Lindsay Mitchell writes- When National became government in 2008, Finance Minister Bill English’s determination to understand the extent of benefit-dependency led them to commission Taylor Fry to produce annual actuarial reports. These were duly published at the MSD website every year but ceased when the government changed in 2017. Now however, an Official Information request […]
LINDSAY MITCHELL: Labour hid developing welfare crisis
LINDSAY MITCHELL: Labour hid developing welfare crisis
08 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, family poverty
CNN is confused about sex
02 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, health economics Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

Here’s a headline at CNN Health that is seemingly confused about what a “woman” is. Note that the word, which means “adult human female” appears blatantly in the headlines, but perhaps the headline writer was ideologically different from the authors: (click on screenshot to read) This is the gist of the article, and, indeed, […]
CNN is confused about sex
Family leave and the gender wage gap
16 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: economics of fertility, family leave, gender wage gap, marriage and divorce, sex discrimination

The gender wage gap has been decreasing slowly and steadily over time. At least, that’s what I thought until I read this 2023 NBER Working Paper by Peter Blair (Harvard University) and Benjamin Posmanick (St. Bonaventure University). They present the following graph of the gender wage gap in the US (for White women, compared with White men,…
Family leave and the gender wage gap
Colin Wright on sex and its distortion by the American Psychiatric Association
13 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

Reader Bryan sent me a link to the tweets by Colin Wright below (the first is most important) which is about the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA’s) new book on Gender Affirming Psychiatric Care. (For some reason I can’t download it.) The APA is the premier association of American psychiatrists, so this will carry a lot […]
Colin Wright on sex and its distortion by the American Psychiatric Association
The convoluted history of sex testing in the Olympics
04 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, sports economics Tags: sex discrimination

The article below, recounting the Olympics’ tortuous attempts to distinguish members of sexes for women’s sports, comes from the Reality’s Last Stand Substack site. It’s by Linda Blade, identified as “a sport performance professional coach in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada [PhD Kinesiology; ChPC in T&F] who trains athletes in many different sports, mentors coaches, and advocates […]
The convoluted history of sex testing in the Olympics
Mission creep at the FFRF
19 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, sports economics Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

One of my favorite secular organizations is the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), of which I’m a member of the “honorary board”. But even honorary boards should play an advisory role, and so I’m doing that here by calling attention to the organization’s mission creep. In previous posts, I noted that the organization, which is […]
Mission creep at the FFRF
Claudia Goldin: “What’s ‘Greedy Work’ and Why Is It a Problem?” | People…
18 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economic history, gender, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Is Discrimination Still Causing The Gender Pay Gap With Claudia Goldin
13 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Goldin Nobel
13 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
2023 prize lecture in economic sciences | Claudia Goldin
10 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, gender, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Lord Hannan, Daniel speaks about equality, the Treaty and the Taxpayers’…
01 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, gender, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
AASLE 2021 Bob Gregory Lecture – Claudia Goldin
23 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, economics of education, economics of information, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
My Chris Williamson Interview
23 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of education, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Several good friends warned me not to publish Don’t Be a Feminist. I appreciate their concern, but I’m glad I kept my own counsel. Here’s my interview with Chris Williamson on the book and beyond. Apparently he’s kind of a big deal…
My Chris Williamson Interview
Queensland University of Technology completely ditches merit-based hiring, favoring gender, “looks”, and personality
18 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: affirmative action, sex discrimination

This gem of a story is about how one Aussie university went to the logical endpoint of the diversity-trumps-merit controversy: Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane is apparently about to hire solely on the basis of diversity, and has erased any mention of the word “merit” in its hiring policy. This of course is ridiculous, […]
Queensland University of Technology completely ditches merit-based hiring, favoring gender, “looks”, and personality
On the 50th anniversary of the DPB
16 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, welfare reform Tags: economics of fertility, marriage and divorce
The Domestic Purposes Benefit has been variously described as a “disaster” (David McLoughlin 1995), an “economic lifeline” (Jane Kelsey 1995) and “an unfortunate experiment” (Muriel Newman 2009).Its effect on family formation can never be definitively ascertained. But the growth of the sole parent family dependent on welfare has correlated with more poverty, more child abuse…
On the 50th anniversary of the DPB
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