In the last few years, especially after I started writing for this blog, I got more than a few comments about the need for bi-partisanship, not hating out ideological, let alone political opponents. What was notable about this was that they all came from the Right of the political spectrum. The Left seem quite happy […]
Ireland’s effort to remove old-fashioned family values from its constitution suffered a double defeat Saturday as voters rejected the amendments on offer as maddeningly vague and threatening to property rights… In final results announced Saturday night, the amendment to change the constitutional definition of family was rejected by 67.7 percent of voters. The proposed changes […]
An article in Tablet Magazine with that title, “Longing for Auschwitz., that nails what lies at the heart of what happened in Israel last October 7. A couple of excerpts but as always… Hamas’s assault on Israelis on October 7th was not an act of war as we normally think of it but something far […]
The Congressional Budget Office has published The Demographic Outlook: 2024 to 2054 (January 2024), which offers some recent history and projections of how the US population is evolving. Here are three snapshots: The Role of Immigration in Total US Population Growth The black line shows projected US population growth since 2004, with firm data up…
Question: Do you understand how the child poverty statistics are derived? Clearly some people do not. Last week the latest child poverty statistics were all over the media. But there are a number of misunderstandings that need addressing. Like this one from NewstalkZB’s John MacDonald who wrote: “Living in households that get-by on less than…
See Choices and consequences in the real “game of life”: From falling in with “bad apples” to choosing a major, economists decipher how early decisions shape long-term outcomes by Jeff Horwich, Senior Economics Writer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Excerpt:”The research on Minnesota students from Nath, Borovičková, and Leibert (discussed above) finds that while…
In general, one can’t say that chromosomes “determine sex” in animals, as there are other genetic or environmental features that determine what sex an individual becomes. As Coyne and Maroja (2023) note: Different sexes can determined during development bybe based on different chromosomes and their genes (e.g., XX vs. XY in humans, ZW vs. ZZ in birds, […]
We have been writing about alarming record of the dogs of the Bidens attacking staff and Secret Service agents through the years. At first, the story was a humorous distraction as some of us wondered if the First Family had a vicious dog. It then became more alarming as each of the dogs were found […]
The Retirement Commissioner has released a paper on aspects of New Zealand Superannuation (NZS). Its focus includes affordability, fairness, age of eligibility, and the treatment of those over 65 who continue in the workforce whilst also receiving NZS. What the Commissioner does not discuss is the relationship between superannuation systems, domestic savings rates and capital […]
A lot of readers and heterodox colleagues have sent me this link to Bari Weiss’s interview with Harvard economics professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr., often accompanied by big encomiums. Despite my unwillingness to watch long videos, I did watch all 77 minutes of it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t mesmerized, or even much interested. There are interesting […]
It will not matter what was agreed in 1840 if the coalition cannot get our children back to school. Most children do not attend school regularly. Nations that do not educate the next generation are doomed to fail. In the 3rd term last year most Pakeha pupils, 52%, did not go to school regularly.…
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
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