https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/653888723034222592/photo/1
Rethinking Afghanistan (and then rethinking some more) http://t.co/uY7T6mUIUV—
ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) October 17, 2015
The ups and downs of the Afghan war
23 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, unintended consequences, war against terror
US gender wage gap at 10th, 50th and 90th percentile
21 Oct 2015 2 Comments
in discrimination, economic history, gender, politics - USA
In common with New Zealand, the most persistent gender pay gap is at the top end of the labour market. There is more gender equality among the lowest paid female workers than the highest-paid female workers. The gender pay gap for the top 10% of female workers has been static for 20 years. Gender pay gaps for female workers at the median weekly earnings for a full-time worker and at the bottom have been still closing albeit slowly over that same 20 years.
Source: OECD Employment Database.
@BernieSanders @HillaryClinton drug price controls will shorten lives
21 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, health economics, politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, creative destruction, drug lags, entrepreneurial alertness, innovations, intellectual property, patents and copyright, price controls
Drug price controls have populist appeal, but patients are the ones they would hurt the most bit.ly/1X3e742 http://t.co/ulXuGHLSld—
Manhattan Institute (@ManhattanInst) October 17, 2015
Where have all the campaign donations gone?
21 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2016 presidential election, campaign finance
How much money candidates have – and how quickly they're spending it wapo.st/1LT8gLf http://t.co/M3bZ89vOPn—
Post Graphics (@PostGraphics) October 18, 2015
How much the presidential candidates raised from real people bloom.bg/1MGUpYT http://t.co/5zHtrcgSYs—
Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) October 19, 2015
@HillaryClinton positions on #TPA trade deal over time
21 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in international economics, politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, customs unions, free trade agreements, preferential trading agreements, regional trade agreements, TPA, TPPA
Timeline of Hillary Clinton's positions on Pacific trade deal over time: on.wsj.com/1OA728c by @willmauldin http://t.co/iPN0p5VZhn—
WSJ Think Tank (@WSJThinkTank) October 18, 2015
Why 788 people were shot dead by police so far this year
20 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, law and order, police, police shootings
The Washington Post also compiles a list of Americans shot dead by their police. The police hate speech host site, The Countered at The Guardian has some competition.
Source: Investigation: Police shootings – Washington Post.
The Washington Post counts 788 police shot dead by police. The Counted counts 922 because it includes deaths in custody, Taser deaths and people collapsing after a struggle. The Countered even included one poor sod who was lost at night-time and accidentally run over by the police cruiser searching for him. He wasn’t on the run. He was just run over at night.
Source: Investigation: Police shootings – Washington Post.
In common with The Counted, the Washington Post does not present the data on police shootings in the simple pie chart graphics to get a handle on how many times police shot armed criminals. That is why I am posting this pie chart today presenting this most basic information necessary for a balanced view.
Imagine if @HillaryClinton had a serious opponent, not @BernieSanders
19 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, expressive voting, Leftover Left, rational ignorance, rational rationality, Twitter left
Hillary Clinton's drop in the polls is precipitous, but it may not be fatal. Here's why: bloom.bg/1L1ahTD http://t.co/WpCL0JT2Kj—
Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) October 18, 2015
What Upshot would have said if Joe Biden had decided to run. nyti.ms/1ZYvTbk https://t.co/Bd2VS4wb50—
The Upshot (@UpshotNYT) October 22, 2015
Range anxiety is the least of Tesla’s problems – check out the price!
19 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, transport economics Tags: electric cars, green rent seeking, Tesla
Tesla destroys the competition when it comes to how far its cars go on one charge buff.ly/1LphuLg http://t.co/UhIAECZIFp—
Business Insider (@businessinsider) October 17, 2015
Tertiary education premium by gender in the English-speaking countries, 2012
19 Oct 2015 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, College premium, education premium, gender wage gap, Ireland, New Zealand, reversing gender gap
There are large differences in the education premium between English speaking countries and also by gender. The tertiary premium in New Zealand is pretty poor compared to the USA, UK or Ireland and is still mediocre when compared to Australia and Canada.
Source: Education at a Glance 2014.
Desperately seeking Thatchernomics & Reaganomics – tax revenue as a % of GDP in the USA and UK
18 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA, public economics
If a Martian landed on earth and was asked at Immigration Control to pick when Reagan and Thatcher were in office based on tax policies, our Martian applicant for a visitors’ visa would get it right for the UK. Taxes as a percentage of GDP increased from 31% to 37% under the 1970s Wilson and Callaghan administrations which led to the sick man of Europe. Under Thatchernomics, tax revenue as a percentage of British GDP fell from 37% to 31% by the time Mrs Thatcher had left office.
Data extracted on 18 Oct 2015 02:10 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
Taxes as percentage of GDP actually increased in the Reagan years so Martians will not be able to identify Reaganomics based on taxes as a percentage of GDP. The Democratic Party controlled at least the House of Representatives for the entire time of the Reagan administration so any tax agenda would have been tempered. There were large cuts in marginal tax rates funded by tax base expansion. That’s the traditional meaning of tax reform. There is no actual reduction in taxes as percentage of GDP. Marginal tax rates are funded by increases in tax base or increases in indirect taxes.
As for Tony Blair as a continuation of Thatchernomics, tax revenues as a percentage of GDP stopped increasing under his watch after increasing again under John Major.
@GreenpeaceNZ @jamespeshaw The Futility and Farce of Global Climate Negotiations @RichardTol
18 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, development economics, economics of bureaucracy, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, growth disasters, growth miracles, international economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: bootleggers and baptists, climate alarmism, expressive voting, free-riders, global warming, green tariffs, international public goods, Leftover Left, New Zealand Greens, Twitter left
It is time for the environmental movement to face up to the fact that there never will be an international treaty to restrain carbon emissions. The practical way to respond to global warming is healthier is wealthier, richer is safer. Faster economic growth creates more resources for resilience and adaptation to a changing environment.
NEW REPORT: The Futility and Farce of Global Climate Negotiations bit.ly/1LvFFv3 http://t.co/TwbFUwaPlm—
Manhattan Institute (@ManhattanInst) October 17, 2015
India's target compared to its recent history http://t.co/pIvwhoSTpL—
Richard Tol (@RichardTol) October 02, 2015
Will high marginal tax rates and redistribution fix inequality?
18 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, entrepreneurship, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: Gini coefficient, rational irrationality, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and human capital, taxation and labour supply, taxation investment
@AndrewLittleMP @jamespeshaw @BillEnglishMP Real housing prices New Zealand, Australia & USA: 1975 January quarter – 2015 June quarter
17 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: green rentseeking, housing affordability, land supply, New Zealand Greens, New Zealand Labour Party, RMA
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Source and notes: International House Price Database – Dallas Fed June 2015; nominal housing prices for each country is deflated by the personal consumption deflator for that country.
New Zealand housing prices were pretty stable until the passage of the Resource Management Act in 1993. After that, prices took off New Zealand and didn’t slow that much for the recession subsequent to the Global Financial Crisis.
American prices just had a bubble because of loose monetary policy by the Fed and loose lending criteria by banks at the behest of regulators. Real housing prices in the USA started to rise again last year after a dramatic fall.
Australian prices were rising steadily until about 2000 but then took off with a strong economy and the usual restrictions on land supply by local governments at the behest of the existing homeowners.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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