I’m off to the Blyde River Canyon today and most of tomorrow, so posts will be nonexistent or thin for a few days—save for Matthew’s postings of the Hili Dialogues. I’ve largely avoided reading the news, as I find it depressing and not conducive to a relaxing vacation, but two readers sent me stuff about […]
Meanwhile at the Democratic National Convention. . .
Meanwhile at the Democratic National Convention. . .
23 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: 2024 presidential election
Tangled Comparisons: Renewables Versus Fossil Fuels
23 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: solar power, wind power
Wind or solar costs around five times more per megawatt hour compared to, for example, natural gas.
Tangled Comparisons: Renewables Versus Fossil Fuels
‘Third Rail’: Here’s Why Team Kamala Isn’t Peddling the Typical Dem Climate Panic This Election
23 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, climate alarmism, fracking
,,,they can’t afford to lose Pennsylvania. So, they don’t want to talk about climate, because when you talk about climate, then you have to talk about fracking, and then they’re going to have to talk about how she wants to stop fracking, regardless of what she says.”
‘Third Rail’: Here’s Why Team Kamala Isn’t Peddling the Typical Dem Climate Panic This Election
Guest Post: Criticising Cuba
23 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of crime, growth disasters, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: Cuba
A guest post by Lucy Rogers: Today (as of the time of writing) I saw Associate Professor Michael Mawson of the theology faculty at Auckland University advertise on Facebook an event hosting Professor Miguel De La Torre, a Cuban academic specialising in liberation theology. The event is to be held at the Maclaurin Chapel at […]
Guest Post: Criticising Cuba
The Intellectual Roots of YIMBYism
23 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, politics - USA, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, zoning
At the Democratic National Convention former President Obama came out strongly in favor of housing deregulation saying “we need to build more homes and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that make it harder to build homes”. Robert Kwasny asks on X, “What are the intellectual roots of present-day YIMBYism?” Looking at […]
The Intellectual Roots of YIMBYism
Promised debate at Auckland University on indigenous ways of knowing vs. science fails to materialize
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
In 2021, the Listener Letter fracas erupted in New Zealand when seven professors at Auckland University argued that the indigenous “way of knowing,” Mātauranga Māori (MM), while valuable in anthropology and sociology classes, should not be taught, as the government planned, as coequal with modern science. The seven signers were right: while MM does contain […]
Promised debate at Auckland University on indigenous ways of knowing vs. science fails to materialize
More on the decline and fall of science education in New Zealand
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, constitutional law, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Skip this if you don’t care about science education in New Zealand, but plenty of scientists there are worried about it. And it’s a harbinger of what may happen to science education in the U.S. as science courses add requirements to teach indigenous “ways of knowing” and the curriculum itself pushes out traditional material to make […]
More on the decline and fall of science education in New Zealand
Adam Smith Meets Jonathan Haidt (on political polarization and the animosity of hostile factions)
22 Aug 2024 1 Comment
in Adam Smith, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left. Age of Enlightenment
Jonathan Haidt wrote the book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. It is about how polarized and nasty our politics have become, how everyone loves to demonize and ridicule anyone from a different political party. But these are things that Adam Smith talked about in his book The Theory…
Adam Smith Meets Jonathan Haidt (on political polarization and the animosity of hostile factions)
Google’s strategy of search engine user lock-in
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, politics - USA Tags: competition law
The Financial Times reported earlier this month (paywalled):A US federal judge has ruled that Google spent billions of dollars on exclusive deals to maintain an illegal monopoly on search, in a landmark win for the Department of Justice as it seeks to rein in Big Tech’s market power…The ruling follows a weeks-long trial in which…
Google’s strategy of search engine user lock-in
Why Top CEOs Earn Big Paychecks
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of education, entrepreneurship, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, managerial economics, market efficiency, occupational choice, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, survivor principle Tags: CEO pay, superstar wages
CEO compensation at large firms is high, especially in comparison to average worker wages, sparking debates over income inequality. Critics argue that such pay packages are unfair and disproportionate to actual company performance. Proponents contend that high pay reflects productivity and is necessary to attract scarce top talent to large firms. Let’s go to the […]
Why Top CEOs Earn Big Paychecks
How Chlöe Swarbrick struggled to accept the PM’s position on sovereignty
21 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Bob Edlin writes – Historian and former Labour Government cabinet minister Michael Bassett, in an article posted here earlier today, said those who spend time on the web examining the Treaty of Waitangi will find claims there are four or even five articles when officially there have never been more than three. Bassett went on […]
How Chlöe Swarbrick struggled to accept the PM’s position on sovereignty
“Keyboard Warrior”: British Crackdown Results in Three-Year Sentence Over Anti-Migrant Postings
21 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: British politics, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Three years ago, we discussed the conviction of a British man for “toxic ideologies,” under the draconian laws criminalizing inciteful or dangerous speech. The erosion of free speech appears to have only accelerated in the UK. As is often the case, the attacks on free speech increase during periods of unrest, anger or fear. With […]
“Keyboard Warrior”: British Crackdown Results in Three-Year Sentence Over Anti-Migrant Postings
The censored school speech
20 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
This is the speech by Oliver Jull that won him a spot in the speech competition finals, but then his school canceled as it was worried it may offend some people. You don’t have to agree with it, to think he should be allowed to express his beliefs.
The censored school speech
When The Democrats Loved Trump
20 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: 2016 US presidential election, 2024 presidential election, regressive left
Joe Rogan has just dropped some amazing video of Donald Trump in 2011. Watch. That was in 2011. The crowd gives him a standing ovation. Barbara Walters, who used to host The View, greets Trump as “My friend”, and he engages in hugs and kisses with… Joy Behar and Whoopie Goldberg! He even says the […]
When The Democrats Loved Trump
New Zealand fact of the day
19 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in international economics, labour economics, labour supply, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of immigration
In the year to June, 80,200 New Zealand citizens moved abroad, almost double the numbers prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, just 24,900 returned, according to Stats NZ — the country’s official data agency. The net loss of 55,300 citizens (which follows a net loss of 56,500 in the year to April) smashed the previous record […]
New Zealand fact of the day
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