An Evening With The Philosophical Muser #11: Discussion With Dr. David Friedman
14 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, David Friedman, history of economic thought, law and economics, libertarianism, property rights
Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in the 9/11 Wars by Frank Ledwidge, second edition (2017)
14 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, Iraq
‘You have the watches, but we have the time.’ (Taliban saying, possibly apocryphal, page 93) Summary This is a quite mind-blowing, jaw-dropping analysis of the incompetence, ignorance, narrow-mindedness, bad planning, profligacy, bureaucratic in-fighting, politicking, terrible leadership, lack of strategy, appalling mismanagement and ineptitude which characterised the British Army campaigns in Iraq (2003 to 2009) and […]
Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in the 9/11 Wars by Frank Ledwidge, second edition (2017)
Some Links
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
TweetDavid Barker, writing in the Wall Street Journal – and appropriately praising my GMU Econ colleague Dan Klein’s remarkable journal, Econ Journal Watch – exposes just how very shoddy some eminent “scholarship” really is. Two slices: Climate change hurts the economy, according to a celebrated 2012 paper by economists Melissa Dell, Benjamin Jones and Benjamin…
Some Links
Kathryn Porter: The myth of affordable green energy is over
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: celebrity technologies, wind power
By Paul Homewood The pervasive narrative about offshore wind in recent years has been that costs are falling and that wind power is cheap. But scratch below the surface and you find that things are not quite so rosy. Turbine manufacturers have been losing money hand over fist in recent years. Collectively over […]
Kathryn Porter: The myth of affordable green energy is over
One last pre-election fiscal post
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
A few weeks ago I wrote a post surveying the range of fiscal indicators (local ones and IMF/OECD metrics) to look at recent New Zealand fiscal policy across time and across countries. I included in that post this chart, which I had cobbled together using IMF April data for other countries and their estimates for […]
One last pre-election fiscal post
Israel has not formed a “unity government”
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
There is a headline in the Washing Post (in an entry in their live blog today) that says, “Netanyahu and Gantz form unity government.” This is misleading. No new government has been formed; therefore, there’s no unity government. All ministers of Bibi’s narrow right-wing/Haredi coalition remain in place. Benny Gantz and a couple others from […]
Israel has not formed a “unity government”
Claudia Golden wins Nobel Prize in Economics
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
For her work explaining Gender Gaps in wages and employment. From the Economist:Since around 2005 the wage gap has hardly budged. Here Ms Goldin’s work questions popular narratives that continue to blame wage discrimination. Instead, in a book published in 2021, Ms Goldin blames “greedy” jobs, such as being a consultant or lawyer, which offer…
Claudia Golden wins Nobel Prize in Economics
Productivity growth….or lack of it
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
Earlier in the week a journalist asked me for some thoughts on which political party in government had managed the economy better – in overall macroeconomic terms – over the years since we moved to MMP. My initial response was that the answer would be pretty dull. Pressed to write something anyway, I outlined briefly […]
Productivity growth….or lack of it
Book review: Information Rules
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of information
It’s been a while since I posted a book review, as I’ve been busy with teaching and various research evaluation activities (this year I’m a panellist for both the Royal Society’s Marsden Fund, and the Health Research Council). However, recently I did manage to finish reading Information Rules, by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian. The…
Book review: Information Rules
Costs Blowout: Rocketing Power Prices Keep Proving Wind & Solar Most Expensive
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: celebrity technologies, wind power
Households and businesses faced with crippling power bills are just another bad optic for renewable energy rent seekers. The political support upon which the seemingly endless flow of massive subsidies depends, in turn, depends on the proles’ attitude to those charged with delivering reliable and affordable power. Having just been whacked with 20-30% increases in […]
Costs Blowout: Rocketing Power Prices Keep Proving Wind & Solar Most Expensive
The WW2 Bomber designed to replace the Flying Fortress
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War II
WW2 Jet Engine Development – WW2 Special Documentary
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War II
Why Switzerland Has 374,142 Bunkers (and likely more)
13 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics Tags: Switzerland
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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