The executive order is another eleventh-hour move in what appears to be an effort to stymy President-elect Donald Trump’s energy agenda, which is expected to include a vast expansion of oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters. Biden announced a ban Monday for future offshore oil and gas activity across 625 million acres of the outer continental shelf, citing a law that could prevent a successive administration from easily reversing the policy.
Biden Uses Last-Minute AI Executive Order To Force More Green Energy Onto The Grid
Biden Uses Last-Minute AI Executive Order To Force More Green Energy Onto The Grid
18 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA, resource economics Tags: solar power, wind power
CA gov prevents voluntary wealth-creating transactions
17 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of natural disasters, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights
From REASON: On January 7, Newsom issued a state of emergency as fires spread in Los Angeles County. On Tuesday, Newsom signed Executive Order N-7-25, prohibiting buyers for three months from “making any unsolicited offer to an owner of real property” in fire-affected areas “for an amount less than the fair market value of the…
CA gov prevents voluntary wealth-creating transactions
Margaret Thatcher, Michael Curley, and the 19th Theorem of Government
16 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, financial economics, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, regulation, rentseeking
In this 12-second video, Margaret Thatcher is talking about the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, but her warning has universal application. And when I say her warning has universal application, I’m not joking. Politicians generally can’t resist the temptation to buy votes. And I fear that this can and will happen at all levels […]
Margaret Thatcher, Michael Curley, and the 19th Theorem of Government
One early report on congestion pricing in NYC
16 Jan 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, market efficiency, politics - USA, public economics, transport economics, urban economics Tags: road pricing
That is my latest Bloomberg column, here is one bit: The core version of the plan stipulates a $9 toll for drivers entering Manhattan below and including 60th Street. Implementation is by E-Z Pass, and the tolls can vary in complex ways. But if you don’t cross the line, you don’t pay. So residents below 60th Street are exempt, […]
One early report on congestion pricing in NYC
Jacksonian Obstruction: Smith Explains How He Was Planning to Circumvent the Decision in Fischer
15 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election

The release of the first part of Jack Smith’s report at midnight was the special counsel’s version of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision: we had seen it before. Putting aside the public filings where Smith fought to get this information out before the election, there was little new in the report. What the report did […]
Jacksonian Obstruction: Smith Explains How He Was Planning to Circumvent the Decision in Fischer
Assigning Responsibility for the Tragic Los Angeles Fires
15 Jan 2025 1 Comment
in economics of natural disasters, economics of regulation, environmental economics, environmentalism, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, urban economics
Blaming climate change for these disasters only deflects attention away from actual causes. Fabrications linking rising CO2 to wildfires should be ignored. Governments must employ solutions that will truly protect people and their property from the unstoppable, natural conditions enabling devastating fires.
Assigning Responsibility for the Tragic Los Angeles Fires
Climatists Make Their Case by Omitting Facts
15 Jan 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism

One of the world’s top economists has written an expert court report that forcefully supports a group of children and young adults who have sued the federal government for failing to act on climate change. (Source: Inside Climate News here) Excerpts in italics with my bolds. Stiglitz, a Columbia University economics professor and former World […]
Climatists Make Their Case by Omitting Facts
How Jack Smith Destroyed His Own Case Against Trump
14 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election

Below is my column in The Hill on the one thing that the forthcoming report of Special Counsel Jack Smith will not address: how he destroyed his own case against Donald Trump. Smith will be something of a tragic figure for future special counsels. The only thing missing is a shirt reading, “I spent over […]
How Jack Smith Destroyed His Own Case Against Trump
Horse Manure, Climate Change, and Nuclear Energy
14 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, health economics, politics - USA, transport economics, urban economics Tags: climate alarmism
The “Great Manure Crisis” of the late 19th century offers some serious lessons for those worried about the “existential threat” of global warming from CO2 emissions.
Horse Manure, Climate Change, and Nuclear Energy
The Acemoglu arguments against high-skilled immigration
13 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of education, entrepreneurship, human capital, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: economics of immigration
Here is Daron Acemoglu’s Project Syndicate piece, mostly critical on high-skilled immigration. Here is the first argument from Acemoglu: …one would expect corporate America’s growing need for skilled STEM workers to translate into advocacy for, and investments in, STEM education. But an overreliance on the H-1B program may have broken this link and made American […]
The Acemoglu arguments against high-skilled immigration
Climate Crisis Policies Destructive to Los Angles Area Environment and Harmful to Wildlife
13 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of natural disasters, economics of regulation, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: climate alarmism
When Americans supported the Endangered Species Act, these were some of the species they had in mind…not bait fish.
Climate Crisis Policies Destructive to Los Angles Area Environment and Harmful to Wildlife
Many supporters of sensible climate science policies have gone into great depth about the realities of climate change because of these fires. However, this is the first time I recall “climate crisis’ propaganda posts being so heavily ratioed.
Noah Smith on L.A: fire lessons
13 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of natural disasters, environmental economics, environmentalism, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: unintended consequences
The best piece I have seen so far, here is one bit: Basically, the lessons I take away from the horrific L.A. fires are: The insurance industry as we know it is in big trouble. Climate change is making wildfires worse, but there’s not much we can do about that right now. Forest management needs […]
Noah Smith on L.A: fire lessons
Is ESG investing illegal? In TX it is.
13 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in financial economics, politics - USA Tags: efficient markets hypothesis, regressive left
Breaking: …US District Judge Reed O’Connor found that the airline breached its fiduciary duty … by prioritizing ESG considerations over the financial interests of participants. … The court criticized American Airlines for allowing its asset manager, BlackRock, to advance goals unrelated to maximizing returns for plan participants. “ERISA does not permit a fiduciary to pursue…
Is ESG investing illegal? In TX it is.
‘A Huge Win’: Woke ‘Cartel’ Of Financial Giants Dealt Death Blow 11 Days Before Trump Takes Office
13 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of climate change, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, environmentalism, financial economics, global warming, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: efficient markets hypothesis
“The news of BlackRock’s departure from NZAM should be music to the ears of every American consumer,” Will Hild, executive director of conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “NZAM is an illegitimate cartel of asset managers pushing harmful and costly net zero policies across the entire economy. The activities of NZAM and its members raise prices on Americans everywhere from the gas pump to the grocery store.”
‘A Huge Win’: Woke ‘Cartel’ Of Financial Giants Dealt Death Blow 11 Days Before Trump Takes Office
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