A few weeks ago I joined some contemporaries by abandoning the near sixty year habit of watching nightly TV news. I dropped it because I felt it did not give me real information that I had not acquired from other media sources, including some I pay for – The Economist, the NZ Herald, The Atlantic […]
TV layoffs not a threat to democracy
TV layoffs not a threat to democracy
10 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, income redistribution, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: media bias
Using procurement for political ends gives you worse prices.
09 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, income redistribution, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, theory of the firm, transport economics, urban economics Tags: cartels, competition and monopoly, competition law
Over 20 years ago, some middling economists (cite) estimated that the Small Business Set-Aside program reduced Forest Service Timber prices by 15%. By limiting the potential pool of available bidders to only smaller lumber mills, you get less competition and worse prices. Now San Francisco is re-learning that lesson. In 2016, it refused to do…
Using procurement for political ends gives you worse prices.
Sick Joke: Nothing ‘Green’ About California’s All Electric Vehicle Mandates
09 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, global warming, market efficiency, politics - USA, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: electric cars, solar power, wind power
There’s nothing wrong in theory about all-Electric Vehicles. But, if they really were a sensible substitute for petrol or diesel-powered vehicles, they’d already be jumping off the shelves. Except, for some strange reason, they aren’t. There’s plenty of irony attached to the all-EV cult: the world’s largest EV charging station is run entirely using diesel […]
Sick Joke: Nothing ‘Green’ About California’s All Electric Vehicle Mandates
DAVID FARRAR: Meta withdraws Facebook News in Australia
09 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction, market selection, media bias
David Farrar writes – Stuff reports: Facebook owner Meta has refused to continue paying for news in Australia, announcing it will end its deals with local publishers when they expire this year in a decision that news companies say blatantly ignores the value of their journalism. The government also blasted the move, describing it as “a […]
DAVID FARRAR: Meta withdraws Facebook News in Australia
The Black-Scholes-Merton Options Pricing Equation
07 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, financial economics Tags: active investing
A superb video on the history and mathematics of options pricing from Veritasium.
The Black-Scholes-Merton Options Pricing Equation
PETER WILLIAMS: RIP Newshub
03 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of information, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, financial economics, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, survivor principle Tags: media bias
Could anything have saved it? The real surprise is not that Newshub is going under but that it’s lasted this long. TV 3 started broadcasting in November 1989, almost 35 years ago. It was a different era. There was no Sky, no digital platforms and the new kid on the block was going head to head…
PETER WILLIAMS: RIP Newshub
Is ESG investing illegal?
28 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, global warming Tags: active investing
For fund managers, it may violate their fiduciary responsibility (to maximize returns) to their shareholders. Apparently, the legal risk is too big for JP Morgan, State Street, and BlackRock: Asset managers have been walking a fine legal line. GOP Attorneys General in 2022 warned that they might be violating their fiduciary obligations and antitrust laws.…
Is ESG investing illegal?
“We Don’t Do That Here.”: Former NY Times Editor Blasts the “Gray Lady” for Bias and Activism
28 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of information, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, survivor principle Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left
Former New York Times editor Adam Rubenstein has a lengthy essay at The Atlantic that pulls back the curtain on the newspaper and its alleged bias in its coverage. The essay follows similar pieces from former editors and writers that range from Bari Weiss to Rubenstein’s former colleague James Bennet. The essay describes a similar […]
“We Don’t Do That Here.”: Former NY Times Editor Blasts the “Gray Lady” for Bias and Activism
Genetic Insurance
28 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of information, entrepreneurship, health economics Tags: adverse selection, health insurance, moral hazard, screening, self-selection, signaling
Genetic testing identifies disease risk, enabling individuals to dodge environmental triggers, optimize treatments, and improve planning. Yet, the fear of increased insurance premiums deters many from undergoing tests. Genetic testing offers societal benefits but also presents significant distributional challenges. To address this, my 1994 paper proposed the idea of genetic insurance. For a small fee […]
Genetic Insurance
Government Intervention and Relative Prices
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, macroeconomics
I periodically share Mark Perry’s famous “Chart of the Century” to show that government intervention is a recipe for rising relative prices.* Since economic principles don’t change when you cross national borders, one might expect to see similar patterns in other countries. And we do. Here’s a chart from Matthew Lesh of the Institute for […]
Government Intervention and Relative Prices
Orsted’s Financial Collapse Spells Armageddon For US Offshore Wind Industry
17 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: celebrity technologies, wind power
When the most heavily subsidised industry on earth can’t make it pay, you know the economics must really stink. Denmark’s Ørsted share price plummeted 25% late last year, and after slashing dividends to shareholders was forced to write $billions off the projected value of its US offshore projects, and its share price is still heading south. Exhibiting […]
Orsted’s Financial Collapse Spells Armageddon For US Offshore Wind Industry
Florida’s One-Man Laffer Curve
16 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
Inflation is having an effect on everything, even policy analysis. Back in 2013, I wrote that Phil Mickelson was “California’s One-Man Laffer Curve” because he wanted to escape the Golden State to save about $1.2 million per year in taxes. But now, when a goose that lays golden eggs wants to escape, the numbers are […]
Florida’s One-Man Laffer Curve
Ford EV Crisis: “Our Gen 2 vehicles won’t launch unless we can … profit”
16 Feb 2024 1 Comment
in energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, global warming, industrial organisation, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle, transport economics Tags: electric cars
Death of the EV revolution?
Ford EV Crisis: “Our Gen 2 vehicles won’t launch unless we can … profit”
Creative destruction
13 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, entrepreneurship, financial economics, industrial organisation, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction
The West’s humiliating electric car climbdown has begun
07 Feb 2024 1 Comment
in energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, global warming, transport economics Tags: electric cars
By Paul Homewood Ambitious plans for an electrification-led industrial revolution are in full-scale retreat France’s President Macron had a plan to make millions of electric vehicles a year. Chancellor Scholz planned to put 15 million on Germany’s roads by 2030. President Biden trumped the lot with a $174bn (£138bn) plan to make […]
The West’s humiliating electric car climbdown has begun
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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