Deiana, Maheshr,and Mastrobuoniand have recently published an analysis of the effects of Search and Rescue operations on migration from Africa to Europe.Nearly half a century ago, Sam Peltzman showed that, because mandatory seat-belts made driving safer, drivers tended to drive more recklessly, partially offsetting the increased safety. Similar effects occurred in the search and rescue…
The Peltzman Effect at Sea
The Peltzman Effect at Sea
04 May 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, Economics of international refugee law, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: economics of migration, offsetting behavior, unintended consequences
May Day: Appeals Court Rules Against Kids’ Climate Lawsuit
03 May 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights
Update May 1, 2024 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals grants Federal government’s petition for writ of mandamus in the case of Juliana v. United States, originally filed in 2015. Ruling excerpts are below in italics with my bolds. 20240501_docket-24-684_order In the underlying case, twenty-one plaintiffs (the Juliana plaintiffs) claim that—by failing to adequately respond to […]
May Day: Appeals Court Rules Against Kids’ Climate Lawsuit
Farmers Uninsurable Risk: Solar Factory Neighbours Face Total Financial Ruin
02 May 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, property rights Tags: solar power, wind power
Farmers have no hope of insuring their properties to cover damage caused to neighbouring solar factories. Public liability cover in property insurance contracts ordinarily caps out at around $20 million in Australia. As with any type of insurance, the greater the cover, the greater the premium. Although, there are certain risks that no insurer will […]
Farmers Uninsurable Risk: Solar Factory Neighbours Face Total Financial Ruin
Alvin Bragg and The Art of Not Taking Law Too Seriously
29 Apr 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 The Hill on the first week of testimony in the Trump trial. It is making Rube Goldberg’s 13 step self-operating napkin look like a model of efficiency and clarity. It is so convoluted and illogical it is mesmerizing. Here is the column:
Alvin Bragg and The Art of Not Taking Law Too Seriously
Two Videos from a “Liberal” licking a Red Pill
28 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
If you thought the political cartoons from earlier today were funny you’re going to love the next two videos. Just don’t kid yourself that libertine comedian Bill Maher is going to vote GOP in this year’s election, let alone for Donald Trump. He’s not red-pilled yet, merely rolling it around on his tongue to see […]
Two Videos from a “Liberal” licking a Red Pill
For the woke
28 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Quotation of the Day…
28 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics Tags: competition law
Tweet… is from page 422 of Robert Bork’s masterful 1978 book, The Antitrust Paradox: Competition in open markets reflects the ideal of equality of opportunity, while antitrust’s longstanding and growing concern for the small and less efficient reflects a preference for equality of outcome. Outcomes are not equal in open competition, hence the pressure for…
Quotation of the Day…
“Zionists Don’t Deserve to Live”: Columbia Student Leader Under Fire for Violent Rhetoric
27 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
A student leader at Columbia is under fire this week over a newly-resurfaced video declaring that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” Khymani James has been one of the leaders at the anti-Israel encampment at Columbia and featured prominently by media outlets. He is reportedly the spokesperson for Columbia’s anti-Israel student group Apartheid Divest James embodies the type of radical […]
“Zionists Don’t Deserve to Live”: Columbia Student Leader Under Fire for Violent Rhetoric
Why Socialism Won’t Die
26 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: economics of socialism
“to employ a hundred people is… exploitation, but to command the same number [is] honorable.” That’s an actual book by the way, explaining that although communism has failed in the past across different nations, races and cultures, it might work in the future where machines can create anything we want. Think Star Trek’s replicator technology. […]
Why Socialism Won’t Die
US v. Google: do complaints have to be internally consistent?
26 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, law and economics, managerial economics, organisational economics, politics - USA Tags: competition law, creative destruction
From former DOJ Economist Greg Werden: The governments case suggests that its exclusive deals with Apple and Mozilla to be the default search engine on their browsers “allowed Google to maintain its monopoly power [in “general search”] in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.” However, the government’s brief also suggests that Google’s scale is very important,…
US v. Google: do complaints have to be internally consistent?
LINDSAY MITCHELL: Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
26 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: crime and punishment, law and order
One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children in care now than as at 30 June 2019 when there were 6450 children and…
LINDSAY MITCHELL: Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
Meet a (Won’t be a striker at all) – former Third Striker # 1
25 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Ranapera Taumata is a Third Striker. He murdered his girlfriend in 2019 by beating her to death with his bare hands. The Judge summarised: Over the next 17 minutes or so, inside the sleepout you inflicted a prolongedand violent assault on Ms Hira, rendering her unconscious and injured. At about1.15 am you dragged her outside; she […]
Meet a (Won’t be a striker at all) – former Third Striker # 1
Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Waitangi Tribunal’s summons
25 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does not spell out what the […]
Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Waitangi Tribunal’s summons
Still no prudential regulation case around climate change
24 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, environmental economics, environmentalism, financial economics, global warming, industrial organisation, law and economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: climate alarmism
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense.
Still no prudential regulation case around climate change
“Deactivated”: Columbia Reportedly Blocks Jewish Professor from Access to Campus
24 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, International law, labour economics, law and economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, racial discrimination, regressive left, war against terror
Professor Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School, was reportedly denied access to the main campus on Friday as his school ID was “deactivated” during the recent protests over the Israeli-Gaza conflict. What was equally concerning is that the university did so for his own protection out of concern that, as an outspoken […]
“Deactivated”: Columbia Reportedly Blocks Jewish Professor from Access to Campus
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments