George Stigler on income redistribution policies
23 Jan 2015 Leave a comment
in George Stigler, income redistribution, liberalism, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: evidence-based policy
One measure of political polarisation in America
23 Jan 2015 Leave a comment
in liberalism, politics - USA Tags: bipartisanship, political polarisation
We mark George Orwell’s passing today in 1950 by recalling Knopf’s priceless rejection of Animal Farm
23 Jan 2015 2 Comments
Hayek on why he got his key prediction right in the Road to Serfdom
23 Jan 2015 1 Comment
in Austrian economics, constitutional political economy, F.A. Hayek, liberalism, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), Monday Conference, Road to Serfdom
This summary by Hayek of the contemporary meaning of socialism in the 1930s and 1940s was relatively accurate.
You must remember that clause 4 of the British Labour Party’s manifesto committing that party to the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange was only dropped relatively recently at the impetus of Tony Blair.
The Australian Labor Party still includes the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange as one of its objectives.
There were stronger divisions in the inter-war labour parties in Britain, Australia and New Zealand about whether the party should be committed to full socialism, Christian socialism or social democracy. It has been forgotten that the labour parties of Britain, Australia and New Zealand had many fall on the socialists within that party.
The Labour Party of Michael Foot in the 1983 British general election ran on a hard left manifesto, with Tony Benn and the Trotskyist entryist group Militant Tendency, which had several MPs, wanting a full socialist agenda in 1980s Britain.
Faith In Humanity Restored
22 Jan 2015 Leave a comment
Eamonn Butler on how economical with the truth Oxfam was on global inequality
22 Jan 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, liberalism Tags: evidence-based policy, Leftover Left, Oxfam, top 1%
Global Warming Was Worth It
22 Jan 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, climate change, development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, liberalism Tags: modernity, The Great Enrichment, The Great Fact
- Higher incomes that allow people to make livings that afford them more than merely survival or avoiding starvation.
- A low poverty rate.
- High quality and diversity of employment opportunities. Rather than the choice of being a farmer or being a blacksmith, the average citizen should have an array of careers to choose from, and the ability to be industrious and take risks for profit.
- The availability of housing. On an average night in the United States, a country with a population of somewhere around 350 million, fewer than one million people are homeless.
- Consistent GDP growth.
- Access to quality health care.
- The availability of quality education. (I suppose we could quibble over the word “quality,” but certainly there is widespread free education availability.)
- High life expectancy. Worldwide life expectancy has more than doubled from 1750 to 2007.
- Low frequency of deadly disease.
- Affordable goods and services.
- Infrastructure that bolsters economic growth.
- Political stability.
- Air conditioning.
- Freedom from slavery, torture and discrimination.
- Freedom of movement, religion and thought.
- The presumption of innocence under the law.
- Equality under the law regardless of gender or race.
- The right to have a family – as large as one can support. Maybe even larger.
- The right to enjoy the fruits of labor without government – or anyone else – stealing it.
The Great Fact in one chart
21 Jan 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, liberalism Tags: The Great Enrichment, The Great Fact
Roger Pielke Jr. – Five Modes of Science Engagement
21 Jan 2015 3 Comments
in environmental economics, global warming, industrial organisation, liberalism, occupational choice, survivor principle Tags: activists, science engagement
You may have noticed that the title of this post promised five modes of engagement and I’ve only described four.
There is a fifth, what I call the Stealth Issue Advocate. This role is characterized by the expert who seeks to hide his/her advocacy behind a facade of science, either pure scientist or science arbiter.
This role seeks to swim in a sea of politics without getting wet. It is the fastest route to pathologically politicizing science. It is also what gives scientists as advocates a bad name.
via Roger Pielke Jr.’s Blog: Five Modes of Science Engagement.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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