Judd on Tikanga
18 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law
Reflections on India
16 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, law and economics, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, regulation, rentseeking Tags: economics of colonialism, India
I’m back from my first trip to India, where I visited Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, and Amritsar. I enjoyed fine company in all four cities. In Mumbai, my new friend Sachin Aggarwal, head of the local EconTalk Club, rolled out the red carpet — and ACX Mumbai joined the festivities. (Thank you, Scott Alexander, for creating…
Reflections on India
Liberals are Losing their Minds over Elon Musk
16 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Below is my column in The Hill on the Musk mania now sweeping over the media with pundits and politicians unleashing unhinged attacks on the billionaire. In an Age of Rage, Musk is now eclipsing Donald Trump as Public Enemy No. 1. It began with his stance against censorship. Here is the column:
Liberals are Losing their Minds over Elon Musk
Cleese on ‘woke’
13 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, movies, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, television Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
John Cleese says woke people want to be right even if they don’t know why:
Cleese on ‘woke’
Colorado Supreme Court Dismisses Another Lawsuit Against Masterpiece Cakeshop
13 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
In prior columns, academic articles, and my book, “The Indispensable Right, I discuss the never-ending litigation targeting Jack Phillips, the Christian baker who declined to make cakes that violated his religious beliefs. Phillips continues to be the subject of continuing lawsuits despite the Supreme Court upholding his right to decline to make expressive products […]
Colorado Supreme Court Dismisses Another Lawsuit Against Masterpiece Cakeshop
An ideologically-based and misleading critique of how modern genetics is taught
11 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: academic bias, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Over at sapiens.org, an anthropology magazine, author Elaine Guevara (a lecturer in evolutionary anthropology at Duke) takes modern genetics education to task. Making a number of assertions about what students from high school to college learn in their genetics courses, Guevara claims that this type of education imparts “zombie ideas”: outdated but perpetually revived notions […]
An ideologically-based and misleading critique of how modern genetics is taught
Socialism in the 21st Century: A Regressive Ideology in Modern Times
10 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
Socialism, once hailed as a visionary and revolutionary alternative to capitalism, has deep roots in the progressive movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Advocating for state control of the means of production and a more equitable distribution of wealth, socialism aimed to correct the injustices of industrial capitalism. However, as we navigate the […]
Socialism in the 21st Century: A Regressive Ideology in Modern Times
“Schencking” Free Speech: Walz Makes the Case for the Most Anti-Free Speech Ticket in History
06 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Below is my column in USA Today on the most chilling moment from the Vance-Walz debate when the Democratic nominee showed why he is part of the dream ticket for the anti-free speech movement. Here is the column: In the vice presidential debate Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pulled the fire alarm. His opponent, Sen.…
“Schencking” Free Speech: Walz Makes the Case for the Most Anti-Free Speech Ticket in History
Māori academics finally admit that their way of knowing is not science, but asserts that it is better than science because the truth is “both factual and ethically value-laden”
05 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
The “Listener letter” appeared in 2021, signed by 7 professors at the University of Auckland (see it here) in New Zealand. It was a response to the drive (still going on) to teach indigenous “ways of knowing”, Mātauranga Māori (MM), as coequal with science in science classes. The letter argued that while MM was of […]
Māori academics finally admit that their way of knowing is not science, but asserts that it is better than science because the truth is “both factual and ethically value-laden”
Blasphemer
03 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, political change, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Freedom of religion, political correctness, regressive left
Against personal definitions
02 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights Tags: economics of languages, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
An argument against the use of personal definitions of words can be framed around the concepts of communication efficacy, shared meaning, and societal cohesion. 1. Undermines Effective Communication The primary purpose of language is to facilitate clear communication between individuals. Personal definitions of words undermine this goal by distorting the shared meaning that allows people […]
Against personal definitions
The woke to a tee
30 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, liberalism, Marxist economics, movies, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, television Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Should we keep the wealthy non-diversified? (from my email)
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: top 1%
Byrne Hobart writes to me: One of the purposes of inheritance taxes is to avoid compounding intergenerational wealth. But The Missing Billionaires points out that if all of America’s millionaires had put their money in broad market indices in 1900, their heirs would number 16,000 billionaires, even accounting for taxes, splitting estates among multiple children, etc. So […]
Should we keep the wealthy non-diversified? (from my email)
“A Symbol of Imperial Violence and Colonialism”: Activists at UPenn Deface Statue of Benjamin Franklin
19 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: age of empires, economics of colonialism, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Benjamin Franklin once wrote “Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.” Yet, Franklin might be a bit confused by his critics at the University of Pennsylvania. Anti-Israel activists vandalized his statue as a symbol of colonialism. The man who was instrumental in the Declaration of Independence against the British Empire is being denounced […]
“A Symbol of Imperial Violence and Colonialism”: Activists at UPenn Deface Statue of Benjamin Franklin
“A Better Deterrence”: Hillary Clinton Calls for the Arrest of Americans Spreading Disinformation
18 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economics of information, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, television Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Hillary Clinton has long been one of the most anti-free speech figures in American politics, including calling upon European officials to force Elon Musk to censor American citizens under the infamous Digital Services Act (DSA). She is now suggesting the arrest of Americans who spread what she considers disinformation. It is a crushingly ironic moment…
“A Better Deterrence”: Hillary Clinton Calls for the Arrest of Americans Spreading Disinformation
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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