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
Sorry, the Little Ice Age Does Exist
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, environmental economics, global warming
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
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: 2004 presidential election
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
How good was Paul Samuelson’s macroeconomics?
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, monetary economics Tags: monetary policy, wage and price controls
Reading the new Nicholas Wapshott book and also Krugman’s review (NYT) of it, it all seemed a little too rosy to me. So I went back and took a look at Paul Samuelson the macroeconomist. I regret that I cannot report any good news, in fact Samuelson was downright poor — you might say awful […]
How good was Paul Samuelson’s macroeconomics?
Government Intervention and Relative Prices
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, macroeconomics
I periodically share Mark Perry’s famous “Chart of the Century” to show that government intervention is a recipe for rising relative prices.* Since economic principles don’t change when you cross national borders, one might expect to see similar patterns in other countries. And we do. Here’s a chart from Matthew Lesh of the Institute for […]
Government Intervention and Relative Prices
On price control
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, income redistribution, industrial organisation, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: price controls, The fatal conceit, unintended consequences, utility regulation
“Nothing Succeeds Like Excess”: New York’s Perverse Incentive in Pricing Trump Out of an Appeal
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, financial economics, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: 2024 presidential election, regressive left
Below is my column in the New York Post on the confiscatory fines imposed on former president Donald Trump and his family and corporation. Democrats are thrilled by the over the $450 million bill facing Trump and the possibility that he could be forced to sell off property just to seek an appeal. On ABC, […]
“Nothing Succeeds Like Excess”: New York’s Perverse Incentive in Pricing Trump Out of an Appeal
National Rally Against Reckless Renewables: Australians Demand Nuclear Power ASAP
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: atomic energy
Last Tuesday, more than 1,000 Australians marched on Canberra with a simple demand. Australia needs nuclear power ASAP. A lineup of top-flight speakers, including politicians, farmers and hard-core environmentalists (who have turned into the fiercest critics of subsidised wind and solar), backed by a very vocal crowd, laid out the truth about the great wind […]
National Rally Against Reckless Renewables: Australians Demand Nuclear Power ASAP
The Harvard Crimson tells us that there are more than two sexes in humans
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
It’s been hard times for my alma mater in the past year. Harvard’s President was excoriated and then removed, there were protests and illegal sit-ins over the war, a Supreme Court decision came down ruling that Harvard’s admissions policies were racist, and now Jewish students have brought a Title VI lawsuit brought against the school […]
The Harvard Crimson tells us that there are more than two sexes in humans
When it comes to lifetime earnings, the most important decision appears to be the choice of college major
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in econometerics, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: College premium
See Choices and consequences in the real “game of life”: From falling in with “bad apples” to choosing a major, economists decipher how early decisions shape long-term outcomes by Jeff Horwich, Senior Economics Writer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Excerpt:”The research on Minnesota students from Nath, Borovičková, and Leibert (discussed above) finds that while…
When it comes to lifetime earnings, the most important decision appears to be the choice of college major
Greens explained
24 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, environmental economics, environmentalism
Arrant misconceptions about the war and Israel
24 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, International law, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
One thing that bothers me about the war between Hamas and Israel is the large number of manifestly dumb beliefs that pervade the discourse. This is also true about Israel itself. Here’s a list of a few, all them wrong and all of them easily refuted. A two-state “solution” will end Palestinian terrorism towards Israel […]
Arrant misconceptions about the war and Israel
How to Wreck Power Supplies: Add Subidised Wind & Solar
24 Feb 2024 1 Comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: wind power
The apparent object of the wind and solar ‘transition’ is to destroy reliable and affordable power supplies. The evidence suggests we are well on our way. Hijacked by ideologues with arts degrees and bankrolled by crony capitalists ready to make a fast buck, at your expense, energy policy is playing out as one almighty nightmare […]
How to Wreck Power Supplies: Add Subidised Wind & Solar
Odysseus Achieves First Ever Private Lunar Soft Landing
24 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture Tags: moon landing, space
An exciting new milestone in the quest to conquer space.
Odysseus Achieves First Ever Private Lunar Soft Landing
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