There are quite a few book-length studies of the Syrian Civil War. The distinctive thing about this one is that academic and author Christopher Phillips insists that other regional countries weren’t ‘drawn into’ the conflict once it had got going but, on the contrary, were involved right from the start, helped to exacerbate the initial […]
The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East by Christopher Phillips (revised edition, 2020)
The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East by Christopher Phillips (revised edition, 2020)
08 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, energy economics, International law, law and economics, Public Choice, war and peace Tags: Iran, Israel, Middle-East politics, Syria, war against terror
Still under-policed and over-imprisoned
07 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, Gary Becker, labour economics, law and economics, occupational choice, Public Choice Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
A new paper, The Injustice of Under-Policing, makes a point that I have been emphasizing for many years, namely, relative to other developed countries the United States is under-policed and over-imprisoned. …the American criminal legal system is characterized by an exceptional kind of under-policing, and a heavy reliance on long prison sentences, compared to other […]
Still under-policed and over-imprisoned
South Africa’s Slow, Inevitable March Towards Collapse
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, economics of crime, energy economics, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics Tags: South Africa
CUNY Adjunct Professor Shown Tearing Down Hamas Hostage Flyers
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

Yesterday, I posted the account of one of my children who followed another student at George Washington University as she tore down flyers of the Hamas hostages from poles around campus. The vandalism near our law school is occurring across the country as activists seek to prevent others from expressing their views on the war. […]
CUNY Adjunct Professor Shown Tearing Down Hamas Hostage Flyers
The Democrats’ Anti-Semitism Problem | Wonder Land: WSJ Opinion
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Middle-East politics, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, war against terror
Is the NYT buying and publishing information that helps Hamas?
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, war against terror

This accusation comes from the “Elder of Ziyon” site, which is pro-Israel. But remember that much of the the information you get about the war comes from sites that take one side or the other (or, in the case of papers like the NYT, directly from the mouth of Hamas), so be judicious. In this […]
Is the NYT buying and publishing information that helps Hamas?
ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger (2015)
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, energy economics, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Iraq, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Asymmetrical warfare is defined by asymmetry. Any terrorist ideology that can attract five recruits and the contents of their bank accounts can make headlines for months. A terrorist group with twenty recruits and half a million dollars can make headlines for years. (ISIS: State of Terror, page 191) ISIS is the crack cocaine of violent […]
ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger (2015)
My conversation with Richard Dawkins
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
About ten days ago I had an hourlong conversation with Richard Dawkins for his Substack site, “The Poetry of Reality“. The video, from YouTube, is embedded below. As Richard says in his written introduction: We covered a myriad of controversial topics plaguing our world today: from the religious conflict in Gaza to modern-day struggles with […]
My conversation with Richard Dawkins
Nick Cohen on the embrace of Islamism by the “progressive” Left
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of religion, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror

Nick Cohen wrote an article in the Spectator that’s paywalled for most of us, but thank Ceiling Cat he also published it on his Substack site, “Writing from London.” It was originally called “Why the far Left supports Hamas“, but the title was changed when the piece moved to Substack. The original title was more…
Nick Cohen on the embrace of Islamism by the “progressive” Left
Sinn Fein’s links to PLO,Hamas,ETA and of course IRA and other terrorist organisations.
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Ireland, Middle-East politics, war against terror

I have to set this out at the start of this post. None of this has been investigated by me, it has all been done by other journalists. However all of this has been verified by me. All the relevant links are included in the post. It is also noteworthy to mention that I don’t […]
Sinn Fein’s links to PLO,Hamas,ETA and of course IRA and other terrorist organisations.
Americans and the Holocaust
30 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: The Holocaust

Americans and the Holocaust is an exhibition at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which opened on 23 April 2018. Before I go into the details of this exhibition, I want to mention one of the few Americans, Eddy Hamel, who was murdered during the Holocaust. Eddy Hamel was the first Jewish player, and […]
Americans and the Holocaust
Sowell Exposes Social Justice Fallacies
27 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, gender, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Thomas Sowell, urban economics Tags: gender wage gap, racial discrimination, sex discrimination

Matthew Lau reviews Thomas Sowell’s latest book Social Justice Fallacies in a Financial Post article: No sacred cows in Thomas Sowell’s takedown of social justice fallacies. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images. In his latest book, renowned economist and author demolishes the myths that underpin the social justice movement. Thomas Sowell, age […]
Sowell Exposes Social Justice Fallacies
Different Law Systems David D Friedman
23 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, property rights
New Evidence May Destroy Biden’s Defense in his Classified Documents Case
17 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

Below is my column in The Hill on new evidence released by the House Oversight Committee challenging the account of President Joe Biden and the White House on the discovery of classified material in various locations. If the earlier search included these classified documents, the new timeline will shatter the long-standing claims of the President. […]
New Evidence May Destroy Biden’s Defense in his Classified Documents Case
David D. Friedman: The Machinery of Freedom, Education, and India
16 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in David Friedman, development economics, economic history, economics of crime, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, property rights
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