Violent Saviors: The West’s Conquest of the Rest
29 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: age of empires, economics of colonialism
Michelle Tandler on NYC rent control
28 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: rent control
This is what I’m seeing: + 2.4 million rent-controlled apartments in a city with a massive housing shortage and 1.4% vacancy rate. + A huge % of these tenants are wealthy, white boomers using the units as pieds-a-terres while they spend their weekends and summers elsewhere. + Meanwhile, the government is using rent control to…
Michelle Tandler on NYC rent control
Female Nazi Guards: The Forgotten Perpetrators of the Holocaust
25 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust
Female Nazi Guards: The Forgotten Perpetrators of the Holocaust When discussing the Holocaust and the atrocities of Nazi Germany, the image that often comes to mind is of male SS officers enforcing brutal policies. However, women also played significant roles in the Nazi regime’s machinery of oppression and genocide. Among these women were the female […]
Female Nazi Guards: The Forgotten Perpetrators of the Holocaust
Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms
23 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics Tags: British constitutional law, British politics
On 2 December 2025, the Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy announced significant reforms to criminal trials in England and Wales. Defending his proposals on the BBC Sunday programme on 4 January 2026, Lammy justified restricting jury trial on the basis of his strong sense of justice, explicitly pointing to the fact he had a photograph […]
Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms
Yes Islamist terrorism is religiously inspired
21 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of religion, law and economics, liberalism, war and peace Tags: regressive left, war against terror
A crazy article by Halim Rane at the ABC: In the aftermath of violent attacks, public commentary quickly reaches for a familiar label like “religiously motivated terrorism”. The term sounds intuitive but it is analytically flawed, socially harmful and counter-productive to both national security and social cohesion. I would argue that a more accurate and useful…
Yes Islamist terrorism is religiously inspired
‘Market Power in Antitrust Cases,’ by William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner
17 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA, Richard Posner Tags: competition law
William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner’s 1981 Harvard Law Review article “Market Power in Antitrust Cases” is a true classic. Showing the value of interdisciplinary work within the law & economics tradition, it brought real clarity to what “market power” means and how courts should assess it—cutting through vague labels like “monopoly power” and…
‘Market Power in Antitrust Cases,’ by William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner
The Guardian defends a moral monster
16 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of media and culture, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
When we say that the Guardian is institutionally antisemitic, we mean, in party, that they’re willing to defend, or publish sympathetic coverage of, almost… The post The Guardian defends a moral monster appeared first on CAMERA UK.
The Guardian defends a moral monster
Silence on Iran’s murder of its own people: more hypocrisy from anti-Israel protesters
16 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, International law, law and economics Tags: Iran, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, regressive left
It is reported that Iran has massacred 12,000 pro-freedom protesters in less than a fortnight: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/least-12-000-possibly-20-185320083.html Where is everyone who has been protesting Israel’s actions weekly over the past two years? The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa accused Israel of genocide three days after the Iranian-funded massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7, before Israel had…
Silence on Iran’s murder of its own people: more hypocrisy from anti-Israel protesters
The black market crisis in tobacco
16 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of smoking
A comprehensive article in the SST about the rise in black market tobacco sales in NZ. Some extracts: This is again a reminder that prohibition doesn’t work, and neither does trying to tax something so much to prohibit it.
The black market crisis in tobacco
Guest Post: No, the Supreme Court Didn’t Hand Climate Activists a Victory. It was an own goal.
15 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: climate activists
A guest post by Sean Rush: If you’ve read the headlines about Climate Clinic Aotearoa v Minister of Energy, you might believe a group of law students marched into the Supreme Court and reshaped New Zealand’s climate policy. The popular narrative suggests a solid victory to the students, with reports that the students created new law,…
Guest Post: No, the Supreme Court Didn’t Hand Climate Activists a Victory. It was an own goal.
Quotation of the Day…
14 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, Thomas Sowell, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply
Tweet… is from page 152 of Thomas Sowell’s Compassion Versus Guilt, a 1987 collection of some of his popular essays; specifically, it’s from Sowell’s June 14th, 1985, column titled “Chances versus Guarantees”: People who bought homes in a quiet little town often become resentful when other people begin moving in, expanding and changing the community.…
Quotation of the Day…
The ICE Elephant: Why the Law Requires All the Facts
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
Below is my column in The Hill on the refusal of many to consider all of the facts in the…
The ICE Elephant: Why the Law Requires All the Facts
Paul O’Connell: Anticipatory Repression and the Proscription of Palestine Action
12 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in war and peace, law and economics, International law, economics of crime, defence economics Tags: British constitutional law, British politics, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
The proscription of Palestine Action in July 2025 represents more than an aggressive application of counter-terrorism law. It reveals a broader, qualitative shift in the British state’s approach to political dissent—one best understood, I argue, through the concept of ‘anticipatory repression’. Proscription and Its Critics Palestine Action is a direct action network that has, since […]
Paul O’Connell: Anticipatory Repression and the Proscription of Palestine Action
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, free speech
For years, some of us have argued that President Donald Trump’s January 6th speech was protected under the First Amendment…
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
Quinn Que: To save liberalism, “progressives” must apologize and abandon their air of moral certainty
11 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, gender gap, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination, war against terror
This longish diatribe against “progressives” (i.e., left-wing extremists who aren’t Communists) appeared in my weekly Substack recommendations. Intrigued by the title, I printed it out and read it (I can’t read on screens.) Que’s thesis is one you’ve often seen me advance: “progressives” have gone so far that they’ve alienated much of the Left, and…
Quinn Que: To save liberalism, “progressives” must apologize and abandon their air of moral certainty
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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