The current Harvard disaster was clearly signaled by earlier events, most notably the 2019 firing of Dean Ronald Sullivan. Sullivan is a noted criminal defense attorney; he was the director of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and he is the Director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School, he […]
The Sullivan Signal: Harvard’s Failure to Educate and the Abandonment of Principle
The Sullivan Signal: Harvard’s Failure to Educate and the Abandonment of Principle
06 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, rule of law
Antisemitism in America as displacement behavior
02 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, war against terror

It’s likely that most or all of today’s posts will be about the antisemitism in America and the world, a form of hatred revealed and exacerbated by the war between Israel and Hamas. There are no other worthy items to post about, so if you’re tired of the war, or of discussions about Jews, just […]
Antisemitism in America as displacement behavior
#OTD Romania
25 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: Romania

How to Sell Protest Footage to FOX AND CNN
25 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, television Tags: free speech, law and order, political correctness, regressive left
Yielding to Temptation: Colorado’s Supreme Court Blocks Democracy to Bar Trump on the 2024 Ballot
25 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election

Below is my column in The Messenger on the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision disqualifying former President Donald Trump from the 2024 election. There are now over a dozen states considering similar demands from advocates to prevent voters from being able to vote for the current leading candidate for the presidency. In California, Lieutenant Gov. Eleni […]
Yielding to Temptation: Colorado’s Supreme Court Blocks Democracy to Bar Trump on the 2024 Ballot
Calls to ban free speech at Auckland University in New Zealand
24 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, law and order, political correctness, regressive left

Troubles continue at the University of Auckland as it’s being sued by a somewhat off-the-rails professor named Siouxsie (real name Susannah) Wiles. Wiles apparently made some statements about Covid-19 as a public communicator of science, statements that the public didn’t like. The result was that she claimed to be inundated with hate mail and threats. […]
Calls to ban free speech at Auckland University in New Zealand
Harvard/Harris Poll: Majority of Democrats Want Hunter Prosecuted for Contempt
21 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election

It appears that the concerted effort to excuse Hunter Biden’s defiance of a subpoena in the media has failed. According to a Harvard Caps/Harris poll, 71 percent of Americans believe that Hunter should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. What is remarkable is that 54 percent of Democrats support his prosecution.
Harvard/Harris Poll: Majority of Democrats Want Hunter Prosecuted for Contempt
The Three Myths of the Biden Impeachment Defense
16 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election

Below is my (slightly updated) column in the New York Post on three myths being widely repeated in the Biden impeachment inquiry. These false narratives have been eagerly repeated in the media despite lacking legal or factual support. In the interest of interjecting a modicum of reality into this debate, here is why these defenses […]
The Three Myths of the Biden Impeachment Defense
Israel still has strict gun laws for private citizens
11 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, gun control, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror


Chuck Schumer delivers Senate speech on antisemitism
04 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, The Holocaust
You can read Chuck Schumer’s recent op-ed in the NYT, “What American Jews fear most,“, or you can watch his 40-minute speech on the topic given in the Senate (video below). I recommend listening to the speech, of which the op-ed is a short distillation. Alternatively, read the transcript, which you can find here. Schumer […]
Chuck Schumer delivers Senate speech on antisemitism
The media wants a hate crime
02 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics Tags: law and order, political correctness, regressive left
You have surely heard that three young Palestinian-Americans, Kinnan Abdalhamid, Hisham Awartani, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, were shot on November 25 in Burlington, Vermont. Two of the injured were American citizens; the other a legal resident. The alleged shooter, Jason Eaton, was captured and appears to be mentally ill. From the NYT: They were shot […]
The media wants a hate crime
Lord Hannan, Daniel speaks about equality, the Treaty and the Taxpayers’…
01 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, gender, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The World’s Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia by James Fergusson (2013)
30 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, development economics, economic history, economics of crime, growth disasters, law and economics Tags: Somalia
Caado la gooyaa car alle ayey leedahay (‘The abandonment of tradition calls forth the wrath of Allah’, Somali proverb, quoted in The World’s Most Dangerous Place, page 398) James Fergusson worked on this book with help from a grant from the Airey Neave Trust, a charity whose objective is to promote research ‘designed to make […]
The World’s Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia by James Fergusson (2013)
What Was Gary Becker’s Biggest Mistake?
15 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in behavioural economics, economics of crime, Gary Becker, history of economic thought, law and economics

The econometrician Henri Theil once said “models are to be used but not to be believed.” I use the rational actor model for thinking about marginal changes but Gary Becker really believed the model. Once, at a dinner with Becker, I remarked that extreme punishment could lead to so much poverty and hatred that it could create blowback. Becker […]
What Was Gary Becker’s Biggest Mistake?
Some questions for those protesting for Palestine
15 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, war and peace
I’m frankly astonished at the scale, frequency and anger of protests held in solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza, which variously call for a ceasefire, call for “freedom” for Palestine and which variously accuse Israel of atrocities, using the language and statistics issued by the Gazan totalitarian theocrats. It is driven by a coalition of communists,…
Some questions for those protesting for Palestine
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