People generally refrain from speaking ill of the recently dead. The old maxim de mortuis nil nisi bonum—“of the dead, say nothing but good”—may be too absolute, but the custom behind it expresses an important principle of civilisation. The principal reason for restraint is not that death makes a person perfect or erases everything objectionable in […]
Death and Decency
Death and Decency
12 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of media and culture, law and economics
What Economics Has To Do With Law | David Friedman
12 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in David Friedman, law and economics
The Supply And Demand Game
12 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of information, history of economic thought Tags: experimental economics
I played it in each class I taught. A former colleague taught it to me many years ago. As far as I know, I use the game invented by Edward Chamberlin and refined by Vernon Smith. Click here to see the Lessons From the Supply and Demand Game. Or just read it all here. Part…
The Supply And Demand Game
“It’s a Constitutional Thing”: Rubio Deports Convicted Rapist Protected by Walz and Minnesota Pardon Board
11 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has failed in his extraordinary effort to protect a Laotian rapist from deportation. Secretary of State…
“It’s a Constitutional Thing”: Rubio Deports Convicted Rapist Protected by Walz and Minnesota Pardon Board
Renewable Energy Will Impoverish Humanity
11 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming
A wholly or predominantly wind and solar fuelled economy will not be able to sustain those corrective technologies and at the same time provide a generous margin for other uses. So the system will shrink, energy consumption itself will fall and the human niche will narrow. General health will decline, rates of mortality will rise,…
Renewable Energy Will Impoverish Humanity
BREAKING: Trump Admin Hires Skeptic to Run National Climate Assessment…Mann Clutches Pearls
11 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: climate alarmism
Scrutiny of a government assessment by someone inclined to question it is not a threat to the science. It is a stress test. The post BREAKING: Trump Admin Hires Skeptic to Run National Climate Assessment…Mann Clutches Pearls appeared first on Watts Up With That?.
BREAKING: Trump Admin Hires Skeptic to Run National Climate Assessment…Mann Clutches Pearls
Coyne is keeping an eye on the legislation to define women and men
10 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: sex discrimination
Bob Edlin writes – News has reached Professor Jerry Coyne of the New Zealand Parliament debating a bill (which passed on its first reading) that would legally define a “man” and a “woman” this way: 13A Meaning of woman or female In any legislation, regardless of gender identity,— (a) woman means an adult human biological […]
Coyne is keeping an eye on the legislation to define women and men
Capital Gains Can Be Labor Income
10 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, top 1%
Zwick and Zidar argue that a substantial share of the decline in labor share can be accounted for by changing forms of pay, including pass-throughs and equtiy compensation. In particular, if an employee is paid in stock and that stock increases in value then the tax rules tend to count some of that as capital…
Capital Gains Can Be Labor Income
How does an MP resign? The Chiltern Hundreds & the Manor of Northstead
09 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history Tags: British constitutional law
Have you just heard that an MP has resigned by ‘taking the Chiltern Hundreds’? Our Senior Research Fellow, Dr Martin Spychal, explains the practice and explores its historical context… MPs are not allowed to resign from Parliament. However, a parliamentary loophole exists that allows an MP to vacate their seat by asking the chancellor of…
How does an MP resign? The Chiltern Hundreds & the Manor of Northstead
Scientists on sex
09 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand
The Ad Hoc Working Group on sex denialism has submitted on the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill. Their stance is neither for nor against the Bill, it is to clarify the science.
Scientists on sex
Missing women on Indian streets
09 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, discrimination, econometerics, economics of crime, gender, growth miracles, law and economics Tags: sex discrimination
How absent are women from city streets in the developing world? We answer this question using GPS-linked wearable cameras and randomized street audits across ~900 kilometers of roads in greater Mumbai. Across 4000+ street images containing 23,000+ visible person observations, women account for 16.4% of visible people in Mumbai and 14.7% in Navi Mumbai, far…
Missing women on Indian streets
David Freidman An Economist’s Case for Liberty
08 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in David Friedman, law and economics, libertarianism
Prince Harry and the Hypocrisy of Privacy
08 Jul 2026 1 Comment
in law and economics, property rights Tags: British politics
Prince Harry has suffered a significant defeat in his privacy action against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail. The case was brought by Harry and several other well-known figures, who alleged that the newspaper group had obtained private information through unlawful methods including phone tapping, voicemail interception and deception. The High Court dismissed the […]
Prince Harry and the Hypocrisy of Privacy
The Court martial of Jackie Robinson.
08 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: racial discrimination, World War II
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball second baseman who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers, by signing Robinson, heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to […]
The Court martial of Jackie Robinson.
Civilian supersonic flights are being legalized in the U.S.
08 Jul 2026 1 Comment
in economics of regulation, politics - USA, transport economics
For too long, outdated rules based on old technology held back American aerospace innovation. Now, we are updating those rules for the first time since the 1970s. Today @USDOT announced a new proposal to enable civil supersonic flight by replacing speed limits with noise limits, ushering in a new era of safer, quieter, and faster air travel…
Civilian supersonic flights are being legalized in the U.S.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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