At the Democratic National Convention former President Obama came out strongly in favor of housing deregulation saying “we need to build more homes and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that make it harder to build homes”. Robert Kwasny asks on X, “What are the intellectual roots of present-day YIMBYism?” Looking at […]
The Intellectual Roots of YIMBYism
The Intellectual Roots of YIMBYism
23 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, politics - USA, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, zoning
Google’s strategy of search engine user lock-in
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, politics - USA Tags: competition law
The Financial Times reported earlier this month (paywalled):A US federal judge has ruled that Google spent billions of dollars on exclusive deals to maintain an illegal monopoly on search, in a landmark win for the Department of Justice as it seeks to rein in Big Tech’s market power…The ruling follows a weeks-long trial in which…
Google’s strategy of search engine user lock-in
Kamala Harris, Price Controls, and the Contest for the Dumbest Policy Proposal of 2024
17 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, energy economics, health economics, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, price controls, tariffs
As a Senator, Kamala Harris embraced all sorts of terrible ideas, such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. But she’s now disavowed those proposals in an attempt to make herself seem more reasonable. Trump, by contrast, is consistent. For better or worse, he’s pushing in 2024 the same agenda that he ran […]
Kamala Harris, Price Controls, and the Contest for the Dumbest Policy Proposal of 2024
Should the government operate petrol stations?
17 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, property rights
The extent to which the government should be involved in the provision of goods and services generates a lot of debate. Most of that debate is unhelpful, since it involves small-government, market-fundamentalist types arguing against anti-market socialist types. It’s all ideological, and there’s a pretty good chance that neither of the sides in that argument…
Should the government operate petrol stations?
Rampell On Harris’s Economic Policy
17 Aug 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Here is the Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell on Harris’s price control policy: It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is. It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Some far-off Washington bureaucrats […]
Rampell On Harris’s Economic Policy
Friedman vs Stiglitz, Chile vs Venezuela
16 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, Milton Friedman, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: Chile, free speech, political correctness, regressive left, The Great Enrichment, Venezuela
I’ve repeatedly praised Chile’s pro-market reforms (see here, here, and here) and I’ve repeatedly condemned Venezuela’s shift to socialism (see here, here, and here). But if you don’t have time to read all those columns, this chart from the Maddison database tells you everything you need to know. Simply stated, Chile’s reforms have delivered huge […]
Friedman vs Stiglitz, Chile vs Venezuela
Finally sanity on GE
13 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - New Zealand Tags: anti-GMOs movement, Anti-Science left, regressive left
Judith Collins announced: The Government is ending New Zealand’s nearly 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab in a move which will bring health, productivity and climate gains for New Zealanders. Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced legislation ending the ban and implementing a dedicated regulator to oversee applications to use […]
Finally sanity on GE
Science versus religion
12 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of regulation Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, Freedom of religion, philosophy of science
The Creation of Ride-sharing and the Creativity of Markets
10 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of regulation, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, regulation, rentseeking, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: barriers to entry, creative destruction, taxi regulation
The idea behind Uber first arose, the story goes, on a snowy evening in Paris back around 2008, when Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp found themselves stuck in Paris on a snowy evening, unable to find a taxi. They wondered “What if you could request a ride simply by tapping your phone?” They co-founded Uber based…
The Creation of Ride-sharing and the Creativity of Markets
Fast Takes on *Build, Baby, Build*: David Schleicher
07 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply
I met Yale Law’s David Schleicher when he was still a law professor at GMU. Back then, we argued about the best model of non-rigged one-party democracy, often seen in major cities… and Singapore. Since then, David’s become a powerful academic voice for YIMBY. Last month, David joined me for another Fast Take on Build,…
Fast Takes on *Build, Baby, Build*: David Schleicher
Did a Christchurch Environment Judge called Prudence just end NZ’s Dreams of higher tech-based productivity growth that would’ve fixed our health system & ended poverty?
06 Aug 2024 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmentalism, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics
New Zealand citizen, Peter Thiel, who is one of the world’s richest men, and business associate of Elon Musk, has had his house application in Wanaka rejected on appeal by the Environment Court. Theil was the first investor in Shane Legg’s company, Deep Mind, which started the Artificial Intelligence revolution. Legg is a former student…
Did a Christchurch Environment Judge called Prudence just end NZ’s Dreams of higher tech-based productivity growth that would’ve fixed our health system & ended poverty?
How Politicians Should Debate: Kemi Badenoch
05 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, economics of regulation, gender, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: British politics
She’s been one of the rising stars of the British Conservative Party for some time now, and I’ve covered stories about her before (Would be nice if a US Democrat said this about Critical Race Theory and A Tory warning for the National Party of 2032), but I’ve finally decided to add Kemi Badenoch as a tag […]
How Politicians Should Debate: Kemi Badenoch
Talking BBB with Veronique de Rugy
03 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply
Here’s a lively AIER podcast on Build, Baby, Build with the one and only Veronique de Rugy. Best French libertarian since Bastiat? Décider vous-même!P.S. Capla-Con 2024 starts two weeks from tomorrow in Fairfax, Virginia. You’re all invited! Feel free to coordinate ride-sharing in the comments.
Talking BBB with Veronique de Rugy
Plain packaging for infant formula is nuts
02 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, health economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand Tags: nanny state
Farmers Weekly reports: The Minister of Food Safety is set to take on his counterparts from all Australian states and the Federal Government on Thursday to try to save New Zealand infant formula exports to Australia and potentially to China. Andrew Hoggard’s aim will be to amend proposed rules that would limit New Zealand producers’ […]
Plain packaging for infant formula is nuts
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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