Reading time: Whatever. . . You’ll probably guess from the title of this short (150-page) book by Agustín Fuentes (Princeton University Press) that I am not keen on its thesis, and you’d be right. In fact, the thesis is nothing new, even if you have read Fuentes’s article about it in Natural History and Scientific […]
Short (?) review: “Sex is a spectrum”
Short (?) review: “Sex is a spectrum”
16 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
BBC Verify’s experts on proportionality include Corbyn ‘Gaza tribunal’ participants
15 Sep 2025 2 Comments
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
The concept of proportionality – or as it is more often presented, ‘disproportionality’ – has long been a theme that is widely used in BBC reporting on armed conflicts involving Israel. However, contrary to the narrative frequently advanced by the BBC, that concept does not relate to the relative numbers of people killed on either […]
BBC Verify’s experts on proportionality include Corbyn ‘Gaza tribunal’ participants
Predistribution, Not Redistribution, in the Nordic Countries
15 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economics of education, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden
Maybe it’s just because I live in Minnesota, a state where the differences between immigrants from Sweden, Norway, and Finland are still apparent in the names of towns and the surnames of people. But when I run into people who would prefer that the US distribution of income be more equal, they often point to…
Predistribution, Not Redistribution, in the Nordic Countries
Stephen Tierney: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – a dangerous licence for executive law-making
15 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, liberalism Tags: British constitutional law, British politics, end-of-life choice
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is now in the House of Lords. After months of frantic activity in the Commons there is an opportunity for Parliament to draw breath and for the upper house to consider this measure carefully. It already has two critical committee reports published by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee and […]
Stephen Tierney: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – a dangerous licence for executive law-making
The Battle of Saint-Mihiel I THE GREAT WAR – Week 216
15 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War I
A labour law reform that works for workers
14 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: employment law
Roger Partridge writes – Every day, New Zealand workers clock longer hours than their peers in most developed nations yet produce far less value per hour worked. This productivity paradox has haunted our economy for decades, condemning workers to lower wages and longer working days. Now, Parliament has a chance to help change this cycle. […]
A labour law reform that works for workers
Mario Rizzo on behavioural economics
14 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, behavioural economics
I was delighted to share a stage with Prof Mario Rizzo, co-author of Escaping Paternalism and other fine works, at the IEA earlier this year. I never got around to posting the video, but here it is. Mario is an articulate critique of behavioural economics and “nudge” policies. I also mentioned his work on the slippery slope…
Mario Rizzo on behavioural economics
The British War on Slavery
13 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economic history, international economics, law and economics, liberalism, war and peace Tags: age of empires, economics of colonialism, economics of slavery
In August of 1833 the British passed legislation abolishing slavery within the British Empire and putting more than 800,000 enslaved Africans on the path to freedom. To make this possible, the British government paid a huge sum, £20 million or about 5% of GDP at the time, to compensate/bribe the slaveowners into accepting the deal. […]
The British War on Slavery
When Words No Longer Matter: Nancy Pelosi and Politics of Violence
13 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, law and order, political correctness, regressive left
It appears that words no longer matter to Nancy Pelosi. For years, Pelosi and other Democrats have blamed President Donald Trump and Republicans for their “inciteful rhetoric.” In seeking Trump’s impeachment, Pelosi bellowed that the use of “words such as a cry ‘to fight like hell’” produces violence and added, “words matter. Truth matters. Accountability […]
When Words No Longer Matter: Nancy Pelosi and Politics of Violence
Red Tape and Unintended Consequences
13 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational regulation, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: France
I’ve written endlessly about the negative effect of high tax rates on productive behavior, as well as some quirky examples of how taxes lead to some unintended consequences. Today, let’s consider how government regulations distort behavior. We’ll start with a video from Reason about government policies that backfire. In this case, note the second example. […]
Red Tape and Unintended Consequences
The Criminalization of Conscience
13 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics Tags: war against terror
What Happens When You Have an Unjust Law A Halfling writes – This article focusses on the way that terrorism legislation and the designation of entities as terrorist organisations can have a chilling effect upon other civil liberties. I should make it clear that because the article concentrates on the group Palestine Action does not […]
The Criminalization of Conscience
Outstanding questions
13 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, financial economics, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
A couple of nights ago, shortly after the Minister and Treasury finally released the suite of texts between Willis and Rennie, ZB featured interviewer Heather du Plessis-Allan talking to Herald journalist Jenee Tibshraeny (who has been over the Orr/Quigley/Willis saga issue from day one). There wasn’t anything concrete that was new in the conversation but […]
Outstanding questions
BBC report on ‘pro-Palestine activists’ omits link to proscribed group
12 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: British politics, free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
A report published on the BBC News website’s ‘England’ and ‘Bradford’ pages on September 6th purports to inform readers about a legal case. Titled “Pro-Palestine activists sentenced over protest”, that uncredited article tells BBC audiences that: [emphasis added] “A group of pro-Palestine activists who staged a seven-hour protest on the roof of an aerospace and […]
BBC report on ‘pro-Palestine activists’ omits link to proscribed group
Could China Have Gone Christian?
12 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of religion Tags: China
The Taiping Rebellion is arguably the most important event in modern history that even educated Westerners know very little about. It’s also known as the Taiping Civil War and it was one of the largest conflicts in human history (1850–1864), with death toll estimates ranging from 20 to 30 million, far exceeding deaths in the […]
Could China Have Gone Christian?
Why Fossil Fuels Still Rule
12 Sep 2025 1 Comment
Kite & Key explain in their video, transcript in italics with my bolds and added images. Tech executives. Heads of state. Brilliant scientists and engineers. They’re some of the most talented and respected individuals in the world — and, in recent years, they’ve all come together behind a common purpose. They’ve marshaled their talents — […]
Why Fossil Fuels Still Rule
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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