The Productivity Commission closes its doors on Thursday and goes out of existence. There have been a couple of recent articles on the demise of the Productivity Commission, and the chair (Ganesh Nana) has even put out his own statement (not exactly compelling) on productivity, and policy options for improving New Zealand’s dismal performance. There […]
Goodbye to the Productivity Commission
Goodbye to the Productivity Commission
27 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
Statewide Rent Control Being Considered in Washington
27 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, politics - USA, urban economics Tags: rent control
Five things to know about WA proposal to limit rent hikes | The Seattle Times Isn’t rent control one of the most studied economic experiments? And hasn’t it been shown to be, over the long term, a disaster for everyone involved? What does economic evidence tell us about the effects of rent control? | Brookings […]
Statewide Rent Control Being Considered in Washington
Life expectancies
27 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in health economics Tags: life expectancies, The Great Escape
ROBERT MacCULLOCH: Former PM Hipkins & Profs Bloomfield & Baker should be held accountable for quoting statistics that have now been shown to be wrongly estimated
27 Feb 2024 1 Comment
in applied welfare economics, econometerics, economic history, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of pandemics
Why are we still talking about Covid when many countries – like the US – have moved on? Well the US economy is currently booming and ours is stuck in the mud. The reason has emerged over time. Although our response to the virus was to be commended in early 2020 when no-one knew what…
ROBERT MacCULLOCH: Former PM Hipkins & Profs Bloomfield & Baker should be held accountable for quoting statistics that have now been shown to be wrongly estimated
Claims about Iran (from the comments)
27 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, development economics, economics of crime, economics of religion, growth disasters, law and economics Tags: Iran
I’ve chatted with a lot of Iranians online in the past few years (they’re in Iran). Some of their takes (always subject to the “plural of anecdote is not “data”)… 1. Islam is seen by younger people as the doctrine of a failed government staffed by a bunch of crooks. 2. And it’s a foreign, […]
Claims about Iran (from the comments)
Lifespans of the rich and famous, from 800-1800 C.E.
27 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, population economics Tags: life expectancies
Life expectancy is one of the key statistics in human wellbeing. However, we know surprisingly little about life expectancy prior to the systematic recording of births, deaths, and marriages, which began in England in 1538 with the establishment of parish registers. Many other countries started recording this data, but later in the 16th Century (or…
Lifespans of the rich and famous, from 800-1800 C.E.
Hunter Blows Away His Own Counsel’s Sobriety Defense
27 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
There is a lot of chatter this morning about the interview of Hunter Biden with Axios before his appearance in Congress for testimony on the alleged corrupt activities of his family. The interview has powerful moments as Hunter describes his struggle with addiction and the pressure that he feels to stay sober in light of […]
Hunter Blows Away His Own Counsel’s Sobriety Defense
Mercedes-Benz Scraps Plans to Make Only Electric Vehicles Due to ‘Market Conditions’
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, transport economics Tags: electric cars
By Paul Homewood h/t Gamecock TRANSLATION – NOBODY WANTS TO BUY THE USELESS THINGS! . . Mercedes-Benz has backtracked on their plan to transition to selling only electric vehicles after 2030, with company officials saying that “market conditions” have not allowed that to happen. It was just three years ago when the […]
Mercedes-Benz Scraps Plans to Make Only Electric Vehicles Due to ‘Market Conditions’
Child poverty – complex or simple?
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, labour economics, labour supply, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, unemployment, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, family poverty
Question: Do you understand how the child poverty statistics are derived? Clearly some people do not. Last week the latest child poverty statistics were all over the media. But there are a number of misunderstandings that need addressing. Like this one from NewstalkZB’s John MacDonald who wrote: “Living in households that get-by on less than…
Child poverty – complex or simple?
Why Costly & Unreliable Wind and Solar Threaten Modern Civilisation
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: celebrity technologies, wind power
Without reliable and affordable electricity, civilisation as we know it wouldn’t last a week. Absolutely everything we do depends on having power as and when we need it. Or, as Tyson Culver and Robert Bryce call it “Juice”. Over several years now, Tyson and Robert have been attempting to educate Americans about where their power […]
Why Costly & Unreliable Wind and Solar Threaten Modern Civilisation
Friends with Benefits? Telephone Records Raise New Challenge to the Willis/Wade Testimony
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, crime and punishment, free speech law and order, regressive left
In the movie Friends with Benefits, the character Jamie asks Dylan “why do I get the feeling this is the first real commitment you’ve ever made?” Dylan responds “It’s not. T-Mobile. Two years. And f*** do I regret that one!” The ongoing proceedings involving Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade […]
Friends with Benefits? Telephone Records Raise New Challenge to the Willis/Wade Testimony
This is the only picture ever taken of the Concorde flying at Mach 2 (1,350 mph). Taken from an RAF Tornado fighter jet, which only rendezvoused with Concorde for 4 minutes over the Irish Sea
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, transport economics
📸 Look at this post on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/share/XKSwzjxUr4X7YJL1/?mibextid=RXn8sy
Sorry, the Little Ice Age Does Exist
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, environmental economics, global warming
By Andy May Renee Hannon (@hannon_renee) pointed out that Raphael Neukom, et al. (2019) compares the modern instrumental temperature record to the Pages2K proxy temperature record and declares that: “… we find that the coldest epoch of the last millennium—the putative Little Ice Age—is most likely to have experienced the coldest temperatures during the fifteenth […]
Sorry, the Little Ice Age Does Exist
Four Myths about Price Discrimination
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, history of economic thought, industrial organisation Tags: competition and monopoly
In an earlier post, Soda Prices are Too Low for the FTC, the Biden Administration seems to be trying to turn back the clock to a time when price discrimination was viewed as bad. Lest we repeat the mistakes of the past, it is worthwhile to remember its lessons. See this 2003 talk by some middling FTC…
Four Myths about Price Discrimination
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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