via Political Calculations: The Two Californias: One for Adults, One for Teens.
Margaret Thatcher’s brilliant last Prime Minister’s Question Time
20 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in politics Tags: Margaret Thatcher
Australia’s carbon debate mirrors global follies
19 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia Tags: carbon tax, expressive voting
In a democracy we resolve our differences by trying to persuade each other and elections
17 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
Thatcher’s brilliant critique of socialism and how it is happy for the poor to be poor
16 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, income redistribution, liberalism, politics Tags: Margaret Thatcher, socialism
Household Incomes in NZ: trends in indicators of inequality and hardship 1982-2013
14 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, politics - New Zealand Tags: The Great Enrichment
Real household income trends, 1982 to 2013 ($2013) before housing costs (BHC) and after housing costs (AHC)
Gini coefficient 1980 – 2015
The tax and transfer system significantly reduces the inequality
the increases were 55% for Pakeha, 57% for Pasifika, and 64% for Māori since 1994.
PAT CONDELL: “Why I support Israel”
13 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in laws of war, liberalism, politics, war and peace Tags: Israel, war crimes
Conspiracy Theories Debunked: The Moon landing was a hoax?!
13 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in politics - USA Tags: conspiracy theories, moon landing hoax
If staged in the studio, a 143 minute continuous broadcast of the footage of the Moon approach and the astronauts on the Moon with the recording technology of the time would have required tapes the size of cars if it were pre-recorded in some manner on 5,300 feet of film that is free of scratches and specs of dust. 1969 did not have the technology to fake the landing on video. Slow motion video was truly primitive in 1969: 30 seconds replayed at 90 seconds maximum.
The failures of progressive politics
12 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in Milton Friedman, politics Tags: Alex Millmow, failure of progressive politics, Friedman in Australia, Joan Robinson, Milton Friedman
Limiting ourselves to democratically elected governments, and there are many of these even in the under-developed countries, progressive ideas seem to fail, and fail again at the ballot box right around the globe as you concede the strong right-wing bias of many governments across the globe.
There was one left-wing federal government in Australia in the last 60 years. That was for three years between 1972 and 1975, and it lost in a landslide. the Whitlam government got in buy a few seats in 1972by beating tired and smelly government that had held office for 23 years
This inability of progressive politics get anywhere is important because every set of ideas needs effective critics to keep it on its toes and stop it from slouching into error and special interest capture.
The Right needs a vibrant Left to keep the Right fit, trim and down to its fighting weight so as to be able to thrash the Left once again at the next election. That is the function of left-wing governments: mind the shop while the right-wing parties are fed and rested and rejuvenated.
Prior to the 1990s, all it took to see progressive ideas off the political and economic stage in a country was a visit or two by Milton Friedman, if some are to be believed. I do not believe that political transformations are as easy as this.
However, some still want to maintain the rage over, for example, Friedman’s April 1975 trip to Australia for 18 days leading to a paradigm shift to neo-liberalism and Hayden’s supposedly monetarist budget shortly after if Alex Millmow is to be believed. Apparently, the spirited, witty Joan Robinson’s visit the same month and her own Monday conference program did not do the trick as an anti-biotic and vaccine.
Progressives will have no role in future political transformations because if you scratch a progressive you will find a left wing populist.
A left-wing populist is too busy telling you who to fear and who to blame to put up policies that are actually robust enough to work and to have worked in the past in a society where people are not perfect in their motivations, they do not have perfect knowledge in a changing world, and there is no offsetting behaviour and unintended consequences when these policies are put in practice.
Conspiracy Theories Debunked: The Twin Towers and Building #7 fell because of explosives placed in advance of 9/11
12 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in politics - USA Tags: 9/11, conspiracy theories
The clip shows the lack of the sounds of the explosions and flashes that occur with planned demolitions.
Vox Millennials
12 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: Millennials, public opinion
- 73 percent of millennials favor allowing private accounts for Social Security; 51 percent favor private accounts even it means cutting Social Security benefits for current and future retirees because 53 percent of millennials say Social Security is unlikely to exist when they retire
- 64 percent of millennials say cutting government spending by 5 percent would help the economy
- 59 percent say cutting taxes would help the economy
- 57 percent prefer a smaller government providing fewer services with low taxes, while 41 percent prefer a larger government providing more services with high taxes
- 57 percent want a society where wealth is distributed according to achievement
- 55 percent say reducing regulations would help the economy
- 53 percent say reducing the size of government would help the economy
- 74 percent of millennials say government has a responsibility to guarantee every citizen has a place to sleep and enough to eat
HT: reason.com
The golden thread running through British justice
11 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: British justice, common law, presumption of innocence, rule of law
Thai Junta Revokes a Famed Academic’s Passport in Its Crackdown on Dissidents
11 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in politics Tags: democracy, military coup, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, rule of law, Thailand
An old graduate school mate of ours from our Japan days, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a prominent Thai political scholar and outspoken opponent of the country’s coup, has had his passport revoked as part of the Thai junta’s on-going campaign against dissent.
He is based at Japan’s Kyoto University, and is expected to seek asylum in Japan.
via The Thai Junta Revokes a Famed Academic’s Passport in Its Crackdown on Dissidents | TIME.
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