Our estimates indicate that the AfD’s vote share would shrink by as much as 75% if the CDU adopted its immigration stance. These results suggest that the electoral success of populist parties is strongly linked to genuine policy preferences, rather than being driven solely by dissatisfaction with political elites or protest voting. That is from […]
German political parties remain too far from the median voter
German political parties remain too far from the median voter
21 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in international economic law, international economics, International law, labour economics, labour supply, politics, Public Choice Tags: economics of immigration, Germany
Guardian is AGAIN forced to correct false claim on ICJ ruling
18 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
As we wrote in a post last week, a Guardian article by their Beirut correspondent William Christou (“US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes inquiry“, 5 Sept) included the following erroneous claim: In an interim judgment in January 2024, the ICJ ruled that the claim of genocide was “plausible”… As we’ve noted in communications […]
Guardian is AGAIN forced to correct false claim on ICJ ruling
BBC Verify’s experts on proportionality include Corbyn ‘Gaza tribunal’ participants
15 Sep 2025 2 Comments
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
The concept of proportionality – or as it is more often presented, ‘disproportionality’ – has long been a theme that is widely used in BBC reporting on armed conflicts involving Israel. However, contrary to the narrative frequently advanced by the BBC, that concept does not relate to the relative numbers of people killed on either […]
BBC Verify’s experts on proportionality include Corbyn ‘Gaza tribunal’ participants
Guardian joins NGO campaign to libel Israel
03 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
Imagine the reaction if Western media outlets participated in a campaign for Hamas to release the hostages in Gaza, which included suggested talking points, that was launched and coordinated in part by a pro-Israeli organisation in the UK: Let’s call it CAMERA-UK. The outrage expressed in posts decrying the media’s subservience to the “pro-Israel lobby” […]
Guardian joins NGO campaign to libel Israel
U.S. denies visa to Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas (and other Palestinians) ahead of UN meeting
01 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank
This is from CNN, so you know it pained them to publish a piece like this (click to read): Mahmoud Abbas, 90, was elected President of Palestine in 2005 for a four-year term, but somehow has hung on for 16 more years, having been voted an indefinite Presidency by the PLO (Hamas doesn’t recognize him […]
U.S. denies visa to Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas (and other Palestinians) ahead of UN meeting
BBC coverage of the IPC Gaza City famine report – part two
26 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Previously we discussed a BBC News website ‘live page’ devoted to the topic of the latest report from The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). BBC COVERAGE OF THE IPC GAZA CITY FAMINE REPORT – PART ONE Additional BBC News website reporting on that topic published on August 22nd began with the following item: “Famine […]
BBC coverage of the IPC Gaza City famine report – part two
The Vegetarian Migrant Dictator
17 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, International law, law and economics, Public Choice Tags: Nazi Germany
The title of this blog could be from any fictitious novel. A children’s book or even a fairy tale, but it actually describes a bizarre reality which caused so much destruction. The story of Hitler’s naturalization process resembles something of a farce. On April 7 1925 he had given up his Austrian citizenship, it was […]
The Vegetarian Migrant Dictator
Fred Hockley-Executed 9 hours after Japanese surrender.
15 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: World War II
Following the Hiroshima bombing on August 6, the Soviet declaration of war and the Nagasaki bombing on August 9, the Emperor’s speech was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945, and did reference the atomic bombs as a reason for the surrender. The broadcast was recorded a day earlier but was broadcast […]
Fred Hockley-Executed 9 hours after Japanese surrender.
BBC News uses ‘shared’ Gaza footage to promote a narrative
14 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Three days after the announcement of the resumption of airdrops of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the BBC News website published a filmed report showing Jeremy Bowen on one of the Jordanian flights, the synopsis to which states: “The BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen boarded a Jordanian military plane dropping humanitarian aid into Gaza. […]
BBC News uses ‘shared’ Gaza footage to promote a narrative
BBC News avoids the full background to Hamas ‘disarmament’ story
12 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
On August 2nd the BBC News website published a report by Thomas Mackintosh headlined “Hamas refuses to disarm until Palestinian state established”. Readers of the current version of that report are told that: “Hamas has reaffirmed that it will not agree to disarm unless a sovereign Palestinian state is established, in response to one of […]
BBC News avoids the full background to Hamas ‘disarmament’ story
French President Macron: a blockhead whose ignorance will harm Israel
30 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, population economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank
A fair number of countries have decided to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state (the U.N. can’t as it requires Security-Council approval, and the U.S. is on that council). This has had little effect as simple declarations like this have no force in international law (see reference to Natasha Hausdorff below). Now, however, another state […]
French President Macron: a blockhead whose ignorance will harm Israel
Horseshoe Theory: Trump and the Progressive Left
26 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, International law, labour economics, labour supply, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, regressive left, tarrifs
Many of Trump’s signature policies overlap with those of the American progressive left—e.g. tariffs, economic nationalism, immigration restrictions, deep distrust of elite institutions, and an eagerness to use the power of the state. Trump governs less like Reagan, more like Perón. As Ryan Bourne notes, this ideological convergence has led many on the progressive left […]
Horseshoe Theory: Trump and the Progressive Left
Federal Judge Rules Against Trump on Use of “Invasion” Powers to Expedite Deportations
05 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in international economic law, international economics, International law, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA Tags: economics of immigration
In Washington, D.C., District Court Judge Randolph Moss has issued a notable decision against the Trump Administration in Refugee and Immigrant Center for Legal and Educational Services v. Noem. Judge Moss rejected the use of Trump’s January 20 “invasion” executive proclamation to block undocumented immigrants from pursuing asylum applications and other legal pathways. The court essentially rules […]
Federal Judge Rules Against Trump on Use of “Invasion” Powers to Expedite Deportations
The Grim Logic of Israel’s War
24 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: bombing of Germany, Gaza Strip, Iran, Israel, Middle-East politics, World War I, World War II
If the best course of action is to avoid war, then the second-best course, with war already raging, is to end it. Chris Trotter writes – THE LOGIC OF WAR is pitiless and relentless. Once embarked upon, warfare creates needs and imposes priorities that cannot be ignored without imposing unsustainable costs on one’s own military […]
The Grim Logic of Israel’s War
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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