This paper examines the impact of the emergence of the “gig economy” on the broader labor market by exploiting the staggered introduction of the ridesharing service Uber to American Cities between 2013 and 2018. Using difference-in-differences methods, Callaway and Sant’Anna’s doubly robust difference-in-differences estimator, Chaisemartin and D’Haultoeuille’s time-corrected Wald estimator, and Abadie et al’s synthetic control method, I […]
The economics of ride-sharing
Easter Island Ecological Collapse Debunked
21 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, law and economics, liberalism, war and peace Tags: Easter Island, economics of colonialism, economics of slavery
Jared Diamond is a polymath (biochemistry, physiology, ornithology, ecology; MacArthur Genius Grant; etc.) perhaps best known for his Guns, Germs and Steel (1997). In that book (which I read) he proposed that shared learnings and practices across the vast Eurasian continent led to optimized food crops and agricultural practices for Eurasian peoples, which in turn […]
Easter Island Ecological Collapse Debunked
The US Has Low Prices for Most Prescription Drugs
21 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, health economics, industrial organisation Tags: drug lags
The US has high prices for branded drugs but it has some of the lowest prices for generic drugs in the world and generic drugs are 90% of prescriptions. I’ve been saying this for years but here is the latest study: U.S. prices for brand-name originator drugs were 422 percent of prices in comparison countries, […]
The US Has Low Prices for Most Prescription Drugs
Treaty of Waitangi legal “experts” have misunderstood its economic rationale – and endangered national prosperity
20 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, liberalism, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Rob MacCulloch writes – The underlying aim of the Treaty of Waitangi, at least in economic terms, was to promote a higher standard of living for Māori and non-Māori alike. This article’s purpose is to argue how its words were unambiguously designed to achieve that purpose, but have since been hijacked by political operatives and NZ’s legal […]
Treaty of Waitangi legal “experts” have misunderstood its economic rationale – and endangered national prosperity
Nuclear power stations can be a beautiful part of the environment.
20 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: nuclear energy
Since nuclear is completely clean and green, emitting no gasses, liquids, or anything else, during normal operations, there is no reason why nuclear power stations must be viewed as ugly industrial buildings. They can be made as attractive as a hotel complex or holiday resort.
Nuclear power stations can be a beautiful part of the environment.
Pierson on Wellington cycleways
20 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: celebrity technologies, cycleways
Lukje Pierson writes: A few weeks back, Wellington City Council published a story summarising what thousands of us think of its priorities for the next decade. Buried on page 40, you’ll find what Wellingtonians really think of the council’s controversial new cycleways. It turns out just 30% of us are happy, while 60% want to […]
Pierson on Wellington cycleways
“A Symbol of Imperial Violence and Colonialism”: Activists at UPenn Deface Statue of Benjamin Franklin
19 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: age of empires, economics of colonialism, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Benjamin Franklin once wrote “Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.” Yet, Franklin might be a bit confused by his critics at the University of Pennsylvania. Anti-Israel activists vandalized his statue as a symbol of colonialism. The man who was instrumental in the Declaration of Independence against the British Empire is being denounced […]
“A Symbol of Imperial Violence and Colonialism”: Activists at UPenn Deface Statue of Benjamin Franklin
The Problem Of Too Much Wind
19 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: British politics, wind power
By Paul Homewood FES 2024 As well as the problem of not having enough wind power at times, there is also the issue of having too much at other times. Consequently we have to pay generators to switch off. The National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios this year estimated that 42.5 TWh would have […]
The Problem Of Too Much Wind
“A Better Deterrence”: Hillary Clinton Calls for the Arrest of Americans Spreading Disinformation
18 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economics of information, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, television Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Hillary Clinton has long been one of the most anti-free speech figures in American politics, including calling upon European officials to force Elon Musk to censor American citizens under the infamous Digital Services Act (DSA). She is now suggesting the arrest of Americans who spread what she considers disinformation. It is a crushingly ironic moment…
“A Better Deterrence”: Hillary Clinton Calls for the Arrest of Americans Spreading Disinformation
Tax-Motivated International Migration
18 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, labour economics, labour supply, poverty and inequality, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
I wrote a few days ago about how Americans are moving from high-tax states to lower-tax states (mostly to states with no income taxes or flat taxes). Today, let’s look at international tax migration. I’ve addressed this issue before, but generally in the context of individual countries that are attracting or repelling entrepreneurs, investors, business […]
Tax-Motivated International Migration
Equality Act 2010
18 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, history of economic thought, human capital, job search and matching, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: British politics, compensating differences, pay equity
The UK’s Orwellian sounding Equality Act 2010 is strikingly Marxist. It demands equal pay for work of equal value where these are defined as follows: A’s work is equal to that of B if it is like B’s work, rated as equivalent to B’s work, or of equal value to B’s work. A’s work is […]
Equality Act 2010
The Economic Consequences of the French Wealth Tax
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
By Eric Pichet, here is the abstract: Despite attempts to ‘unwind’ the Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune (‘Solidarity Wealth Tax,’ the French wealth tax) during the last legislature (2002-2007), ISF yields had soared by 2006, jumping from €2.5 billion in 2002 to €3.6 billion. Analysis of the economic consequences of this ISF wealth tax […]
The Economic Consequences of the French Wealth Tax
Tax-Motivated Domestic Migration
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, entrepreneurship, Federalism, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: capital gains tax, taxation and investment taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and labour supply
I’m a big fan of tax competition. I cheer when jobs, investment, and people (or even booze) move from high-tax jurisdictions to low-tax jurisdictions. This increases the rewards for good policy and also increases the punishment for bad policy. Given my interest in the topic, I obviously can’t resist sharing this chart, which shows the […]
Tax-Motivated Domestic Migration
Australia Introduces Legislation to Outlaw Disagreeing With the Government
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left
As Australia approaches its next cycle of state and federal elections, the radical Aussie Federal Government is pushing laws which could silence media criticism of their key policy positions.
Australia Introduces Legislation to Outlaw Disagreeing With the Government
The bus-sized battery farms threatening to blight Britain’s countryside
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: British politics, wind power
By Paul Homewood h/t Philip Bratby Wind mills, solar farms and giant batteries. How to wreck the English countryside for no good reason! Mega projects designed to store renewable energy are drawing the ire of rural communities The bucolic Buckinghamshire village of Granborough, while picturesque, is not much of a landmark. […]
The bus-sized battery farms threatening to blight Britain’s countryside
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments