Bill Maher’s latest “Real Time” clip argues that we should get rid of the State of the Union Address (coming up Tuesday), at least under Trump. That’s because to Maher it’s ludicrous that Trump keeps appropriating the powers of Congress for himself, violating our Constitutional separation of powers. The speech has become, says Maher, not…
Bill Maher’s new rule: The King’s speech
Bill Maher’s new rule: The King’s speech
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part III
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA, survivor principle

In Part I and Part II of this series, we looked at research showing that Americans are bearing the burden of Trump’s trade taxes. Those findings are a useful antidote to Trump’s silly and illiterate claim that foreign companies are swallowing the added cost. In both of those columns, however, I pointed out that I’m […]
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part III
“It’s Not Going to End Well for Them”: Susan Rice Joins Call for a Revenge Purge After Democrats Re-Take Power
22 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

As Democrats plan for the possible takeover in the midterms and 2028 election, they are already openly discussing their push…
“It’s Not Going to End Well for Them”: Susan Rice Joins Call for a Revenge Purge After Democrats Re-Take Power
Clearing up some misconceptions about the DoE report
22 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA, Public Choice
by Ross McKitrick Last year I had the privilege of working with a small team (me, Judy Curry, John Christy, Steve Koonin and Roy Spencer) on a draft report for U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on the topic of climate … Continue reading → The post Clearing up some misconceptions about the DoE report appeared…
Clearing up some misconceptions about the DoE report
Trump’s Tariffs Have Not Shifted the Trade Deficit
21 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in international economics, politics - USA Tags: free trade, tarrifs

The recent Supreme Court decision that President Trump did not have arbitrary and unbounded powers he has claimed to impose or retrace tariffs came as no surprise, for a variety reasons laid out in earlier posts here, here, and here. But here I want to focus on a different claim: that the reason for tariffs…
Trump’s Tariffs Have Not Shifted the Trade Deficit
Nature, ideologically captured, uses “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women”
21 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: sex discrimination

Here’s a new article in Nature (click on the title screenshot below to read it); it’s about the dearth of information about the safety of drugs used by pregnant women. Except, to Nature, they refer not to “women” but to “pregnant people,” for in the article, that is about the only term that refers to…
Nature, ideologically captured, uses “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women”
PEN America gets captured: organization accepts Palestine as a member and rejects Israel; Jewish chief executive resigns after accusations of being a “Zionist” and not signing on to Israel’s “genocide”
20 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left

Every day, it seems, another group gets ideologically captured, valorizing Palestine (or Hamas) and demonizing Israel. This is dispiriting for Jews, but the latest such capture—of the free-expression literary group PEN America—is especially depressing. The decline of PEN American was first evidenced to me when, in 2015, it decided to give a “freedom of expression”…
PEN America gets captured: organization accepts Palestine as a member and rejects Israel; Jewish chief executive resigns after accusations of being a “Zionist” and not signing on to Israel’s “genocide”
A course of indoctrination at the University of Chicago
19 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: economics of colonialism, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank

There are many courses in universities that seem not to be exercises in objective teaching and learning, but rather courses designed to foist certain political ideologies or points of view on students. One of them at this university was called to my attention by several in our community; it seems to be a course on…
A course of indoctrination at the University of Chicago
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part II
18 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA Tags: free trade, tarrifs

In Part I of this series, we reviewed some new research from the New York Federal Reserve. That study showed that Americans bear about 90 percent of the burden of Trump’s Liberation Day trade taxes. Though I added my own two cents because I don’t actually care that much about who bears the burden of […]
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part II
Eat the Rich: California Democrats Trigger a Reverse Gold Rush with a Wealth Tax
16 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: California, regressive left, rule of law, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, wealth tax

Below is my column in the California Post and New York Post on the exodus of wealthy taxpayers from the state as Democrats seek to trap them with a retroactive wealth tax. They are engineering a type of reverse Gold Rush as up to a trillion dollars leave the state with a line of U-Hauls […]
Eat the Rich: California Democrats Trigger a Reverse Gold Rush with a Wealth Tax
Why Rescinding the Endangerment Finding May Survive Lawfare
15 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law

Some thoughts from my browser AI. My Question: What are the legal matters, such as major questions requiring congressional action, that favor ending EPA CO2 Endangerment Finding? Search Assistant Reply: The legal matters surrounding the repeal of the EPA’s CO2 Endangerment Finding involve the major questions doctrine, which suggests that significant regulatory authority should not […]
Why Rescinding the Endangerment Finding May Survive Lawfare
Trump Reverses Obama’s CO2 Endangerment Finding
14 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: constitutional law

By Paul Homewood It’s official: WASHINGTON – Alongside President Trump in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history. In this final rule, EPA is saving American taxpayers over $1.3 trillion, eliminating both the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) […]
Trump Reverses Obama’s CO2 Endangerment Finding
NYRB article attacks the biological definition of sex holding with definitions based on self-identification
12 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, economics of regulation, gender, health economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

I used to subscribe to the New York Review of Books, which, while sometimes a repository for boring academic cat-fights, often included engaging and illuminating articles—until fabled editor Bob Silvers died in 2017. Now, under the leadership of editor Emily Greenhouse, the magazine, always Left-leaning, seems to have become more progressive. The article by gender…
NYRB article attacks the biological definition of sex holding with definitions based on self-identification
Climate Slump: Bezos boots global warming coverage! Wash Post Fires 14 of 19 ‘Climate’ reporters – Paper had ‘climate solutions’ reporters touting ‘human hair’ clothing to save the earth
11 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, industrial organisation, politics - USA, survivor principle Tags: media bias
Does this mean we will have fewer stories from the Post about how human hair clothing can save the Earth?! What will happen to the team of Washington Post ‘climate solution’ reporters?! The world of journalism has dramatically improved today!
Climate Slump: Bezos boots global warming coverage! Wash Post Fires 14 of 19 ‘Climate’ reporters – Paper had ‘climate solutions’ reporters touting ‘human hair’ clothing to save the earth
“I Will Not Sit Idly as They Use Me as a Prop”: Is Bill Clinton Moving Back Into Contempt?
08 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

The Clintons are again suggesting that they might not agree to a deposition after previously yielding to the threat of…
“I Will Not Sit Idly as They Use Me as a Prop”: Is Bill Clinton Moving Back Into Contempt?
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