without Romance, has just appeared at Public Choice. Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic, despite its unprecedented scale, mirrored previous disasters in its predictable missteps in preparedness and response. Rather than blaming individual actors or assuming better leadership would have prevented disaster, I examine how standard political incentives—myopic voters, bureaucratic gridlock, and […]
Pandemic Preparation Without Romance
Smith Reviews Stiglitz
24 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, experimental economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation
Vernon Smith reviews Joe Stiglitz’s book The Road to Freedom: Stiglitz did work in the abstract intellectual theoretical tradition of neoclassical economics showing how the standard results were changed by asymmetric or imperfect information. He is oblivious, however, to the experimental lab and field empirical research showing that agent knowledge of all such information is […]
Smith Reviews Stiglitz
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments