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
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
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
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
“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
Biden’s Curious Capital Punishment Stance is Vintage Biden
26 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: capital punishment, crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
The decision of President Joe Biden to clear the federal death row has caused an uproar in some quarters and praise in others. There are good-faith arguments on both sides. However, there was a curious element to the Biden pardons for 37 people on death row. There were 40 people on death row. Three remain.
Biden’s Curious Capital Punishment Stance is Vintage Biden
Bye and Bye: Washington State Moves To Toward a “Wealth Tax” As the Wealthy Move to Leave the State
26 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, financial economics, fiscal policy, income redistribution, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: regressive left, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and savings, wealth tax
Washington State’s unofficial state motto has long been “Al-ki” which means either “bye and bye” or “by and by” in Chinook. The former meaning now seems official as Gov. Jay Inslee pushed for a “wealth tax.” Wealthy citizens are already saying bye to the state in anticipation of what one Democratic billionaire recently called a […]
Bye and Bye: Washington State Moves To Toward a “Wealth Tax” As the Wealthy Move to Leave the State
Maps
26 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in economic history, international economic law, International law, politics - USA Tags: economics of borders, maps
Holes in IPCC Science Revealed
26 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in economics of education, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: climate alarmism
Graeme Weber reports from Australia on the history revealing multiple holes in IPCC claimed “settled science.” His paper is IPCC – Miss/Diss information? shared with me by email. Graeme is an earth scientist, retired consulting geologist and advocate for nuclear energy. His text is in italics with my bolds and added images. Several years ago, […]
Holes in IPCC Science Revealed
‘Actually,’ MSNBC, Trump’s Energy Secretary Pick is Right, Climate Change Does Have Benefits
25 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: climate alarmism
“But he also says climate change makes the planet greener by increasing plant growth, boosts agricultural productivity and likely reduces the number of temperature-related deaths annually. “It’s probably almost as many positive changes as there are negative changes,” he told conservative media nonprofit PragerU last year, referring to climate change. “Is it a crisis, is it the world’s greatest challenge, or a big threat to the next generation? No.”
‘Actually,’ MSNBC, Trump’s Energy Secretary Pick is Right, Climate Change Does Have Benefits
The Power of Big Ice Cream
24 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - USA Tags: economics of obesity, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
You’ve heard of Big Oil, Big Tech and Big Pharma. Now it has been revealed that there is another player in this game: Big Ice Cream: San Francisco’s new consultant on “weight stigma” is a pro-fat activist promoted by the food industry. On Monday, Virgie Tovar, the author of You Have the Right to Remain Fat, announced the new role […]
The Power of Big Ice Cream
The Joy is Gone: A Liberal Hate-Fest for the Holidays
24 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the rising rage of the holiday on the left as we approach the second Trump inauguration. From looking forward to harassment at restaurants to the purchase of Antifa-themed Christmas gifts, some appear to be planning for a hate-fest in the New Year. Here is the column:
The Joy is Gone: A Liberal Hate-Fest for the Holidays
Eminently Overdue: The Supreme Court Considers New York Case That Could Overturn the Infamous Kelo Decision
21 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: constitutional law, takings
As an academic and a legal commentator, I have sometimes disagreed with the United States Supreme Court, but I often stress the good-faith differences in how certain rights or protections are interpreted. One case, however, has long stood out for me as wildly off-base and wrongly decided: Kelo v. New London. The case allowed the […]
Eminently Overdue: The Supreme Court Considers New York Case That Could Overturn the Infamous Kelo Decision
The Danger of White Knight Pardons: Biden Could Fundamentally Change Presidential Power
19 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the New York Post on the news reports that President Joe Biden is seriously considering preemptive pardons for political allies. In granting what I have called “White Knight pardons,” Biden would achieve more of a political than legal purpose. Democrats are worried about the collapsing narrative that President-elect Donald Trump […]
The Danger of White Knight Pardons: Biden Could Fundamentally Change Presidential Power
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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