Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died today at the age of 100. He was the oldest-ever former president of the United States. It is also worth noting that he was married to Rosalynn Carter for an impressive 77 years. George H.W. Bush was the second-oldest former president, passing at the age […]
James E. Carter (1924-2024)
James E. Carter (1924-2024)
30 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer interviewed by Jack Tame
30 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Top MR Posts of 2024!
30 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, gender, health and safety, human capital, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: economics of immigration, gender wage gap, Internet, political correctness, regressive left
The number one post this year was Tyler’s The changes in vibes — why did they happen? A prescient post and worth a re-read. Lots of quotable content that has become conventional wisdom after the election: The ongoing feminization of society has driven more and more men, including black and Latino men, into the Republican […]
Top MR Posts of 2024!
International Regulatory Authority Says California Grid at Risk of Energy Shortfalls
29 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: California, solar power, wind power
“With a resource portfolio that includes a substantial amount of solar [panels], the risk of supply shortfall is associated with summer evening periods when demand is high and solar output is diminished.”
International Regulatory Authority Says California Grid at Risk of Energy Shortfalls
What is a woman? My discussion on a Freedom From Religion Foundation website
29 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
So here’s the story. I’m not only a member and supporter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, but am also on its Honorary Board. Thus I was doubly distressed when I saw the post below on their website Freethought Now!, a post that completely ignores the widely-accepted biological definition of a woman—one based on the […]
What is a woman? My discussion on a Freedom From Religion Foundation website
On Trump On Panama Canal Fees
29 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, international economics, International law, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, tarrifs
TweetThis letter of mine appears in today’s New York Times: To the Editor: Donald Trump complains that the fees Panama charges for ships to use its canal are a “complete ‘rip-off.’” How mysterious. Given Mr. Trump’s belief that “the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff,’” he should be pleased that these fees are…
On Trump On Panama Canal Fees
More Police, Fewer Prisons, and Other Ways to Reduce Crime
29 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
What does the existing research evidence say about how to reduce crime? Jennifer Doleac offers and over overview in “Why Crime Matters, and What to Do About It.” It appear as an essay in a book published by the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, Strengthening America’s Economic Dynamism, edited by Melissa Kearney and Luke Pardue. You…
More Police, Fewer Prisons, and Other Ways to Reduce Crime
Our Lying Eyes: New Photo Shows Biden with Hunter ‘s Business Associates Despite Past Denials
28 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
“Lies.” That response was a mantra for President Joe Biden, who denied ever meeting or knowing about his son’s foreign dealings. Despite the pronounced lack of interest by most media outlets in the alleged multimillion dollar influence-peddling scheme, the House and conservative groups have doggedly pursued the matter and found overwhelming evidence that the President […]
Our Lying Eyes: New Photo Shows Biden with Hunter ‘s Business Associates Despite Past Denials
Trump just wants to copy NZ citizenship law
28 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in International law, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA
Politico reports: Donald Trump’s team is crafting an executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, a monumental move the president-elect’s allies say is a key step in their long-term strategy: getting the issue before the Supreme Court. The effect of Trump’s order would be to exclude the children of undocumented […]
Trump just wants to copy NZ citizenship law
The New FDA and the Regulation of Laboratory Developed Tests
28 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: drug lags
The FDA under President Trump and new FDA head Martin Makary should rapidly reverse the FDA’s powergrab on laboratory developed tests. To recap, laboratory developed tests (LDTs) are the kind your doctor orders, they are a service not a product and are not sold directly to patients. Congress has never given the FDA the authority […]
The New FDA and the Regulation of Laboratory Developed Tests
By Any Other Name.
28 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After all, what sort of person…
By Any Other Name.
Scandinavian Governments Are Greedy, not Socialist
27 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: Denmark, Norway, social insurance, Sweden, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
Scandinavian nations are not socialist, at least if we’re using the technical definition (government ownership, central planning, and price controls). But those countries do have big welfare states. And that means stifling tax burdens. And those harsh taxes don’t just apply to rich taxpayers. Lower-income and middle-class people also get pillaged. I’ve already explained that punitive value-added […]
Scandinavian Governments Are Greedy, not Socialist
The Secretary to the Treasury defending govt fiscal policy
27 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, economics of bureaucracy, fiscal policy, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
I wasn’t envisaging writing anything more for a while, but….Welllington’s weather certainly isn’t conducive to either the beach or the garden, and the Herald managed to get an interview with Iain Rennie, the new Secretary to the Treasury (not usually the sort of stuff for 27 December either). I’ve always been rather uneasy about heads […]
The Secretary to the Treasury defending govt fiscal policy
What does society expect from fathers?
27 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of love and marriage, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of fertility
We live in a society utterly confused about parenthood and the role of fathers. The last Labour government made fathers increasingly irrelevant. In 2020 a law change repealing section 70a of the Social Security Act meant mothers applying for a sole parent benefit no longer had to name the father of their child for the…
What does society expect from fathers?
“This Orange County…They Don’t Play”: California’s Tougher Shoplifting Law Receives Curious Endorsement
27 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, Gary Becker, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Proposition 36, which increases punishments for some retail theft and drug possession offenses, overwhelmingly passed in California despite the opposition of Gov. Gavin Newsom and most Democrats. Newsom denounced the measure as something that “takes us back to the 1980s, mass incarceration.” Despite discussing her tough-on-crime record in the election, Vice President Kamala Harris refused […]
“This Orange County…They Don’t Play”: California’s Tougher Shoplifting Law Receives Curious Endorsement
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