Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
16 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
For months, I have been expressing disbelief that Hunter Biden and his defense team were going to take the gun case to trial. Even on the eve of the trial, I thought that the defense might snap into sanity and plead out the case. The reason was simple. A guilty plea would have materially improved […]
Did the Defense Make Prison More Likely for Hunter Under the Sentencing Guidelines?
14 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Piers Seed writes about the current definition of taonga: According to the Waitangi Tribunal the definition of taonga is: “Treasures’: ‘taonga’. As submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal concerning the Māori language have made clear, ‘taonga’ refers to all dimensions of a tribal group’s estate, material and non-material – heirlooms and wahi tapu (sacred places), ancestral lore…
Does Parliament also need to define taonga?
13 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the New York Post on the conviction of Hunter Biden in Delaware and how his nullification strategy may have backfired. As discussed below, empathy can turn into insult when jurors are given patently implausible theories by the defense. Hunter finally found a group of people who were unwilling to see […]
Hunter Comes Up A Donut Short of a Defense in Delaware
12 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
12 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
For years, some of us have asked why the Capitol was so poorly prepared for the January 6th riot. As part of the coverage on that day, I remarked at the start of the protests that I had never seen the Capitol so thinly protected for a major demonstration. Some paths to the Capitol were…
“I Take Responsibility”: Pelosi Admits Fault for the Lack of Security Precautions on January 6th
12 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
The Herald reports: A recidivist offender who shot a small-time Auckland drug dealer while robbing him of his stash and recent gaming machine jackpot had been on electronically monitored post-prison release conditions at the time of the murder – but had cut off his tracking device. That factor of Benjamin “Dekoy” Mcintosh’s murder in June 2022 was highlighted for the […]
Three Strikes might have kept this victim alive
11 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2016 US presidential election, 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the latest calls to protect democracy with distinctly undemocratic measures. Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton insisted that the 2024 election was our D-Day, suggesting that voters would have to fight the GOP like the Nazis in World War II. Clinton previously called on Europe to censor American […]
Can Democracy Survive the “Defenders of Democracy”?
10 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of natural disasters, economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
For those who are interested in public law, a very interesting paper by Dean Knight summarising the various court cases over the Covid-19 response. It details in which areas the Government won judicial reviews, and in which areas they lost. The TLDR version is: Hopefully we will not go through another pandemic anytime soon.
Where did the Government get the law right and wrong with the Covid-19 response?
10 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, law and economics, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: economics of corruption, India
In India it’s common for politicians to have criminal cases against them. Why do voters vote for criminals? One compelling explanation provided by political scientist Milan Vaishnav is that voters often care less about their represntative’s ability to deliver broad-based development or draft good laws, and more about the effectiveness at helping them access limited […]
Haan, goonda hai, magar hamara goonda hai
09 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, economics of prohibition, gun control
This weekend, the Hunter Biden team is reportedly debating whether to have him take the stand on Monday, a move rife with risk. Most criminal defendants avoid such appearances given the potential damage of a withering cross examination. Those risks were evident in the recent testimony of Hunter’s daughter, Naomi, which backfired badly on key […]
Will Hunter Take the Stand? He May Want to Think Twice Before Checking That Box
09 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economics of crime, economics of education, labour economics, law and economics, occupational choice Tags: cognitive psychology, crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Gary Becker’s famous model of rational crime suggests that criminals weigh up the costs and benefits of crime (and engage in a criminal act if the benefits outweigh the costs). Time preferences matter in this model, because the benefits of a criminal act are usually realised immediately, whereas the greatest costs (including the penalties of…
More impatient people are more likely to commit crime
08 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in Fox.com on the authentication of Hunter Biden laptop in the Delaware trial. The government has denounced the Russian disinformation claims as a “conspiracy theory” and put on evidence that there is no evidence of tampering with the laptop. The FBI declared the laptop to be “real” and “authentic” and the […]
Laptop Deniers in Delaware: The Media Shrugs as the Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court
07 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economics of education, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The following letter to the Gisborne Herald appears under the title above and the name of Eddie Tuhaka: Rawiri Waititi’s divisive comments and behaviour against the present Government, calling them a white/Pākehā Government, is racist and unacceptable. He and the rest of them did not complain when they all got their pay increase from the…
Divisive rhetoric chips away at communities
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the New York Post on the first day of testimony in the trial of Hunter Biden. Every claim of the defense seemed to collapse in the first two days of the trial. The defense argued that Hunter did not check the box on the gun form, so the prosecutors called […]
Just Ask Mookie: Hunter Biden Has No Defense Other Than Nullification
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Auckland University has a draft free speech policy. There are some good parts to it, but also parts that will allow significant censorship. We take our role of critic and conscience seriously and welcome and encourage dialogue and debate including on topics which may be contentious and controversial. It is inevitable that different perspectives will […]
Another weak free speech university policy
A History of the Alt-Right
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Res ipsa loquitur - The thing itself speaks
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.”
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The truth about the great wind power fraud - we're not here to debate the wind industry, we're here to destroy it.
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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