There are quite a few book-length studies of the Syrian Civil War. The distinctive thing about this one is that academic and author Christopher Phillips insists that other regional countries weren’t ‘drawn into’ the conflict once it had got going but, on the contrary, were involved right from the start, helped to exacerbate the initial […]
The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East by Christopher Phillips (revised edition, 2020)
The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East by Christopher Phillips (revised edition, 2020)
08 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, energy economics, International law, law and economics, Public Choice, war and peace Tags: Iran, Israel, Middle-East politics, Syria, war against terror
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
Still under-policed and over-imprisoned
07 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, Gary Becker, labour economics, law and economics, occupational choice, Public Choice Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
A new paper, The Injustice of Under-Policing, makes a point that I have been emphasizing for many years, namely, relative to other developed countries the United States is under-policed and over-imprisoned. …the American criminal legal system is characterized by an exceptional kind of under-policing, and a heavy reliance on long prison sentences, compared to other […]
Still under-policed and over-imprisoned
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
New Rule: The War on the West | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, Public Choice, television, TV shows Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Liberal Hypocrisy is Fueling American Inequality. Here’s How. | NYT Opinion well worth watching
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of regulation, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, top 1%, zoning
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
Casey Mulligan on Vaccines, the Pandemic, and the FDA 5/22/23
31 Oct 2023 2 Comments
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: drug lags, economics of pandemics
Just make it easy to delist buildings
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, urban economics
My column in the weekend papers:There is one other alternative. It is an alternative Wellington officials downplayed. But it is one that the council should take or that central government could progress instead.Why not make it easy to remove buildings from the district plan?A council needing legislation to address a local issue can propose a…
Just make it easy to delist buildings
Book Review: Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell
29 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, discrimination, economic history, gender, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, Marxist economics, minimum wage, occupational choice, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell is a skilled writer with a powerful ability to combine historical, social science and free-market perspectives. He cuts through the noise and doesn’t mince his words on the sensitive topics of race and culture. In Race and Culture Sowell argues against two common social science doctrines: 1) that all races are equal and […]
Book Review: Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell
Accountability
27 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Public Choice
On Saturday dozens of candidates for the governing Labour Party stood for election to Parliament. The aim was to form (at least a big part of) the next government. They didn’t succeed. People will debate for decades precisely what motivated the public as a whole to vote as we did, but having governed for the […]
Accountability
Upzoning with Strings Attached
21 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, income redistribution, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: offsetting behavior, unintended consequences, zoning
The subtitle of this paper is: “Evidence from Seattle’s Affordable Housing Mandate.” Here is the abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of a major municipal residential land use reform on new home construction and developer behavior. We examine Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program, which relaxed zoning regulations while also encouraging affordable housing construction in […]
Upzoning with Strings Attached
David D. Friedman – The Externality problem: Population, Climate, Pandemic
19 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, David Friedman, development economics, economic history, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, population economics, property rights, Public Choice
What should be done about the Reserve Bank?
19 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: monetary policy
Monday’s post was on the important place effective accountability must have when government agencies are given great discretionary power which – as is in the nature of any human institutions – they will at times exercise poorly. My particular focus is on the Reserve Bank, both because it is what I know best, because it […]
What should be done about the Reserve Bank?
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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