Britain risks electricity rationing by the next general election unless its fleet of ageing gas-fired power stations is urgently upgraded, a new report has warned.
Britain at risk of electricity rationing before general election
Britain at risk of electricity rationing before general election
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in energy economics Tags: British politics
The ICE Elephant: Why the Law Requires All the Facts
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

Below is my column in The Hill on the refusal of many to consider all of the facts in the…
The ICE Elephant: Why the Law Requires All the Facts
Carding the Internet Still Isn’t Constitutional
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, politics - USA

After the U.S. Supreme Court decided Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton last year, I wrote that the “broader war over age verification and parental consent online isn’t over.” As we head into 2026, that prediction looks right. The fight has shifted. Lawmakers have moved their focus from social-media platforms to app stores. But the basic…
Carding the Internet Still Isn’t Constitutional
Some Snapshots of the US Demographic Future
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, population economics Tags: ageing society, population bust

Demography is the study of the structure of human populations, including factors like births, deaths, aging, as well as health and economic factors. Some demographic changes happen slowly, over decades, but in a predicable way. For example, if you want to look at projections for the year 2050 of the ratio of the US working-age…
Some Snapshots of the US Demographic Future
Paul O’Connell: Anticipatory Repression and the Proscription of Palestine Action
12 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, war and peace Tags: British constitutional law, British politics, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror

The proscription of Palestine Action in July 2025 represents more than an aggressive application of counter-terrorism law. It reveals a broader, qualitative shift in the British state’s approach to political dissent—one best understood, I argue, through the concept of ‘anticipatory repression’. Proscription and Its Critics Palestine Action is a direct action network that has, since […]
Paul O’Connell: Anticipatory Repression and the Proscription of Palestine Action
Church of England orders parish to rip out brand new gas boilers
12 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of religion, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming

By Paul Homewood h/t Ian Magness Sometimes I wonder if I’ve woken up on a different planet! From the Telegraph: The Church of England has ordered a parish to rip out new gas boilers because they are not “sustainable”. Christ Church Chineham, in Basingstoke, Hants, spent £18,200 last year replacing two […]
Church of England orders parish to rip out brand new gas boilers
Sam Harris and John McWhorter: Is wokeness dead?
12 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination
In this shortish (23-minute) video, Sam Harris and John McWhorter discuss whether wokeness is finally dead. The short answer is “nope.” It may have lain down, but it refuses to die. The YouTube notes (there’s a transcript you can see as well): Sam Harris speaks with John McWhorter about language, ideology, and moral certainty. They […]
Sam Harris and John McWhorter: Is wokeness dead?
Profile of George Borjas and his influence
12 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: economics of immigration
More recently, his research has found new attention and urgency in President Donald Trump’s second term: Borjas, 75, worked as a top economist on the Council of Economic Advisers, a post he stepped down from last week. Borjas is an immigrant and refugee who escaped Cuba for the United States in 1962 and later obtained…
Profile of George Borjas and his influence
Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, International law, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, racial discrimination, war against terror, West Bank
The relationship between Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism is real, contested, and often confused. They are not identical, but they overlap in important and historically dangerous ways. The clearest way to understand the connection is to distinguish conceptual differences from practical realities. 1. What the terms mean (in principle) Anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism is hostility toward Jews as Jews—whether […]
Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, free speech

For years, some of us have argued that President Donald Trump’s January 6th speech was protected under the First Amendment…
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
Trump’s Shameful Economic Illiteracy
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, financial economics, income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking

No, today’s column is not about Trump’s inane protectionism, which is definitely an example of economic illiteracy. It’s about another area where Trump is copying Joe Biden, channeling Elizabeth Warren, mind-melding with AOC, and acting like Bernie Sanders. Though it probably is indirectly connected with protectionism. “Affordability” has become a big issue, in part because […]
Trump’s Shameful Economic Illiteracy
Socialist paternalism vs free market choices
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics
The paternalistic assumption is an important strand within socialist critiques of markets, though it is not the whole story, and it varies significantly across socialist traditions. A clear way to frame it is this: some socialist opposition to markets rests on a guardianship model of society, in which experts, planners, or the state are assumed to make better […]
Socialist paternalism vs free market choices
Quinn Que: To save liberalism, “progressives” must apologize and abandon their air of moral certainty
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, gender gap, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination, war against terror

This longish diatribe against “progressives” (i.e., left-wing extremists who aren’t Communists) appeared in my weekly Substack recommendations. Intrigued by the title, I printed it out and read it (I can’t read on screens.) Que’s thesis is one you’ve often seen me advance: “progressives” have gone so far that they’ve alienated much of the Left, and…
Quinn Que: To save liberalism, “progressives” must apologize and abandon their air of moral certainty
Melanie Phillips explains, once again, why anti-Zionism is antisemitism
10 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank
Reader Norman sent me the first video below saying, “in one of your posts the other day you gave a link to an article about how anti-Zionism = antisemitism.” Yes, I’ve frequently said that and in fact did so in the last post. And I think the equation is clearly true. For those on the…
Melanie Phillips explains, once again, why anti-Zionism is antisemitism
Quotation of the Day…
10 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, international economics

Tweet… is from page 11 of Menzie Chinn’s and Douglas Irwin’s superb 2025 textbook, International Economics: There is a parable about an entrepreneur who invents an amazing machine. Wheat, soybeans, lumber, and oil are fed into one end of the contraption. As if by magic, smartphones, coffee, and tea, and all manner of clothing and…
Quotation of the Day…
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