
Minimal gender wage gap in NZ!
30 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, econometerics, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Personality traits and gender gaps
30 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap
This paper examines the effects of the Big Five personality traits on labor market outcomes and gender wage gaps using a job search and bargaining model with parameters that vary at the individual level. The analysis, based on German panel data, reveals that both cognitive and noncognitive traits significantly influence wages and employment outcomes. Higher […]
Personality traits and gender gaps
People Barely Care About Equality
27 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of education, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: regressive left

Another simple proof.
People Barely Care About Equality
Bosses Don’t Need a ‘What Did You Do’ Email. They’re Already Tracking You. (and how this might be related to Keynes’ theory of sticky wages)
27 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, macroeconomics, managerial economics, monetary economics, organisational economics, personnel economics, property rights, unemployment Tags: efficiency wage, wage rigidity
Elon Musk’s email to federal employees prompted angst, but lots of employers use technology for continuous feedback on worker performanceBy Natasha Khan and Ray A. Smith. Excerpts:”What did you do last week?The question that Elon Musk lobbed to federal workers in an email set off anger and angst from unions and employees. It also prompted…
Bosses Don’t Need a ‘What Did You Do’ Email. They’re Already Tracking You. (and how this might be related to Keynes’ theory of sticky wages)
Facial surgeons wanted in New Zealand, must be intimately familiar with all things Māori
26 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, health economics, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand Tags: political correctness. affirmative action, racial discrimination, regressive left

Here’s an archived link to an ad for a consultant oral maxillofacial surgeon at Dunedin Hospital. The curious thing—well, not so curious given that it’s New Zealand,—is the list of required qualifications. Click to read (a New Zealand dollar is worth about 57¢ in U.S. currency): Some of the details: About the role In this […]
Facial surgeons wanted in New Zealand, must be intimately familiar with all things Māori
What does India want – and what is New Zealand willing to give?
25 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of education, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economic law, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: India, preferential trade agreements
Chris Trotter writes – What does India want from New Zealand? Not our dairy products, that’s for sure, it’s got plenty of those. Indeed 45 percent of the Indian population are small-scale farmers, most of them running a few head of cattle – not to eat, you understand – but to milk. If it once […]
What does India want – and what is New Zealand willing to give?
Should asylum be restricted to neighbouring countries
24 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, development economics, economic history, labour economics, labour supply, laws of war, war and peace Tags: economics of immigration

100,000 asylum seekers a year is massive, especially when you consider the many countries one has to pass through to get to the UK. The right of asylum is an ancient right to flee a government or ruler that persecutes you. It goes back thousands of years. In the modern era the UDHR says: Everyone […]
Should asylum be restricted to neighbouring countries
Book Nook Reading Notes on *Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids*
22 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: College premium, signaling

Bet On It reader Dan Barrett wrote these notes for his Book Nook book club on my Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think. Dan’s idea:I’m organizing reading groups packaged as the Book Nook to help colleagues (1) guide their own learning…
Book Nook Reading Notes on *Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids*
McCaskill: Trump is Trying to “Disappear” People Like Putin
20 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, Economics of international refugee law, international economics, International law, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, economics of immigration, law and order, law enforcement

MSNBC analyst and former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill has long been criticized for unhinged rhetoric. That was evident on “Morning Joe” recently when McCaskill said that the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members was akin to Putin “disappearing” people. It is not the first such analogy by McCaskill, who has called those opposing the censorship […]
McCaskill: Trump is Trying to “Disappear” People Like Putin
University of Chicago updates equal-opportunity statement for job ads
20 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination
This announcement came from our Provost’s office, but apparently hasn’t been sent to all parts of the University. Nevertheless, it surely applies to all job ads for the University of Chicago. What it shows is that the University has updated its Equal Employment Opportunity statement, a statement that must be included in all ads for […]
University of Chicago updates equal-opportunity statement for job ads
Is your master’s degree worthless?
11 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply
Economist: In America returns are especially large in computer science and in engineering. They are slightly smaller in other science subjects, in part because an undergraduate degree in these already bumps up salaries by quite a lot. Teachers who bag graduate degrees in education tend to earn more, even if wages for the profession as…
Is your master’s degree worthless?
My Former Economics MPhil and DPhil Class-Mate for many hard years, Mark Carney, becomes PM of Canada.
10 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, history of economic thought, human capital, inflation targeting, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, monetary economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: Canada, monetary policy
Congratulations Mark Carney. When I went to the UK to study economics, we started off doing a degree called Master of Philosophy in…
My Former Economics MPhil and DPhil Class-Mate for many hard years, Mark Carney, becomes PM of Canada.
The Licensing Racket
08 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, occupational regulation, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking
I review a very good new book on occupational licensing, The Licensing Racket by Rebecca Haw Allensworth in the WSJ. Most people will concede that licensing for hair braiders and interior decorators is excessive while licensing for doctors, nurses and lawyers is essential. Hair braiders pose little to no threat to public safety, but subpar […]
The Licensing Racket
The Great Green Rebranding: Climate Policies Shift from “Saving the Planet” to “Creating Jobs”
06 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, labour economics, labour supply
Green energy advocates like to talk about job creation, but they ignore the elephant in the room: the cost. Renewable energy projects require vast amounts of taxpayer funding, and as we’ve seen with massive spending packages like the Inflation Reduction Act, this kind of government largesse is inflationary.
The Great Green Rebranding: Climate Policies Shift from “Saving the Planet” to “Creating Jobs”
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