Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
06 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in economics of regulation, health economics Tags: cranks
Just yesterday I wrote about the drive in New Zealand to integrate indigenous medicine (Rongoā Māori, or RM) with modern (often called “Western”) medicine. The problem is that RM not only uses spiritual treatments (prayer, singing, dunking the sufferer in water) but also herbal remedies, and neither of these have been tested for efficacy using […]
Biden administration lets Medicaid pay for Native American “traditional medicines”
30 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, budget deficits, business cycles, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, fiscal policy, global warming, health economics, income redistribution, industrial organisation, law and economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, drug lags, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment
Milton Friedman used to advise researchers to focus on large policy changes rather than attempting to separate a small change’s signal from the noise. In this sense, the “ambitious” policy agenda of the Biden-Harris administration was expected to be a gift to the research community. Accepting this gift, since 2020 I have been making forecasts…
Biden-Harris policies and their consequences were no surprise to those paying attention
30 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of regulation, growth disasters Tags: Sri Lanka
By Paul Homewood One of our readers sent me this correspondence he had with the BBC a few weeks ago: Below is a letter I wrote at the beginning of October to Tony Grant, the editor of Radio 4’s ‘From our Own Correspondent’: Dear Mr Grant, I listened with disbelief at your piece […]
BBC Still In Denial About Sri Lanka’s Ban on Fertilisers
28 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of crime, economics of regulation, growth disasters, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Mexico
This month, there is a new case on the docket after the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The First Circuit reversed a trial court that dismissed the case, alleging that the American firearms industry is legally responsible for violence in Mexico. I believe the First Circuit is […]
Over the Border: Gun and Torts Liability to Collide in Mexican Case Before the Supreme Court
28 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: celebrity technologies, solar power, wind power
Environmentalists insist that they love the “little guys” — until they get in their way, ask inconvenient questions or try to block renewable energy projects intended to save the planet from “human-caused climate cataclysms.”
Rural and coastal residents delay, block green energy projects
25 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, liberalism, macroeconomics Tags: creative destruction
Here is one excerpt: Over-regulation was the enemy at many presentations, but this wasn’t a libertarian conference. Everyone agreed that safety, quality, the environment, etc, were important and should be regulated for. They just thought existing regulations were colossally stupid, so much so that they made everything worse including safety, the environment, etc. With enough political will, […]
Scott Alexander on the Progress Studies conference
15 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
The Nobel prize goes to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson for their work on institutions, prosperity, and economic growth. Here is a key piece summarizing their work: Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth. This paper develops the empirical and theoretical case that differences in economic institutions are the fundamental cause of […]
Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson Win Nobel Prize for Institutions and Prosperity
14 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, resource economics, transport economics, urban economics Tags: zoning
12 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, health economics Tags: economics of pandemics
During the pandemic, economists often found themselves at odds with politicians, physicians, epidemiologists and others. Some politicians, for example, were worried that the pharma companies might engage in profiteering while economists worried that the pharma companies were not nearly profitable enough. Physicians focused on maximizing the health of patients while economists focused on maximizing the […]
The Economic Way of Thinking in a Pandemic
10 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
Socialism, once hailed as a visionary and revolutionary alternative to capitalism, has deep roots in the progressive movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Advocating for state control of the means of production and a more equitable distribution of wealth, socialism aimed to correct the injustices of industrial capitalism. However, as we navigate the […]
Socialism in the 21st Century: A Regressive Ideology in Modern Times
10 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: affordable housing, land supply, regressive left
Japan’s population is roughly equal to the five most-populous states of the U.S. — California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas — concentrated in a nation that has approximately the land area of Montana, which is only about a fourth as large as those five most-populous states. Moreover, well over … Continue reading →
Addressing the Housing Crisis
10 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand Tags: competition law
Yesterday we learned the Commerce Commission’s decision on the merger application by Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island (which I posted about last month). As NBR reported yesterday (paywalled, but you can read this briefer New Zealand Herald story instead, or the Commerce Commission’s decision here):Foodstuffs wanted to see the co-ops merged within and…
The Foodstuffs merger is rejected, so the wholesale market remains an oligopsony
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?
07 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, health economics, industrial organisation
That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one excerpt: As for consumer prices for the current obesity drugs, they are not as high as is often reported, once the various ways to get a discount are taken into account. Despite reports that the drugs cost $1,000 per month, the reality is more favorable. […]
On the price of Ozempic
02 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - USA Tags: drug lags
Reuters: Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company said…that it is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to import and distribute penicillin in the country temporarily….Cuban’s Cost Plus will import Lentocilin brand penicillin powder marketed by Portugal-based Laboratórios Atral S.A. There are two remarkable items in the above passage. First, there is a shortage…
Peer Approval to Address Drug Shortages
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
A History of the Alt-Right
Econ Prof at George Mason University, Economic Historian, Québécois
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Res ipsa loquitur - The thing itself speaks
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
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The truth about the great wind power fraud - we're not here to debate the wind industry, we're here to destroy it.
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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