We should not assume that all adopted innovations are progressive. Jonathon Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’ illustrates that sometimes they require social measures to enhance well being. Brian Easton writes – The Anxious Generation is a book which probably everyone engaging with adolescents should read. Haidt’s thesis is that smartphones replacing flip phones led to a marked […]
Is Progress Progressive?
Is Progress Progressive?
14 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: pessimism bias, The Great Enrichment
Expanding the Milei Miracle: Labor Market Deregulation
12 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in development economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth disasters, labour economics, labour supply, Public Choice Tags: Argentina, employment law
Part I of this video series gave a brief summary of how Javier Milei’s free market policies have rejuvenated Argentina’s economy. But more reform is needed and this second video makes the case for labor market deregulation. Politicians impose so-called employment protection laws because of “public choice.” To be more specific, they understand that the […]
Expanding the Milei Miracle: Labor Market Deregulation
Echoes of Citizens for Rowling
07 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: constitutional law
Karl du Fresne writes – Who remembers the Citizens for Rowling campaign? It was a concerted attempt by the Great and the Good to derail National Party leader Robert Muldoon’s election campaign in 1975. The campaign’s backers didn’t like Muldoon’s combative, divisive brand of politics and argued that Labour’s gentlemanly Bill Rowling, who had assumed […]
Echoes of Citizens for Rowling
“The End Goal of Seizing the Means of Production”: Yup, Mamdani is a Hardcore Marxist
03 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of regulation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice
Below is my column on Fox.com on the debate that Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is a socialist, a Democratic Socialist, or a communist. What is clear is that Mamdani is a Marxist and that is a serious problem for New York. Here is the column:
“The End Goal of Seizing the Means of Production”: Yup, Mamdani is a Hardcore Marxist
Berlin Moves To Ban Autos From Inside The City. Widespread Chaos Looms
03 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: Germany
Just 12 car trips person per year would be allowed! The Berlin Constitutional Court has declared the “Berlin car-free” referendum admissible, paving the way for a possible drastic reduction in car traffic. Hat-tip: Blackout News Cars may soon be banned in Berlin. Image generated by Grok 3 AI The court found that the aim of…
Berlin Moves To Ban Autos From Inside The City. Widespread Chaos Looms
The gender wage gap uses bogus statistics | FACTUAL FEMINIST
02 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economics of regulation, gender, health and safety, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Supersonics Takeoff!
27 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, transport economics
In Lift the Ban on Supersonics I wrote: Civilian supersonic aircraft have been banned in the United States for over 50 years! In case that wasn’t clear, we didn’t ban noisy aircraft we banned supersonic aircraft. Thus, even quiet supersonic aircraft are banned today. This was a serious mistake. Aside from the fact that the noise was exaggerated, technological development […]
Supersonics Takeoff!
Supreme Court Delivers Blow To California Climate Zealots
24 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, transport economics
“The Supreme Court put to rest any question about whether fuel manufacturers have a right to challenge unlawful electric vehicle mandates,” American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) President and CEO Chet Thompson said in a statement.
Supreme Court Delivers Blow To California Climate Zealots
The Supreme Court Delivers a Blow to Transgender Cases
21 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of regulation, gender, health economics, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its 6-3 ruling upholding a Tennessee ban on transgender medical treatments for adolescents. The ruling has major implications for pending transgender cases, particularly the concurrence of Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejecting the claim that transgender status qualifies as a group entitled to heightened scrutiny under the Constitution. One of those […]
The Supreme Court Delivers a Blow to Transgender Cases
Bish vs the numpties
18 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, environmental economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, urban economics Tags: heritage protection
Chris Bishop announced: The derelict and unsafe Gordon Wilson Flats in Wellington will lose its protected heritage status and become eligible for demolition through an amendment to the Resource Management Act (RMA) in the coming weeks, RMA Reform and Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Gordon Wilson Flats were used as social housing until 2012, […]
Bish vs the numpties
Very Expensive Affordable Housing
10 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, offsetting behavior, The fatal conceit, unintended consequences
In my post Affordable Housing is Almost Pointless, I highlighted how point systems for awarding tax credits prioritize DEI, environmental features, energy efficiency, and other secondary goals far more than low cost. A near-comic example comes from D.C., where so-called affordable housing units now cost between $800,000 and $1.3 million dollars each! One such unit […]
Very Expensive Affordable Housing
HA.,HA., Thump: Hawaii Sued by the Babylon Bee and Other Groups Over Speech Crimes
09 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, politics - USA Tags: free speech
We have previously discussed laws that seek to criminalize “materially deceptive” political content worldwide, including memes and parodies. A civil law was blocked in California, where satirists and comedians opposed a Democratic law barring parodies and other expressions considered misleading. Now, legislators in Hawaii are trying again with a new law (S 2687) that criminalizes […]
HA.,HA., Thump: Hawaii Sued by the Babylon Bee and Other Groups Over Speech Crimes
America’s Housing Supply Problem: The Closing of the Suburban Frontier?
08 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Housing prices across much of America have hit historic highs, while less housing is being built. If the U.S. housing stock had expanded at the same rate from 2000-2020 as it did from 1980-2000, there would be 15 million more housing units. This paper analyzes the decline of America’s new housing supply, focusing on large […]
America’s Housing Supply Problem: The Closing of the Suburban Frontier?
How America Built the World’s Most Successful Market for Generic Drugs
06 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, health economics, industrial organisation Tags: drug lags
The United States has some of the lowest prices in the world for most drugs. The U.S. generic drug market is competitive and robust—but its success is not accidental. It is the result of a series of deliberate, well-designed policy interventions. The 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act allowed generic drug manufacturers to bypass costly safety and efficacy […]
How America Built the World’s Most Successful Market for Generic Drugs
No Exit, No Entry
05 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth disasters, growth miracles, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: employment law, India
In our textbook, Modern Principles, Tyler and I contrast basic U.S. labor law, at-will employment—where employers may terminate workers for any reason not explicitly illegal (e.g., racial or sexual discrimination), without notice or severance—with Portugal’s “just cause” regime, which requires employers to prove a valid reason, give advance notice, pay severance, and endure extensive regulatory […]
No Exit, No Entry
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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