Red Tape and Unintended Consequences

I’ve written endlessly about the negative effect of high tax rates on productive behavior, as well as some quirky examples of how taxes lead to some unintended consequences. Today, let’s consider how government regulations distort behavior. We’ll start with a video from Reason about government policies that backfire. In this case, note the second example. […]

Red Tape and Unintended Consequences

Why Do Americans Work So Many Hours?

Compared to workers in most other high-income countries, Americans tend to work more hours per year. Here’s a figure from the OECD, which is based on taking the total number of hours worked in an economy and dividing it by the number of workers for the most recent year available. Because different countries will measure…

Why Do Americans Work So Many Hours?

Population bust

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David Splinter on how much tax billionaires pay

Here is his comment on the paper presented here: Summary: The U.S. tax system is highly progressive. Effective tax rates increase from 2% for the bottom quintile of income to 45% for the top hundredth of one percent. But rates may be lower among those with the highest wealth. This comment starts with the “top 400” […]

David Splinter on how much tax billionaires pay

The smallest gender pay gap in history

Stats NZ reports: The gender pay gap was 5.2 percent in the June 2025 quarter, down from 8.2 percent in the June 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.  “The June 2025 quarter gender pay gap of 5.2 percent is the lowest since the series began in 1998,” labour market spokesperson Abby […]

The smallest gender pay gap in history

The Most Important Election(s) of 2025

Javier Milei has generated amazingly good results in just 20 months. But more reform is needed to undo the damage of 80 years of Peronism, which is why I explain that Argentina’s mid-term elections will be very important. Milei wants to turn Argentina into the world’s freest economy. That won’t be possible so long as […]

The Most Important Election(s) of 2025

World War II Liberty Ships and the Law of Increasing Opportunity Cost

See ‘Launching Liberty’ Review: Shipyard Victory The U.S. quickly constructed a fleet of vessels to carry vital war supplies across the oceans. Did the rush to build so fast affect quality? by Marc Levinson. He reviewed the book Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War by Doug Most.The Liberty…

World War II Liberty Ships and the Law of Increasing Opportunity Cost

The greyhound racing ban

Winston Peters announced: Cabinet has formally agreed this week to the closure of the greyhound racing industry in New Zealand. A bill will be drafted to bring this decision into law. The move follows last December’s announcement of the Government’s in-principle decision to end greyhound racing as of 31 July 2026. The decision was made […]

The greyhound racing ban

Why is Europe Falling Behind?

WSJ: Europe is Losing Europeans live longer, have more leisure time and less income inequality, and often live in stunning cities and towns built over the centuries. But increasingly, Americans enjoy a higher standard of living. They have over 50% more living space on average per person. More than four in five Americans have air…

Why is Europe Falling Behind?

Why I disagree with Helen Clark

According to the NZ Herald this morning: “Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has described the departure of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern from politics as “devastating for women around the world”.” Not this one. But then very little devastates me beyond the loss of a loved person or pet. Or dwelling on the suffering of…

Why I disagree with Helen Clark

The Greens’ weekend gift to the government

Roger Partridge writes – The Greens’ coronation of Chlöe Swarbrick at last weekend’s AGM delivered a manifesto for economic transformation that would make Soviet economists nostalgic for their glory days.

The Greens’ weekend gift to the government

Dude, Whatever Happened to Difference Feminism?

Time to Revive an Out of Fashion Idea

Dude, Whatever Happened to Difference Feminism?

A median voter theory of right-wing populism

From a recent paper: Populists are often defined as those who claim that they fill “political representation gaps” -differences between the policymaking by established parties and the “popular will.” Research has largely neglected to what extent this claim is correct. I study descriptively whether representation gaps exist and their relationship with populism. To this end, I analyze […]

A median voter theory of right-wing populism

The US Auto Industry: Evolving, not Evaporating

One of those facts that “everyone knows” is that the US auto industry has been crushed by foreign competition. As Adam Ozimek points out in “Myths and Lessons from a Century of American Automaking” (Economic Innovation Institute, August 1, 2025), while the US car industry certainly no longer features large manufacturing plants in the city…

The US Auto Industry: Evolving, not Evaporating

The Tragedy of India’s Government-Job Prep Towns

In Massive Rent-Seeking in India’s Government Job Examination System I argued that the high value of government jobs has distorted India’s entire labor market and educational system. India’s most educated young people—precisely those it needs in the workforce—are devoting years of their life cramming for government exams instead of working productively. These exams cultivate no […]

The Tragedy of India’s Government-Job Prep Towns

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