Here’s the case for imposing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages: 1) Obesity is a major public health problem, through its effects on diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, certain cancers, and mental health; 2) Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is an outsized contributor to obesity; 3) Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages will raise the cost that consumers pay, and thus…
The Limited Effects of Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
The Limited Effects of Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, health economics Tags: nanny state, sugar taxes
Convincing evidence for human evolution
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism Tags: evolutionary biology

I occasionally get questions like this one: “What do you consider the most convincing evidence for evolution?” My answer is usually “the fossil record combined with dating methods,” but I often add that “the evidence from biogeography is so convincing that I’ve never seen a creationist even try to rebut it.” (You can see some […]
Convincing evidence for human evolution
South Africa’s Slow, Inevitable March Towards Collapse
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, economics of crime, energy economics, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics Tags: South Africa
CUNY Adjunct Professor Shown Tearing Down Hamas Hostage Flyers
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

Yesterday, I posted the account of one of my children who followed another student at George Washington University as she tore down flyers of the Hamas hostages from poles around campus. The vandalism near our law school is occurring across the country as activists seek to prevent others from expressing their views on the war. […]
CUNY Adjunct Professor Shown Tearing Down Hamas Hostage Flyers
The Democrats’ Anti-Semitism Problem | Wonder Land: WSJ Opinion
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Middle-East politics, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, war against terror
Māori doctors reckon they have the right medicine for the Middle East – but will they be joining Médecins Sans Frontières?
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
The Māori Party and Māori medics have something in common: they have diagnosed what’s gone wrong in the Middle East and prescribed a remedy for the Israel-Hamas conflict. They are pressing for a Free Palestine. The mainstream media seem not to have noticed that the Māori medical professionals have taken sides in a matter with […]
Māori doctors reckon they have the right medicine for the Middle East – but will they be joining Médecins Sans Frontières?
More Evidence for Trump’s Corporate Tax Reform, Part I
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic growth, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, public economics Tags: taxation and investment

I’m very critical of bad policies we got during the Trump years, most notably profligacy and protectionism. But I shower praise on the good policies, such as the 2017 tax legislation (especially the lower corporate tax rate and the curtailing of the state and local tax deduction). Today, we’re going to focus on the positive. […]
More Evidence for Trump’s Corporate Tax Reform, Part I
Why Intermittent Wind & Solar Always Deliver Higher Power Prices
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: celebrity technologies, wind power

Looking to thank someone for your latest power bill, then look no further than subsidised wind and solar. The ‘unreliables’ are the principal reason why retail power bills are rising at unprecedented rates. Behind the curtain, there are a number of forces at work which, over the last decade or so, have entirely upended the […]
Why Intermittent Wind & Solar Always Deliver Higher Power Prices
No Green Energy Future Without Coal
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming

Teresa Mull writes at American Spectator Why ‘dirty’ coal is vital to a ‘clean’ green future. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images. ‘Any time you have energy, you have to dig something out of the ground’ The under reported truth, however, is that coal is key to the continuation of civilization as […]
No Green Energy Future Without Coal
ANANISH CHAUDHURI: Labour stuffed up; that’s why they lost – deal with it
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
Ananish Chaudhuri writes – With power about to change hands, I see more and more commentary about how this election was somehow unfair. There was Rob Campbell, Chancellor of AUT, pontificating in the Herald that this election was “bought”. Then more recently David Williams of Newsroom weighed in about the influence of the Taxpayers’ Union […]
ANANISH CHAUDHURI: Labour stuffed up; that’s why they lost – deal with it
Didn’t know goat and duck meat was so popular
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture
Is the NYT buying and publishing information that helps Hamas?
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, war against terror

This accusation comes from the “Elder of Ziyon” site, which is pro-Israel. But remember that much of the the information you get about the war comes from sites that take one side or the other (or, in the case of papers like the NYT, directly from the mouth of Hamas), so be judicious. In this […]
Is the NYT buying and publishing information that helps Hamas?
ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger (2015)
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, energy economics, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Iraq, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Asymmetrical warfare is defined by asymmetry. Any terrorist ideology that can attract five recruits and the contents of their bank accounts can make headlines for months. A terrorist group with twenty recruits and half a million dollars can make headlines for years. (ISIS: State of Terror, page 191) ISIS is the crack cocaine of violent […]
ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger (2015)
Walter Block on Sexual Discrimination & the Pay Gap(Uncut)
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, economics of education, gender, health economics, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
The crippling problem of renewable green energy cannot be solved
01 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: celebrity technologies, wind power

By Paul Homewood h/t George Heraghty From the Telegraph: In a Net Zero world, what will we do when the wind isn’t blowing? Environmentalists like to point out that we will have solar power as well, but of course the sun doesn’t shine at night, so windless nights are a big problem. Next, it […]
The crippling problem of renewable green energy cannot be solved

Recent Comments