The Democrats’ Anti-Semitism Problem | Wonder Land: WSJ Opinion
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Middle-East politics, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, war against terror
CHRIS TROTTER: Failing the “Leftist” litmus test
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
LIKE THE WAR in Ukraine, the war in Gaza is serving as a remarkable litmus test for the Left. It is testing its moral compass, its understanding of international law, its grasp of geopolitical realities and, not least, its awareness of what the PR mavens call “the optics”. A substantial portion, even, perhaps, a majority,…
CHRIS TROTTER: Failing the “Leftist” litmus test
Casey Mulligan on Vaccines, the Pandemic, and the FDA 5/22/23
31 Oct 2023 2 Comments
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: drug lags, economics of pandemics
Americans and the Holocaust
30 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: The Holocaust

Americans and the Holocaust is an exhibition at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which opened on 23 April 2018. Before I go into the details of this exhibition, I want to mention one of the few Americans, Eddy Hamel, who was murdered during the Holocaust. Eddy Hamel was the first Jewish player, and […]
Americans and the Holocaust
Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason Riley Book Review
30 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of education, gender, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Thomas Sowell, urban economics

I was skeptical of learning about Sowell because he leans conservative, and I was curious to learn about Sowell because he leans conservative. The last few years I’ve grown sympathetic to the political left because I got tired of conservatives seeming hatred for all things “left.” After reading this book I think a lot of […]
Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason Riley Book Review
Book Review: Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell
29 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, discrimination, economic history, gender, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, Marxist economics, minimum wage, occupational choice, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is a skilled writer with a powerful ability to combine historical, social science and free-market perspectives. He cuts through the noise and doesn’t mince his words on the sensitive topics of race and culture. In Race and Culture Sowell argues against two common social science doctrines: 1) that all races are equal and […]
Book Review: Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell
Charting a course
27 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, urban economics
My column in Newsroom this week makes a few guesses about where NZ local water policy may be headed. Labour forced the amalgamation of water services into new entities that National promised to throttle before they can get going. What happens next?No election platform survives contact with post-election coalition negotiations.But one outcome seems rather obvious –…
Charting a course
Sowell Exposes Social Justice Fallacies
27 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, gender, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Thomas Sowell, urban economics Tags: gender wage gap, racial discrimination, sex discrimination

Matthew Lau reviews Thomas Sowell’s latest book Social Justice Fallacies in a Financial Post article: No sacred cows in Thomas Sowell’s takedown of social justice fallacies. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images. In his latest book, renowned economist and author demolishes the myths that underpin the social justice movement. Thomas Sowell, age […]
Sowell Exposes Social Justice Fallacies
What should be done about the Reserve Bank?
19 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: monetary policy

Monday’s post was on the important place effective accountability must have when government agencies are given great discretionary power which – as is in the nature of any human institutions – they will at times exercise poorly. My particular focus is on the Reserve Bank, both because it is what I know best, because it […]
What should be done about the Reserve Bank?
New Evidence May Destroy Biden’s Defense in his Classified Documents Case
17 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

Below is my column in The Hill on new evidence released by the House Oversight Committee challenging the account of President Joe Biden and the White House on the discovery of classified material in various locations. If the earlier search included these classified documents, the new timeline will shatter the long-standing claims of the President. […]
New Evidence May Destroy Biden’s Defense in his Classified Documents Case
BARRIE SAUNDERS: Labour one of two election losers
16 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
Labour is a big time election loser, but is not the only one. Labour will now have to re-build, while it has two strong competitors on its left – The Greens and The Maori Party. Given Labour’s natural position as a major party, this is much more difficult than it is for the niche parties.…
BARRIE SAUNDERS: Labour one of two election losers
The case for bringing Winston into a coalition agreement
15 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
There’s much to digest, the day after the counting of votes and an outcome which is subject to special votes being brought into account. For now, it is tempting to agree with David Farrar (who confesses it is unlike him to write an article which can be summed up in the headline Why National should do […]
The case for bringing Winston into a coalition agreement
Labour one of two election losers
15 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
Labour is a big time election loser, but is not the only one. Labour will now have to re-build, while it has two strong competitors on its left – The Greens and The Maori Party. Given Labour’s natural position as a major party, this is much more difficult than it is for the niche parties. […]
Labour one of two election losers
Why was Texas divided after it joined the USA?
12 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, International law, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: maps, Texas
The problems of a tax-free threshold
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, public economics
Jim Rose details the problems with a tax-free threshold for the NZ Taxpayers Union. Running one that’s revenue-neutral means you have to increase marginal rates further up. Increasing marginal rates to fund inframarginal transfers mightn’t make the most sense. And there are better ways of targeting support, if that’s what you want to do. He writes:The introduction…
The problems of a tax-free threshold
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