Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
17 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, law and economics, managerial economics, market efficiency, movies, organisational economics, politics - USA, television Tags: competition law, creative destruction, merger law enforcement
Big mergers make headlines. They don’t always make antitrust problems. In a previous commentary, I explored the antitrust implications of a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). That uncertainty is now resolved. On Feb. 27, Paramount Skydance Corp. agreed to acquire WBD for roughly $110 billion in enterprise value—$31 per share, all cash. The…
The Paramount Question Isn’t Paramount
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
There’s no real “rule” here, but simply Maher’s assertion—one that many people won’t sccept in the Time of Demonization—that people can do both good and bad things (it’s better to say that then brand someone as good or evil, though of course people can lean toward one side or another). This monologue was prompted, of…
Bill Maher’s New Rule: When bad people do good things
19 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in movies, television, TV shows
Well, the Oscars have been awarded, and you can see the winners here. In this latest news-and-comedy bit from “Real Time,” Bill Maher argues that the Oscars have finally succeeded, through both social pressure, appeals to reason, and changes in Academy rules, in making their awards so diverse that one can no longer argue that…
Bill Maher’s New Rule: Oscars so wrong
08 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows
Bill Maher’s latest news-and-comedy shtick on “Real Time” deals once again with the flak he got for having dinner with President Trump. Remember? Despite Maher constantly criticizing the President’s policies durin gthe dinner, he also reported that he found Trump affable and friendly. That was enough for liberals to come down on Maher like a…
Bill Maher’s latest New Rule: “Trump Estrangement Syndrome”
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows
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
17 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
In this week’s news-and-snark piece, Bill Maher offers a piece that may be controversial, for it’s about how men need to be “men” again. He avers that the loss of masculinity in males is one reason why women are disappointed in men, and why people are having less sex. The data are eye-opening; for example,…
Bill Maher’s latest Rule
13 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
Well, I can’t omit Bill Maher’s 8-minute weekly comedy monologue, especially because this week it’s about betting. I’ve always called gambling, betting enterprises, and lotteries “taxes on the stupid”, because people who spend their money that way don’t seem to know that the expectation of money is far less than they’re spending. And it’s a…
Bill Maher’s New Rule on gambling
12 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in television, TV shows
I missed this Bill Maher “New Rules” clip from last October, but better late than never. In this segment called “Crazy in gov,” Maher assesses whether Democrats or Republicans are more deranged, Although he does point out some craziness on the part of “progressives,” but it is the Republicans who get the Most Deranged prize.…
Bill Maher on deranged Republicans
01 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
Bill Maher is back, and this week he has a particularly good comedy bit: “New Rule: Eyeroll Activism.” His topic is similar to Ricky Gervais’s scathing remarks at the 2020 Golden Globes in that both men excoriate Hollywood for its virtue signaling, with Maher beginning with the wearing of anti-ICE pins at the Golden Globes.…
Bill Maher is back with New Roolz
09 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, movies, Music, television, TV shows
Great artists are often distinguished not merely by talent, but by judgement. They possess an internal compass—hard-won, intuitive, and sometimes infuriatingly resistant to external advice—that tells them when a work works. This judgement is not always aligned with commercial logic, institutional taste, or the anxieties of producers and executives. The history of twentieth-century culture provides striking […]
Knowing When It Works: Artists vs Producers
01 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, defence economics, economics of regulation, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, movies, television, TV shows, unions
This is not a “Star Wars vs Star Trek” post. I’m non-partisan. I enjoy both Star Wars and Star Trek about equally. And it turns out that I am not alone. Last December, John Hawkins (University of Canberra) wrote in The Conversation about what Star Wars can teach us about economics. This year, Hawkins (with Tesfaye…
What Star Wars AND Star Trek can teach us about economics
22 Dec 2025 1 Comment
in industrial organisation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: media bias
A reader sent me a video-containing email with the header “John Oliver destroys Bari Weiss”, with the message below saying, “Somebody had to do it.” Well, yes, somebody should criticize the Free Press, which is becoming, in my view, more political (right-centrist) and less full of news. And even news stories aren’t really written by…
John Oliver goes after Bari Weiss and CBS News
12 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, television, TV shows, war and peace Tags: World War II
“Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler” is the first line of the theme of the British sitcom Dad’s Army. A truly hilarious show. I remember one episode where Capt Mainwaring is telling a story how he met an Australian soldier. He had asked him “Did you come here to die?” whereupon the […]
Dads Army- The British home guard
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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