Here’s the latest Bill Maher comedy shtick from his “Real Time Show.” It’s a good one, too. This time he argues “there’s nothing, not even an assassination attempt, that can’t be made at least at little worse by adding religion. Since the bullet that was meant for Donald Trump missed him last Saturday, Republicans have […]
Bill Maher’s comedy/news piece: adding religion to an assassination attempt
Bill Maher’s comedy/news piece: adding religion to an assassination attempt
22 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
MICHAEL BASSETT: DEALING WITH TODAY’S SMALL, RAUCOUS, CRAZY MAORI FRINGE
22 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economic history, income redistribution, International law, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law, Maori economic development
Anyone watching and trying to understand last Sunday’s Q&A where Jack Tame interviewed Debbie Ngarewa-Packer will realise that she seems to be beyond reason. Tame tried to examine bits of her blather and her obvious misuse of words, but she immediately slithered like an eel under a rock and made louder assertions about how Maori “korero”…
MICHAEL BASSETT: DEALING WITH TODAY’S SMALL, RAUCOUS, CRAZY MAORI FRINGE
Hollywood evidence on McCarthyism
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, movies, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
There is a new NBER working paper on this topic by Hui Ren Tan and Tianyi Wang, here is the abstract: We study a far-reaching episode of demagoguery in American history. From the late 1940s to 1950s, anti-communist hysteria led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and others gripped the nation. Hundreds of professionals in Hollywood were […]
Hollywood evidence on McCarthyism
The 20 July Plot @ 80
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, World War II

The 20 July Plot, also known as Operation Valkyrie, represents one of the most significant assassination attempts against Adolf Hitler during World War II. This daring endeavor was orchestrated by a group of high-ranking German officers, who, motivated by a combination of moral outrage and pragmatic considerations, sought to eliminate the Führer and bring an […]
The 20 July Plot @ 80
Climate Warriors are Colonising Medicine
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, health economics Tags: climate activists, cranks, political correctness, regressive left
…aspiring to be a planet-saving superhero risks undermining the commitments that doctors make: make doctors doctors again. Physicians, heal thyselves!
Climate Warriors are Colonising Medicine
Right to Repair
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of information, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: consumer protection
The Green Party has a Member’s Bill up arguing for a consumer right of repair; Auckland University’s Alex Sims has written a few columns in support of such a thing. I’d had an email asking about that legislation; figured I’d share my response here – tidied up a bit.If it’s more expensive to produce a product…
Right to Repair
Interview with Edmund Phelps: Macro and Capitalism
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in business cycles, fiscal policy, great depression, great recession, history of economic thought, job search and matching, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, monetary economics, unemployment
Edmund Phelps won the Nobel prize in economics in 2006 for “for his analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy.” However, he has spent a considerable chunk of this time in the last few decades musing over strengths and weaknesses of capitalism and, more generally, a dynamic economy. Jon Hartley interviews Phelps on both topics,…
Interview with Edmund Phelps: Macro and Capitalism
Lessons from the UK
21 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: British politics
There are many lessons for New Zealand in last week’s British election result, which saw the 14-year reign of the Conservative Party ending in a crushing defeat. While the number of seats won by Labour appeared to indicate a huge swing to the left in support of Sir Keir Starmer’s Party, that isn’t the case […]
Lessons from the UK
July Days In Petrograd – Blood On The Nevsky Prospect I THE GREAT WAR We…
20 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War I
Did The Guardian Just Blow Up the Exxon Knew Narrative?
20 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: conspiracy theories
So much for the big secret big oil conspiracy. Marathon Oil published an article in 1977 in a company periodical suggesting CO2 might cause mass starvation.
Did The Guardian Just Blow Up the Exxon Knew Narrative?
Death Can Come from a Thousand Cuts!
20 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia
Federal Labor leader Albanese is battling to stop the bleeding. Following his total demolition when he tied his Flag to the doomed Voice referendum where a total reversal saw his attempt to institute the nonsense New Zealand suffers every day from Native citizens having minimal Maori blood even to the absurdity of none at all […]
Death Can Come from a Thousand Cuts!
Another Fake Climate Case Bites the Dust
20 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism

The decisive ruling against climate lawfare is reported at Washington Free Beacon Dem-Appointed Judge Tosses Major Climate Case Against Oil and Gas Producers in Blow to Environmental Activists. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images. Baltimore judge deals blow to left-wing effort to punish oil companies for global warming A Baltimore judge tossed […]
Another Fake Climate Case Bites the Dust
Roger Hallam Receives Five Year Sentence, other Just Stop Oil Co-Conspirators Receive Four Years
19 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics Tags: climate activists, crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, free speech, law and order, regressive left
Five Just Stop Oil protesters, including one of its co-founders, have been jailed for conspiring to organise protests that blocked the M25 motorway.
Roger Hallam Receives Five Year Sentence, other Just Stop Oil Co-Conspirators Receive Four Years
Guest Post: Will John Minto condemn Hamas for refusing to free the hostages?
19 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left
A guest post by Lucy Rogers: I woke up this morning to initial elation at the news that Israel and Hamas are apparently close to a ceasefire deal. The proposal involves the return of 33 hostages and Hamas’ removal from power, in exchange for the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Israel’s […]
Guest Post: Will John Minto condemn Hamas for refusing to free the hostages?
Robert Swetlic: For Constitutional Clarity, Should Angela Rayner be Named First Secretary of State?
19 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics, Public Choice Tags: British constitutional law, British politics

Barely 24 hours after Labour’s victory at the polls, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s top team of MPs began to line the path to No. 10 Downing Street, hoping to have their shadow portfolios translated into long-awaited ministerial roles. First among the parade of MPs was Angela Rayner, who was appointed Secretary of State for Housing, […]
Robert Swetlic: For Constitutional Clarity, Should Angela Rayner be Named First Secretary of State?
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