The NY Post reports: A recent report from the Buckley Institute found that there are no Republican faculty members across 27 departments at Yale University. … It found that nearly 83% of faculty are registered Democrats or primarily support Democratic candidates. More than 15% identify as independent, and fewer than 3% are Republicans, according to the report. Most notably, 27 of 43 undergraduate…
Endangered Republicans at Yale
Endangered Republicans at Yale
21 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, politics - USA Tags: academic bias
Have the Greens lost their mojo?
19 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: regressive left
Bryce Edwards writes – The Green Party should be flying high right now. They’re not. As the 2026 election year begins in earnest, the Greens find themselves in a deeply anomalous position: polling has slumped, internal organisation has been shaken by staff departures and scandals, and the co-leaders seem strangely detached from the scale of […]
Have the Greens lost their mojo?
‘Market Power in Antitrust Cases,’ by William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner
17 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA, Richard Posner Tags: competition law
William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner’s 1981 Harvard Law Review article “Market Power in Antitrust Cases” is a true classic. Showing the value of interdisciplinary work within the law & economics tradition, it brought real clarity to what “market power” means and how courts should assess it—cutting through vague labels like “monopoly power” and…
‘Market Power in Antitrust Cases,’ by William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner
The black market crisis in tobacco
16 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of smoking
A comprehensive article in the SST about the rise in black market tobacco sales in NZ. Some extracts: This is again a reminder that prohibition doesn’t work, and neither does trying to tax something so much to prohibit it.
The black market crisis in tobacco
Guest Post: No, the Supreme Court Didn’t Hand Climate Activists a Victory. It was an own goal.
15 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: climate activists
A guest post by Sean Rush: If you’ve read the headlines about Climate Clinic Aotearoa v Minister of Energy, you might believe a group of law students marched into the Supreme Court and reshaped New Zealand’s climate policy. The popular narrative suggests a solid victory to the students, with reports that the students created new law,…
Guest Post: No, the Supreme Court Didn’t Hand Climate Activists a Victory. It was an own goal.
The Post ranks the MPs
15 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
The Post has ranked Ministers and senior opposition MPs. This is their ratings, not mine. Agree with some, disagree with others. I thought the ranking for Willow-Jean Prime was a bit generous. The post The Post ranks the MPs first appeared on Kiwiblog.
The Post ranks the MPs
Western Leftists and Islamic States
14 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in economics of education, economics of media and culture, economics of religion, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: regressive left
Western leftists do criticise Islamic states at times—but they rarely prioritise opposing them, and often treat them with conspicuous restraint. That asymmetry is not accidental. It follows from the same ideological lenses that drive anti-Zionism. Here are the main reasons. 1. Anti-imperialism outweighs liberal values For much of the Western Left, opposition to Western power is the overriding moral […]
Western Leftists and Islamic States
In His Quest for Easy-Money Policy, Trump Launches Lawfare Against the Federal Reserve
14 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - USA Tags: monetary policy
When he first ran for President, I observed that Trump was a big-government Republican. This doesn’t mean he’s part of the moderate GOP establishment, like Bush and Romney. But it does mean that there is considerable overlap in terms of supporting bad policy, as indicated by my last two columns. Yesterday, I wrote about his […]
In His Quest for Easy-Money Policy, Trump Launches Lawfare Against the Federal Reserve
The ICE Elephant: Why the Law Requires All the Facts
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
Below is my column in The Hill on the refusal of many to consider all of the facts in the…
The ICE Elephant: Why the Law Requires All the Facts
Carding the Internet Still Isn’t Constitutional
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, politics - USA
After the U.S. Supreme Court decided Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton last year, I wrote that the “broader war over age verification and parental consent online isn’t over.” As we head into 2026, that prediction looks right. The fight has shifted. Lawmakers have moved their focus from social-media platforms to app stores. But the basic…
Carding the Internet Still Isn’t Constitutional
Some Snapshots of the US Demographic Future
13 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, population economics Tags: ageing society, population bust
Demography is the study of the structure of human populations, including factors like births, deaths, aging, as well as health and economic factors. Some demographic changes happen slowly, over decades, but in a predicable way. For example, if you want to look at projections for the year 2050 of the ratio of the US working-age…
Some Snapshots of the US Demographic Future
Sam Harris and John McWhorter: Is wokeness dead?
12 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in discrimination, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination
In this shortish (23-minute) video, Sam Harris and John McWhorter discuss whether wokeness is finally dead. The short answer is “nope.” It may have lain down, but it refuses to die. The YouTube notes (there’s a transcript you can see as well): Sam Harris speaks with John McWhorter about language, ideology, and moral certainty. They […]
Sam Harris and John McWhorter: Is wokeness dead?
Profile of George Borjas and his influence
12 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: economics of immigration
More recently, his research has found new attention and urgency in President Donald Trump’s second term: Borjas, 75, worked as a top economist on the Council of Economic Advisers, a post he stepped down from last week. Borjas is an immigrant and refugee who escaped Cuba for the United States in 1962 and later obtained…
Profile of George Borjas and his influence
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, free speech
For years, some of us have argued that President Donald Trump’s January 6th speech was protected under the First Amendment…
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
Trump’s Shameful Economic Illiteracy
11 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, financial economics, income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking
No, today’s column is not about Trump’s inane protectionism, which is definitely an example of economic illiteracy. It’s about another area where Trump is copying Joe Biden, channeling Elizabeth Warren, mind-melding with AOC, and acting like Bernie Sanders. Though it probably is indirectly connected with protectionism. “Affordability” has become a big issue, in part because […]
Trump’s Shameful Economic Illiteracy
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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