Byrne Hobart writes to me: One of the purposes of inheritance taxes is to avoid compounding intergenerational wealth. But The Missing Billionaires points out that if all of America’s millionaires had put their money in broad market indices in 1900, their heirs would number 16,000 billionaires, even accounting for taxes, splitting estates among multiple children, etc. So […]
Should we keep the wealthy non-diversified? (from my email)
Should we keep the wealthy non-diversified? (from my email)
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: top 1%
Tax-Motivated International Migration
18 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, labour economics, labour supply, poverty and inequality, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
I wrote a few days ago about how Americans are moving from high-tax states to lower-tax states (mostly to states with no income taxes or flat taxes). Today, let’s look at international tax migration. I’ve addressed this issue before, but generally in the context of individual countries that are attracting or repelling entrepreneurs, investors, business […]
Tax-Motivated International Migration
Equality Act 2010
18 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, history of economic thought, human capital, job search and matching, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: British politics, compensating differences, pay equity
The UK’s Orwellian sounding Equality Act 2010 is strikingly Marxist. It demands equal pay for work of equal value where these are defined as follows: A’s work is equal to that of B if it is like B’s work, rated as equivalent to B’s work, or of equal value to B’s work. A’s work is […]
Equality Act 2010
The Economic Consequences of the French Wealth Tax
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
By Eric Pichet, here is the abstract: Despite attempts to ‘unwind’ the Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune (‘Solidarity Wealth Tax,’ the French wealth tax) during the last legislature (2002-2007), ISF yields had soared by 2006, jumping from €2.5 billion in 2002 to €3.6 billion. Analysis of the economic consequences of this ISF wealth tax […]
The Economic Consequences of the French Wealth Tax
Tax-Motivated Domestic Migration
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, entrepreneurship, Federalism, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: capital gains tax, taxation and investment taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and labour supply
I’m a big fan of tax competition. I cheer when jobs, investment, and people (or even booze) move from high-tax jurisdictions to low-tax jurisdictions. This increases the rewards for good policy and also increases the punishment for bad policy. Given my interest in the topic, I obviously can’t resist sharing this chart, which shows the […]
Tax-Motivated Domestic Migration
Recovering from New Zealand’s worst ever economic decision: The cancellation of the Kirk Government’s superannuation scheme
08 Sep 2024 1 Comment
in economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics
EEconomists wonder about the “New Zealand paradox”, which is that New Zealand under-performs economically given its policies, institutions, natural resources, educated people, and compliance with trade and other multi-lateral agreements. Our economic reforms from the mid-1980s and on were textbook economic theory and yet the real-world results disappointed. However, New Zealand has different policy settings […]
Recovering from New Zealand’s worst ever economic decision: The cancellation of the Kirk Government’s superannuation scheme
Friedman vs Stiglitz: Estonia and Poland vs. Argentina and Venezuela
06 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: Argentina, Chile, Poland, regressive left, Venezuela
About 10 days ago, i showed that Milton Friedman was a much better economist than Joseph Stiglitz by comparing Chile (which followed Friedman’s ideas) and Venezuela (which followed Stiglitz’s ideas). It was a slam-dunk win for Friedman. Chile started poor and has become relatively prosperous. The opposite happened in Venezuela, which started relatively prosperous and […]
Friedman vs Stiglitz: Estonia and Poland vs. Argentina and Venezuela
Jim Crow and Black Economic Progress After Slavery
05 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economic history, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: economics of slavery, racial discrimination
This paper studies the long-run effects of slavery and restrictive Jim Crow institutions on Black Americans’ economic outcomes. We track individual-level census records of each Black family from 1850 to 1940, and extend our analysis to neighborhood-level outcomes in 2000 and surname-based outcomes in 2023. We show that Black families whose ancestors were enslaved until […]
Jim Crow and Black Economic Progress After Slavery
Marx explained
01 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice
Why the @NZGreens are beside the point
31 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, technological progress Tags: child poverty, family poverty, The Great Enrichment
European Policies = European Stagnation
31 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, welfare reform Tags: Europe, social insurance
I’ve written many times about how Americans are much richer than Europeans. And I’ve also written many times that the U.S. economy has been growing faster (which shouldn’t happen according to convergence theory). There’s a simple reason for America’s superior performance. The U.S. is burdened by a medium-sized welfare state and a bad tax system […]
European Policies = European Stagnation
The child poverty conundrum
30 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, kittens, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, family poverty
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Child Poverty Report 2024 has just been published. It’s an overview and selected findings, as opposed to a full report which is due in 2025. Poverty can be measured in various ways.
The child poverty conundrum
Why Top CEOs Earn Big Paychecks
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of education, entrepreneurship, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, managerial economics, market efficiency, occupational choice, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, survivor principle Tags: CEO pay, superstar wages
CEO compensation at large firms is high, especially in comparison to average worker wages, sparking debates over income inequality. Critics argue that such pay packages are unfair and disproportionate to actual company performance. Proponents contend that high pay reflects productivity and is necessary to attract scarce top talent to large firms. Let’s go to the […]
Why Top CEOs Earn Big Paychecks
Friedman vs Stiglitz, Chile vs Venezuela
16 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, Milton Friedman, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: Chile, free speech, political correctness, regressive left, The Great Enrichment, Venezuela
I’ve repeatedly praised Chile’s pro-market reforms (see here, here, and here) and I’ve repeatedly condemned Venezuela’s shift to socialism (see here, here, and here). But if you don’t have time to read all those columns, this chart from the Maddison database tells you everything you need to know. Simply stated, Chile’s reforms have delivered huge […]
Friedman vs Stiglitz, Chile vs Venezuela
Basic income, again
09 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, labour economics, labour supply, poverty and inequality, unemployment, welfare reform Tags: universal basic income
This week’s column for the Stuff papers covered the excellent new US work testing the effects of a UBI. From November 2020, 3000 low-income people were randomly assigned into two groups for three years. One thousand people each received $1000 per month in unconditional funds for three years. Two thousand people each received $50 per month.Both…
Basic income, again
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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