That the radical right calls itself “conservative” is one of the most successful acts of political re-branding in modern history. The label has stuck so firmly that many people now treat the two as interchangeable. Yet historically, philosophically, and temperamentally, they are opposites. This confusion is not confined to the uninformed. Journalists who ought to know better […]
The radical right is not conservative
The radical right is not conservative
04 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: voter demographics
Netflix, WBD, and the Myth of the Streaming Monopoly
03 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: competition law
The proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) assets by Netflix is already being cast as a landmark antitrust “test case.” If past deals are any guide, the critiques will follow a familiar script: narrow market definitions, selective data points, and headline-friendly market-share claims designed to trigger alarm. Yet in a video ecosystem defined by…
Netflix, WBD, and the Myth of the Streaming Monopoly
Border Security Type I and Type II Errors
03 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: economics of immigration
One way of looking at the a policy of increased ICE enforcement of US border security is as a debate over decision error costs. The expressed goal is to remove the worst of the worst criminals. Few would disagree with this goal. However, in this dragnet, immigrants without criminal backgrounds have also been detained. The…
Border Security Type I and Type II Errors
Starmer Government Greenlights 15 Minute City Legal Enforcement
02 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, transport economics, urban economics Tags: British politics
Ordinary residents of trial cities will only be permitted 100 days per year outside their 15 minute region. But special people get a free pass.
Starmer Government Greenlights 15 Minute City Legal Enforcement
One Reason Only For Germany’s Heating Gas Crisis: Its Hardcore-Dumbass Energy Policy
02 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: Germany
Germany approaching energy state of emergency…shutdown of heavy industries. The consequence: another economic body blow the country cannot afford…gross policy negligence As Germany’s heating gas supply becomes increasingly tense and nears emergency low levels, policymakers will likely blame a “colder than normal winter.” But that claim will not hold. The real reason: It is what…
One Reason Only For Germany’s Heating Gas Crisis: Its Hardcore-Dumbass Energy Policy
The execution of deserter Eddie Slovik
01 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: World War II
Eddie Slovik was executed on January 31, 1945, becoming the only American soldier put to death for desertion since the Civil War. Of approximately 40,000 U.S. service members who deserted during World War II, only several thousand were court-martialed. Forty-nine received death sentences, but Slovik was the only one whose sentence was executed. Private Eddie […]
The execution of deserter Eddie Slovik
The great climate climbdown
01 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: climate alarmism
Matt Ridley writes: I first wrote a doom–laden article for the Economist about carbon dioxide emissions trapping heat in the air in 1987, nearly 40 years ago. I soon realised the effect was real but the alarm was overdone, that feedback effects were exaggerated in the models. The greenhouse effect was likely to be a moderate inconvenience…
The great climate climbdown
Colonialism, Slavery, and Foreign Aid (with William Easterly) 12/8/25
01 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, property rights Tags: age of empires, economics of colonialism, economics of slavery
Real Environmental Crisis Is Not Climate Change
01 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in development economics, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, growth disasters, health economics Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism, public health, water pollution
The real environmental emergency isn’t the modest warming that has helped humans thrive. It’s land degradation, poisoned water and other forms of pollution that are burying the Global South alive. Yes, we’ve been fighting the wrong environmental war.
Real Environmental Crisis Is Not Climate Change
Maarten Boudry on the policing of academia
31 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of education, International law, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
My friend Maarten Boudry, a Belgian philosopher, has been increasingly demonized for his heterodox views, especially on the Hamas/Israel war, since he is sympathetic to Israel (he isn’t Jewish). In the latest post on his Substack site, also published in condensed form in The Jewish Chronicle, Maarten recounts how there is a near-unanimity among European…
Maarten Boudry on the policing of academia
How Labour Betrayed Britain’s Working Class in the Name of Net Zero
31 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: British politics
In Aberdeen, the warning sirens are no longer coming from offshore rigs but from the unions themselves. A recent study cited by the GMB union paints a stark picture: the North Sea’s offshore workforce, roughly 115,000 strong today, could be slashed to around 57,000 by the early 2030s if Britain’s headlong rush to Net Zero…
How Labour Betrayed Britain’s Working Class in the Name of Net Zero
The Bjorn Lomborg Conundrum: Sceptic but Not Quite
31 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: climate activists
Lomborg has performed a valuable service in exposing the economic wreckage of Net Zero and the hollowness of green utopianism. But by clinging to the premise that climate change must ultimately be “solved” through policy-directed and publicly funded innovation, he gives credence to the very worldview he criticises. His halfway house reassures moderates, comforts elites,…
The Bjorn Lomborg Conundrum: Sceptic but Not Quite
The initial underappreciation of great inventions
31 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, industrial organisation Tags: creative destruction, The Great Enrichment
When a truly great new invention appears, people rarely greet it with the reverence that hindsight later bestows. Instead, they squint at it through the lens of the familiar. They ask: What is this like? And because it is not like anything they already know, they underestimate it. History is littered with inventions that, at […]
The initial underappreciation of great inventions
Are the French lazy?
30 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics Tags: France, taxation and labour supply
Olivier Blanchard writes: The French are not lazy. They just enjoy leisure more than most (no irony here) And this is perfectly fine: As productivity increases, it is perfectly reasonable to take it partly as more leisure (fewer hours per week, earlier retirement age), and only partly in income. He has follow-up points and clarifications…
Are the French lazy?
No wonder Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons when Māori make up most of the inmates
30 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order, regressive left
Te Pāti Māori says it wants to abolish prisons by 2040.
No wonder Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons when Māori make up most of the inmates
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