The Hollywood Reporter has a good piece on Trump’s proposed movie tariffs: Even if such a tariff were legal — and there is some debate about whether Trump has the authority to impose such levies — industry experts are baffled as to how, in practice, a “movie tariff” would work. “What exactly does he want […]
Tabarrok on the Movie Tariff
Tabarrok on the Movie Tariff
07 May 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, international economics, movies, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, tariffs
The best tariff threat is one you do not have to use
06 May 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, international economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, game theory, tariffs
Following up on an earlier post, Reciprocal tariffs as a tit-for-tat strategy in a repeated prisoners’ dilemma From NY Times:Trump imposed, quickly withdrew and then threatened to bring back huge tariffs on dozens of countries. Immediately, they began calling and asking what they could do to stop him. “More than 100 countries have already come to…
The best tariff threat is one you do not have to use
Squatter Syndrome: How the Inefficiencies of Our Legal System Are Making a Mockery of Our Immigration Laws
06 May 2025 Leave a comment
in Economics of international refugee law, International law, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: economics of immigration
It was once said that possession is nine-tenths of the law, an acknowledgement that the possessor of property generally has the advantage in keeping it. This principle has been taken to absurd extremes in some squatter cases, where people invade homes and then demand the right to stay pending long legal challenges. Today, under both […]
Squatter Syndrome: How the Inefficiencies of Our Legal System Are Making a Mockery of Our Immigration Laws
New Rule: Flirting with Fascism | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
06 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
The price of “free” healthcare is the wait
06 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, health economics, politics - USA Tags: Canada, health insurance
While healthcare in Canada’s single-payer health care system is technically free, its real price is measured in wait times. In 2023, the median wait time from a general practitioner’s referral to treatment reached 27.7 weeks—the longest ever and nearly triple the 9.3 weeks reported in 1993. (MuskegonPundit) To see this, think of “free” as…
The price of “free” healthcare is the wait
Trump proposes 100% tariff on movies shot outside the United States
05 May 2025 1 Comment
in industrial organisation, international economics, movies, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Here is one link. Of course the proposal is not easy to understand. If it is a Jason Bourne movie, do they add up the number of scenes shot abroad and consider those as a percentage of the entire movie? Does one scene shot abroad invoke the entire tariff? o3 guesstimates that about half of […]
Trump proposes 100% tariff on movies shot outside the United States
Has international travel to the U.S. really collapsed?
05 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, transport economics Tags: 2024 presidential election
But despite some ominous signs, a close look at the data shows that travel to the United States is largely holding up — at least so far. Nearly as many foreign travelers have arrived at American airports this year than during the same period last year, according to an analysis by The New York Times […]
Has international travel to the U.S. really collapsed?
Democracy in danger
03 May 2025 1 Comment
in politics - USA Tags: constitutional law, France, Germany
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency on Friday designated the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, as an “extremist endeavor,” a move that lowers hurdles for the spy agency in conducting certain kinds of surveillance on the party, the second-largest in Germany’s parliament. In a statement, the intelligence agency said the designation was “due to the […]
Democracy in danger
Monologue: Toys “R” Sus | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
03 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: 2024 presidential election
“Take out Every Single Person Who Supports Trump”: Maine Teacher Calls for the Secret Service to Go on a Killing Spree
03 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
We have been discussing the increasing political violence on the left. That includes a student who published a column recently on “when must we kill them?” I noted that such views are often reflections of the many extremists currently in teaching. That was evident this week in Maine, where English teacher JoAnna St. Germain of […]
“Take out Every Single Person Who Supports Trump”: Maine Teacher Calls for the Secret Service to Go on a Killing Spree
Sex is binary
03 May 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Trans activists and their supporters have confused feelings with facts in trying to convince themselves, and others, that sex isn’t binary. Science disproves that: Here’s why sex is binary, explained in 5 minutes. pic.twitter.com/DuX7Yk7Z0f — Zachary Elliott (@zaelefty) April 26, 2025
Sex is binary
Not the 51st state – for some time yet
03 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, Canada
America’s attention-loving president Donald Trump achieved a remarkable success (by at least one measure) by making himself a salient issue in Canada’s general election held on Monday. It remains to be seen whether that success extends to other areas.
Not the 51st state – for some time yet
Have The Intermittent Energy Blackouts Begun?
03 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: celebrity technologies, solar power, wind power
As Schellenberger points out, with just “a hair” more frequency variation it could have been far worse. Will that happen some time soon? I’m not going to pretend I know. But I do know that the electricity system in most of Europe and many U.S. states is in the hands of crazed fanatics who have no idea what they are doing. My own bet would be that there are many far worse blackouts to come, until this idiotic “net zero” thing is abandoned.
Have The Intermittent Energy Blackouts Begun?
Trump Admin Sues to Block Blue States From Taking Fossil Fuel Companies To Court Over Climate Change
02 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: climate activists, nuisance suits
The Trump administration filed lawsuits Wednesday against Michigan and Hawaii in an attempt to block the states from seeking damages in court against fossil fuel companies for alleged environmental harm.
Trump Admin Sues to Block Blue States From Taking Fossil Fuel Companies To Court Over Climate Change
The First 100 Days: The Method Behind the Madness in Court Challenges
02 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law, economics of immigration
Below is my column in the New York Post on the first 100 days of the Trump Administration in court. It is too early to handicap many of these lower courts decisions. I have been critical of some of these orders as either premature or unconstitutional. There is a reason for the hyperkinetic pace of […]
The First 100 Days: The Method Behind the Madness in Court Challenges
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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