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
The Tragedy of India’s Government-Job Prep Towns
04 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth disasters, growth miracles, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, Public Choice Tags: India
The gender gap that dare not speak its name
28 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in gender, health and safety, labour economics, occupational choice
Govt fiscal constraints are the elephant in the pay equity room
11 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, fiscal policy, gender, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: gender wage gap, pay equity, sex discrimination
Michael Johnston writes – The way the government went about rolling back 33 pay equity claims lodged under the last government’s Pay Equity legislation was clumsy at best. The changes were made under urgency and applied retrospectively. It was not a good look. Predictable howls of rage and furious accusations ensued. Critics say the government […]
Govt fiscal constraints are the elephant in the pay equity room
EPA Suspends over 140 Toxic Employees Who Wrote Letter Denouncing Trump Policies
09 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, personnel economics, politics - USA, Public Choice
The best part of this story is two fold. First, these individuals have done a good job of self-identif[ying] themselves as fifth columnists inside the Trump administration, making it easier to get rid of them.
EPA Suspends over 140 Toxic Employees Who Wrote Letter Denouncing Trump Policies
Massive Rent-Seeking in India’s Government Job Examination System
03 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, growth disasters, growth miracles, labour economics, occupational choice, personnel economics, Public Choice Tags: India
In India, government jobs pay far more than equivalent jobs in the private sector–so much so that the entire labor market and educational system have become grossly distorted by rent seeking to obtain these jobs. Teachers in the public sector, for example, are paid at least five times more than in the private sector. It’s […]
Massive Rent-Seeking in India’s Government Job Examination System
“An Evolving Economic Force,” A Conversation with Claudia Goldin
03 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
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
What Explains Growing Gender and Racial Education Gaps?
16 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, economics of love and marriage, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, racial discrimination, sex discrimination
In the 1960 cohort, American men and women graduated from college at similar rates, and this was true for Whites, Blacks and Hispanics. But in more recent cohorts, women graduate at much higher rates than men. Gaps between race/ethnic groups have also widened. To understand these patterns, we develop a model of individual and family […]
What Explains Growing Gender and Racial Education Gaps?
Counting the Cost
01 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, gender, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law, gender wage gap, sex discrimination
For all the gravitas which Dame Marilyn’s involvement has conferred upon PSCPE, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that it represents a deliberate attempt to morally overpower what is now the law of the land. Chris Trotter writes – The People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity (PSCPE) is looking for evidence. […]
Counting the Cost
Why the U.S. Produces More Unicorns Than China and the EU
01 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction
The United States has produced about twice as many unicorns (private startups valued at $1B+) as China and more than four times as many as the European Union. These numbers reflect deep institutional and cultural advantages in the U.S. startup ecosystem. Table: Number of Unicorns Created Since ~1990 Region Cumulative Unicorns United States ~1,950 China…
Why the U.S. Produces More Unicorns Than China and the EU
The cost of Labour’s botched pay equity scheme
23 May 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
The Herald reports: During her Budget presentation, Willis said that pay equity costs in 2020 were initially expected to reach $3.7b but there had since been a “blowout” with costs rising steeply, especially due to Labour’s 2022 decision to fund claims in the “funded sector”. The exact figure isn’t known, but as they have announced […]
The cost of Labour’s botched pay equity scheme
Willis responds to Vance celling her a c**t
12 May 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Nicola Willis writes: Having the C-word directed at me by a journalist in a mainstream publication wasn’t on my bingo-list for Mother’s Day 2025. Nor was being accused of “girl-math”. But there you have it, that’s what was thrown at me and my female colleagues in a recent newspaper column as hopelessly devoid of facts as it […]
Willis responds to Vance celling her a c**t
The Mainstream World Is Not Free-Market
10 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice
An excerpt from Chapter 1 of *Unbeatable*
The Mainstream World Is Not Free-Market
Does he know what a woman is now?
07 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economics of education, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has joined the chorus of those opposing changes to pay equity legislation. Does this mean he knows what a woman is now? It is easy for opposition parties and their allies to criticise proposed changes but Heather du Plessis-Allan points out the problem with existing legislation: . . . Those pay […]
Does he know what a woman is now?
Some weak evidence in favour of an information intervention in economics to close the gender gap
05 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economics of education, experimental economics, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender gap, sex discrimination
I’ve written a couple of times about information interventions designed to attract more female students to study economics (see here and here). The results have generally been disappointing. That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. If it was really simple to get people to change their behaviour with information, then advertising would be far…
Some weak evidence in favour of an information intervention in economics to close the gender gap
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments