Last Friday night, TV One’s lead item on the 6pm news was a story by reporter Te Aniwa Hurihanganui. She had scored a leaked piece of advice not yet considered by Cabinet that was intended to warn ministers in the new government that they would run into trouble with Maori if they backed David Seymour’s…
MICHAEL BASSETT: TV ONE’S BEAT-UP ON THE TREATY AND THE KING’S HUI
MICHAEL BASSETT: TV ONE’S BEAT-UP ON THE TREATY AND THE KING’S HUI
21 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law
The Right and Wrong Way to Reduce Poverty, Part II
16 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, family poverty
In Part I of this series, I explained that the War on Poverty, launched by Lyndon Johnson and expanded by other profligate presidents, has been bad news for both taxpayers and poor people. More specifically, I shared some academic research showing how it led to a big increase in dependency on government. Let’s expand on […]
The Right and Wrong Way to Reduce Poverty, Part II
Zwolinski on the UBI
11 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, history of economic thought, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, Public Choice, public economics, welfare reform Tags: negative income tax, universal basic income
Philosopher Matt Zwolinski, co-author of Universal Basic Income: What Everyone Needs to Know, was a core member of the old Bleeding Heart Libertarians blog, which shut down in 2020. Now’s he’s singledly-handed revived the BHL brand on his new Bleeding Heart Libertarian substack. Matt recently published a critique of my response to Chris Freiman on…
Zwolinski on the UBI
Argentina Milei reform impressions
23 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, growth disasters, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, monetary economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, unemployment Tags: Argentina
I didn’t have much time in Argentina, but I can pass along a few impressions about how Milei is doing, noting I hold these with “weak belief”: 1. He is pretty popular with the general population. He is also popular in B.A. in particular. People are fed up with what they have been experiencing. It […]
Argentina Milei reform impressions
FMI Public Speaker Series – Finn Kydland
23 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), great depression, great recession, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
Finn E. Kydland Nobel Lecture at CERGE-EI
22 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), great depression, great recession, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Public Choice, public economics
The Piketty-Saez-Zucman response to Auten and Splinter
17 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, entrepreneurship, financial economics, income redistribution, labour economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: top 1%
A number of you have asked me what I think of their response. The first thing I noticed is that Auten and Splinter make several major criticisms of PSZ, and yet PSZ respond to only one of them. On the others they are mysteriously silent. The second thing I noticed is that PSZ have been […]
The Piketty-Saez-Zucman response to Auten and Splinter
An Upside-Down Economic History of Argentina
13 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, fiscal policy, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, labour economics, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, Ronald Coase Tags: Argentina
Argentina has a very interesting, but also rather tragic, economic history. During first half of the 20th century, it was one of the world’s richest nations. But thanks to dirigiste economic policies (known locally as Peronism) starting after World War II, Argentina has suffered a dramatic decline in relative living standards. However, something shocking has […]
An Upside-Down Economic History of Argentina
Can Argentina Be Rescued, Part III
12 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, growth disasters, income redistribution, international economics, labour economics, liberalism, libertarianism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, Milton Friedman, monetary economics, Murray Rothbard, Public Choice Tags: Argentina
My trip to Argentina last year motivated me to write Part I of this series, which focused on whether things might get better in that tragic country for the simple reason that they couldn’t possibly get any worse. In Part II of this series, I analyzed whether a libertarian candidate’s surprisingly strong performance in Argentina’s […]
Can Argentina Be Rescued, Part III
California dreaming no more
11 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic growth, entrepreneurship, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, minimum wage, Public Choice, public economics Tags: California, Florida
A Pro-Globalization Banquet
05 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape
If you want to drink deeply of unabashedly pro-globalization essays, the Cato Institute has a “Defending Globalization” project underway. The well-written essays are mostly short or mid-length, and clearly aimed at the general public–including undergraduate students. I can’t hope to summarize the essays here, and indeed, more essays are on their way (and you can…
A Pro-Globalization Banquet
How Socialist is Sweden?
19 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, labour economics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: Sweden
During our Capitalism versus Socialism debate, Scott Sehon argued that Scandinavia really is quite socialist. Since I’m not on expect on Scandinavia, I asked Johan Norberg, author of the short book The Mirage of Swedish Socialism, as well as the recent The Capitalist Manifesto, to weigh in. Norberg kindly agreed. With great interest I have…
How Socialist is Sweden?
America’s top one percent has not been seeing a rising income share
18 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, entrepreneurship, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: top 1%
That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column. The opener is this: Can a single self-published paper really refute decades of work by three famous economists? If the paper is the modestly titled “Income Inequality in the United States: Using Tax Data to Measure Long-Term Trends,” then the answer — with qualifications — is yes. And…
America’s top one percent has not been seeing a rising income share
Reflections on the TCU Capitalism versus Socialism Debate
08 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, poverty and inequality, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: economics of socialism, Sweden
Two days ago at Texas Christian University, I debated Scott Sehon, chair of Bowdoin College’s Philosophy Department, on Capitalism versus Socialism. (Video forthcoming eventually). My opening statement was a slight variation on the one I wrote for an earlier debate on the same topic with Elizabeth Bruenig. Sehon’s opening statement was adapted from his Socialism:…
Reflections on the TCU Capitalism versus Socialism Debate
Caplan-Singer Debate Video
05 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economics of education, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
A year ago, Jonah Franks, who runs Public Intellectuals for Charity, organized a debate between me and Peter Singer on “Do the rich pay their fair share?” I already posted my opening statement, my reflections on the debate, along with two follow-ups on Singer’s “Noble Lie.” The debate video itself, however, was gated for paying…
Caplan-Singer Debate Video
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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