Below is my Fox.com column on the shift of fortunes for former president Donald Trump in the last week. Trump does not appear to be necessarily moving ahead legally but he is still prevailing politically in a curious war of attrition. Here is the column:
Could Trump Win By Simple Attrition Rather than Vindication?
Could Trump Win By Simple Attrition Rather than Vindication?
12 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Pinker on “What’s wrong with our universities”
11 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Here’s a new one-hour interview of Steve Pinker by John Tomasi, inaugural president of the Heterodox Academy. Here are the YouTube notes: Are our higher education institutions still nurturing true intellectual diversity? Our guest today is Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist at Harvard, and today, we’ll be exploring the growing concerns within higher ed that […]
Pinker on “What’s wrong with our universities”
“That is Not the Judgment of the Press”: The White House Calls the Media to Heel With Disinformation Campaign
11 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
“That is not the judgment of the press.” Those words from President Joe Biden were a telling moment after a reporter noted that there is widespread concern that he is mentally diminished. Biden’s cranky response was overshadowed by his confusion on other points during the press conference, including mixing up the presidents of Egypt and […]
“That is Not the Judgment of the Press”: The White House Calls the Media to Heel With Disinformation Campaign
Roger Pielke on Michael Mann’s Victory
11 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: climate activists
By Paul Homewood From Roger Pielke: Yesterday, a jury in Washington, DC awarded renowned climate scientist Michael E. Mann more than $1,000,000 in damages in a defamation lawsuit he brought against two bloggers. I was a witness in the case and testified on Tuesday. Here, I’ll offer my thoughts on the case and some […]
Roger Pielke on Michael Mann’s Victory
The “Unassailable” Theory Faces a Potential Unanimous Rejection
10 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law, regressive left
This week, the argument before the Supreme Court in Trump v. Anderson captivated the nation as the justices considered the disqualification of former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot. For some of us, the argument brought back vivid memories of covering Bush v. Gore almost 25 years ago. While one justice (Clarence Thomas) […]
The “Unassailable” Theory Faces a Potential Unanimous Rejection
The highly inconvenient Sir Apirana Ngata
10 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law
Graham Adams writes — Sir Apirana Ngata has a pre-eminent place in the pantheon of Māori luminaries. He is widely regarded as a visionary leader who, in an illustrious political career, championed biculturalism when assimilationist policies were the norm. He energetically promoted Māori language and culture, and land reform. He was an MP for nearly […]
The highly inconvenient Sir Apirana Ngata
Worry Not About So-Called “Trade Deficits”
10 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, international economics, politics - USA Tags: current account
TweetThis piece by Rapoza also features a discussion of the U.S. trade deficit in “goods” – any mention of which is a sure sign that the writer is a poor economist. A trade deficit in tangible things is no more economically meaningful than is a trade deficit in yellow things or things that start with…
Worry Not About So-Called “Trade Deficits”
CHRIS TROTTER: Are you a leftist?
10 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, The fatal conceit, unintended consequences
Chris Trotter writes – THERE WAS A TIME when a leftist’s definition of “leftism” corresponded pretty closely to everybody else’s definition. The term identified a coherent worldview – to the point where knowing where someone stood on one issue enabled them to predict with surprising accuracy where they stood on a host of others. If […]
CHRIS TROTTER: Are you a leftist?
“The Spirit of Aloha”: The Hawaii Supreme Court Challenges the U.S. Supreme Court Over Gun Rights
10 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA, property rights Tags: constitutional law, gun control
It has been 65 years since Hawaii became a state, but the Hawaiian Supreme Court appears to be having second thoughts. In an extraordinary ruling, the unanimous Supreme Court rejected the holdings of the United States Supreme Court on the Second Amendment as inapplicable to the 50th states. Hawaii apparently is controlled not by the…
“The Spirit of Aloha”: The Hawaii Supreme Court Challenges the U.S. Supreme Court Over Gun Rights
PETER WILLIAMS: Supreme Court decision astounding
09 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: climate activists
Three years ago a friend of mine who’s a District Court Judge asked me if I would be guest speaker at the annual DCJ shindig, scheduled that year for the Hilton in Taupo. Despite a feeling of significant intellectual inferiority, I accepted on the condition that all I would talk about were personal experiences from…
PETER WILLIAMS: Supreme Court decision astounding
Jury finds in favor of Michael Mann in defamation lawsuit against Mark Steyn, Rand Simberg
09 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: defamation, free speech, regressive left
The jury awarded Mann $1 in compensatory damages from each plaintiff. It also awarded $1,000 in punitive damages from Simberg and $1 million from Steyn.
Jury finds in favor of Michael Mann in defamation lawsuit against Mark Steyn, Rand Simberg
DON BRASH: NATIONHOOD, Orewa, 2004
09 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
On February 1 Sean Plunket re-played the audio of Don Brash’s 2004 Orewa speech at The Platform. To listen to the entire speech, go here. Alternatively, the full text of the speech is reproduced below. Today Don reflects: “It’s very long – really far too long for a Rotary Club speech. I should have taken…
DON BRASH: NATIONHOOD, Orewa, 2004
Israel poll update through January 2024
09 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in politics, war and peace Tags: Israel
Below is a graph lifted from Wikipedia showing polling trends for existing parties in Israel since the 2022 election. I marked it up with labels for the parties and a summary box of some alternative government coalition scenarios if the polling average at the end of January were translated into actual seats at an election. […]
Israel poll update through January 2024
The Conway speech
08 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, fiscal policy, inflation targeting, labour economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, unemployment Tags: monetary policy
I’ve been rather tied up with other stuff for the last few weeks (including here) which is why I’ve not previously gotten round to writing about the first piece of monetary policy communications from our Reserve Bank this year. That was the “speech” by the Bank’s chief economist (and MPC) member Paul Conway given to […]
The Conway speech
LINDSAY MITCHELL: Labour hid developing welfare crisis
08 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, family poverty
Lindsay Mitchell writes- When National became government in 2008, Finance Minister Bill English’s determination to understand the extent of benefit-dependency led them to commission Taylor Fry to produce annual actuarial reports. These were duly published at the MSD website every year but ceased when the government changed in 2017. Now however, an Official Information request […]
LINDSAY MITCHELL: Labour hid developing welfare crisis
Recent Comments