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
More impatient people are more likely to commit crime
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
Laptop Deniers in Delaware: The Media Shrugs as the Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court
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
Divisive rhetoric chips away at communities
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
Just Ask Mookie: Hunter Biden Has No Defense Other Than Nullification
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
Another weak free speech university policy
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
Caught out! The NZ Initiative’s Article in the Herald Blaming the RBNZ for our Rip-Off Big Banks is Contradicted by its Own Expert Witness. (Willis Beware).
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, global financial crisis (GFC), great recession, industrial organisation, law and economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: competition law
When it comes to the question of how best to avoid a banking collapse and multi-billion dollar bailout that can drag a whole nation into depression, the best solution, according to Chicago-Stanford economist, John Cochrane, is to require banks to set aside a fraction of their own funds as reserves to cover losses they may…
Caught out! The NZ Initiative’s Article in the Herald Blaming the RBNZ for our Rip-Off Big Banks is Contradicted by its Own Expert Witness. (Willis Beware).
Is Hunter Biden Pursuing a Jury Nullification Strategy?
05 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the start of the Hunter Biden trial and the elements of a classic jury nullification strategy by the defense. It is not clear that it will work in an otherwise open-and-shut case, but it might. What is clear is that it may be all that Biden has […]
Is Hunter Biden Pursuing a Jury Nullification Strategy?
Nicholas Kilford: Interpreting The Devolution Statutes
05 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, law and economics Tags: British constitutional law, British politics, Scotland
*Editors’ Note: This post is part of the ‘Unwritten Constitutional Norms and Principles Blog Series’* Throughout the life of devolution, the courts appear to have diverged on how to properly determine the scope and limits of devolved lawmaking power, and the extent to which norms and principles not expressly contained in the text of the […]
Nicholas Kilford: Interpreting The Devolution Statutes
Stephen Tierney: The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024: Necessary remedy or unwarranted interference with judicial independence?
04 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics Tags: British constitutional law
For the first time, by way of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act (“the Act”), Parliament has legislated to quash criminal convictions. In this post I will argue that, no matter how understandable, indeed laudable, the intention behind this legislation, in its haste to offer a speedy and comprehensive correction to mass injustice, Parliament has crossed […]
Stephen Tierney: The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024: Necessary remedy or unwarranted interference with judicial independence?
Pushback on Pessimism About Randomized Controlled Trials
03 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economics of crime, law and economics Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Back in January, I posted about an article that was getting some attention in my world. Megan T. Stevenson is an active researcher in the criminal-justice-and-economics literature. She argues that when you look at the published studies that use randomized control trial methods to evaluate ways of reducing crime, most of the studies don’t show a…
Pushback on Pessimism About Randomized Controlled Trials
New Rule: Gender Apartheid | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
03 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, television, TV shows Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Gaza Strip, gender wage gap, Iran, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
U.S.A. v. Karl Brandt et al.: The Doctors’ Trial
02 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, World War II
The Doctors’ Trial, officially known as United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al., was the first of 12 subsequent Nuremberg Trials held after World War II. These trials were conducted to bring Nazi war criminals to justice for their roles in the Holocaust and other war crimes. The Doctors’ Trial specifically focused on […]
U.S.A. v. Karl Brandt et al.: The Doctors’ Trial
“Democracy is on the Ballot”: California Democrats Seek to Prevent Voters from Approving New Taxes
01 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, income redistribution, law and economics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: constitutional law
“Democracy is on the ballot.” That mantra of President Joe Biden and other democrats has suggested that “this may be our last election” if the Republicans win in 2024. A few of us have noted that the Democrats seem more keen on claiming the mantle of the defenders of democracy than actually practicing. Democrats have […]
“Democracy is on the Ballot”: California Democrats Seek to Prevent Voters from Approving New Taxes
Trump is Convicted: What Comes Next?
01 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential elections, 2024 presidential election
This morning, many of us are emerging from the late coverage last night after the conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felonies. I was in the courtroom for the verdict, which hit like a thunderclap (particularly after a strange snafu with the judge). The question that everyone is asking: what happens next?
Trump is Convicted: What Comes Next?
Karen Chhour Skewers The Maori Party
31 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: child abuse, child poverty, crime and punishment, family poverty, law and order
Article is by Chris Lynch and I have pinched this one from The BFD Blog. `ĀCT MP Karen Chhour has responded to the Maori Party’s “divisive outbursts.” Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said yesterday, ‘It’s now time for us to step comfortably into our rangatiratanga and to not give too much to this Pakeha Government with their […]
Karen Chhour Skewers The Maori Party
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