Bill Maher’s latest “Real Time” clip argues that we should get rid of the State of the Union Address (coming up Tuesday), at least under Trump. That’s because to Maher it’s ludicrous that Trump keeps appropriating the powers of Congress for himself, violating our Constitutional separation of powers. The speech has become, says Maher, not…
Bill Maher’s new rule: The King’s speech
Bill Maher’s new rule: The King’s speech
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows
New Zealand First’s Economics
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, politics - New Zealand
Shane Jones is committed to state-led economic development. New Zealand First and ACT sit further apart on the economics spectrum than do Labour and National. On other parts of the policy spectrum the two are more aligned, but this column’s focus is primarily on economics and, particularly, the economics of NZF. I leave Christopher Luxon’s […]
New Zealand First’s Economics
Aussie Senator: US Social Media Reluctance to Censor Climate Skeptics – “This is the Problem”
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - Australia Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism, free speech
Apparently free speech is OK, as long as the Australian Government thinks what you are saying is true.
Aussie Senator: US Social Media Reluctance to Censor Climate Skeptics – “This is the Problem”
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part III
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA, survivor principle
In Part I and Part II of this series, we looked at research showing that Americans are bearing the burden of Trump’s trade taxes. Those findings are a useful antidote to Trump’s silly and illiterate claim that foreign companies are swallowing the added cost. In both of those columns, however, I pointed out that I’m […]
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part III
“It’s Not Going to End Well for Them”: Susan Rice Joins Call for a Revenge Purge After Democrats Re-Take Power
22 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
As Democrats plan for the possible takeover in the midterms and 2028 election, they are already openly discussing their push…
“It’s Not Going to End Well for Them”: Susan Rice Joins Call for a Revenge Purge After Democrats Re-Take Power
Clearing up some misconceptions about the DoE report
22 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA, Public Choice
by Ross McKitrick Last year I had the privilege of working with a small team (me, Judy Curry, John Christy, Steve Koonin and Roy Spencer) on a draft report for U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on the topic of climate … Continue reading → The post Clearing up some misconceptions about the DoE report appeared…
Clearing up some misconceptions about the DoE report
Trump’s Tariffs Have Not Shifted the Trade Deficit
21 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in international economics, politics - USA Tags: free trade, tarrifs
The recent Supreme Court decision that President Trump did not have arbitrary and unbounded powers he has claimed to impose or retrace tariffs came as no surprise, for a variety reasons laid out in earlier posts here, here, and here. But here I want to focus on a different claim: that the reason for tariffs…
Trump’s Tariffs Have Not Shifted the Trade Deficit
Sewage, scrutiny, and the politics of accountability
21 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, environmental economics, environmentalism, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, urban economics Tags: water pollution
Is it racist to be angry at elected representatives? Moa Point as a case study… When a city pumps tens of millions of litres of raw sewage into the sea day after day, the public is entitled to anger. There is human waste in the sea and on the shore, beaches are closed in peak […]
Sewage, scrutiny, and the politics of accountability
The Constitutional Anomaly of a Disgraced Ex-Prince in the Line of Succession
21 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in politics Tags: British constitutional law
Yesterday, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. While the specifics of the police investigation aren’t known, the assumption is that it’s related to his alleged sharing of sensitive documents with Jeffrey Epstein during his tenure as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. Although the impact of […]
The Constitutional Anomaly of a Disgraced Ex-Prince in the Line of Succession
Nature, ideologically captured, uses “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women”
21 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: sex discrimination
Here’s a new article in Nature (click on the title screenshot below to read it); it’s about the dearth of information about the safety of drugs used by pregnant women. Except, to Nature, they refer not to “women” but to “pregnant people,” for in the article, that is about the only term that refers to…
Nature, ideologically captured, uses “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women”
Damned if they do, damned if they don’t: The billion-dollar bill for Labour’s gas ban
20 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
Few policies manage to unite the left, the right and the Taxpayers’ Union in opposition. The Government’s billion-dollar LNG import terminal in Taranaki managed it inside 24 hours. By Tuesday morning, it had been attacked from the left as a gas tax, from the right as a new levy on households, and from the commentariat […]
Damned if they do, damned if they don’t: The billion-dollar bill for Labour’s gas ban
PEN America gets captured: organization accepts Palestine as a member and rejects Israel; Jewish chief executive resigns after accusations of being a “Zionist” and not signing on to Israel’s “genocide”
20 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left
Every day, it seems, another group gets ideologically captured, valorizing Palestine (or Hamas) and demonizing Israel. This is dispiriting for Jews, but the latest such capture—of the free-expression literary group PEN America—is especially depressing. The decline of PEN American was first evidenced to me when, in 2015, it decided to give a “freedom of expression”…
PEN America gets captured: organization accepts Palestine as a member and rejects Israel; Jewish chief executive resigns after accusations of being a “Zionist” and not signing on to Israel’s “genocide”
Greens announce their new crime policy is to pretend there is none!
20 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand
An amazing interview at The Spinoff: Swarbrick said she had regularly told Beck that contributing to a media narrative of the city centre being all “chaos and crime and knives and guns” resulted in less foot traffic, less vibrancy and less safety. “I have personally contacted Viv and spoken to her at a number of meetings…
Greens announce their new crime policy is to pretend there is none!
A course of indoctrination at the University of Chicago
19 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: economics of colonialism, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank
There are many courses in universities that seem not to be exercises in objective teaching and learning, but rather courses designed to foist certain political ideologies or points of view on students. One of them at this university was called to my attention by several in our community; it seems to be a course on…
A course of indoctrination at the University of Chicago
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part II
18 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA Tags: free trade, tarrifs
In Part I of this series, we reviewed some new research from the New York Federal Reserve. That study showed that Americans bear about 90 percent of the burden of Trump’s Liberation Day trade taxes. Though I added my own two cents because I don’t actually care that much about who bears the burden of […]
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part II
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