We study how international migrant income prospects affect long-run development in origin areas. We leverage the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis exchange rate shocks in a shift-share identification strategy across Philippine provinces. Initial migrant income shocks are magnified six-fold over time, increasing domestic income, education levels, migrant skills, and high-skilled migration. Remarkably, 74.9 percent of long-run…
Migrant Income and Long-Run Economic Development
Migrant Income and Long-Run Economic Development
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, labour economics, labour supply Tags: economics of immigration
BBC News once again promotes ‘targeting journalists’ narrative
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of media and culture, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Lebanon, Middle-East politics, war against terror
On the afternoon of April 9th the BBC New website published a report by David Gritten under the headline “Al Jazeera condemns killing of… The post BBC News once again promotes ‘targeting journalists’ narrative appeared first on CAMERA UK.
BBC News once again promotes ‘targeting journalists’ narrative
The Happiness Crash of 2020
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, technological progress
From the still-active Sam Peltzman: I document a sudden, sharp and historically unprecedented decline in self-reported happiness in the US population. It occurred during 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic, and mainly persists through 2024. This happiness crash spread across nearly all typical demographics and geographies. The happiest groups pre-Covid (e.g., whites, high income,…
The Happiness Crash of 2020
That time we gave Cocaine to our kids for a sore throat and toothaches.
12 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, health economics
How things have changed. Nowadays we wouldn’t dream of giving our children cocaine to treat sore throats or toothaches, Firstly because we know how devastating cocaine is and secondly we would be arrested, But in days of yore it was perfectly acceptable to give you offspring and indeed yourself a ‘healthy’ dose of cocaine.
That time we gave Cocaine to our kids for a sore throat and toothaches.
The Barnham Effect
12 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education Tags: personality psychology
The Barnum effect is the tendency for people to accept vague, general personality descriptions as if they were specifically true of them. For example, if someone reads: “You sometimes doubt whether you have made the right decision, but you also have a strong independent streak.” many people feel that it describes them personally, even though it could describe a […]
The Barnham Effect
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
12 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science, regressive left
As always, an Aussie who wishes to remain anonymous sent me this link, and noted that New Zealand isn’t the only country in the Antipodes that tries to make science (again “Western science”) coequal with indigenous knowledge. Clicking on the screenshot below will take you to the strategy developed by the Aussie government: the “Australian…
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
The Stresa Front -When Mussolini ‘condemned’ Hitler.
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, International law, war and peace Tags: Italy, Nazi Germany
The Stresa Front was a short-lived diplomatic alignment in 1935 between United Kingdom, France, and Italy, formed in response to the growing threat posed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Named after the Italian town of Stresa, where representatives met in April 1935, the agreement aimed to preserve the post–World War I European order and […]
The Stresa Front -When Mussolini ‘condemned’ Hitler.
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, Karl Popper, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, Freedom of religion, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
In 1633, the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo for heresy. His offence was to argue that the Earth moves around the Sun. The Church was not acting out of malice. It was protecting a politically approved consensus against what was considered to be dangerous nonsense. The theologians and philosophers who condemned Galileo were not fools. They […]
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
Bet On It Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 9
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in Austrian economics, business cycles, economic history, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Murray Rothbard Tags: monetary policy
SummaryIn 1973, when the first edition of For a New Liberty was published, Keynesians were still sitting pretty. Five years later, the Keynesians had so much egg on their faces that Rothbard was inspired to add this entirely new chapter on “Inflation and the Business Cycle: The Collapse of the Keynesian Paradigm” to his revised…
Bet On It Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 9
A good corporate welfare expose
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, Music, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
The Spinoff becomes an unlikely fiscal conservative: Tourism minister Louise Upston was excited when she announced that Robbie Williams will play two shows in Auckland and Christchurch later this year. “It’s fantastic to welcome a showstopper act like Robbie, giving fans the chance to see him entertaining us,” she said in a press release. The…
A good corporate welfare expose
Osborne 1-First Portable Computer
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, entrepreneurship Tags: creative destruction
Computers nowadays come in all shapes and sizes from a smartphone to the super computer Mira. An essential requirement nowadays is that computers are portable. It may be hard to believe but the history of portable computers goes back 45 years, even when I write it ’45 years’ I can’t believe it . I was […]
Osborne 1-First Portable Computer
Oil and monetary policy
10 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, energy economics, financial economics, history of economic thought, labour economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, unemployment, war and peace Tags: 1973 oil crisis, monetary policy, oil shocks
I didn’t have too much problem with either the Reserve Bank Governor’s speech a couple of weeks ago on a framework for how monetary policy might deal with the oil shock, or with this week’s OCR review release from the Monetary Policy Committee. It was really all very orthodox stuff, much as any of the […]
Oil and monetary policy
Why “Gini Coefficients” Are Meaningless
09 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, entrepreneurship, financial economics, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality
I created the 8th Theorem of Government because it’s important to distinguish between people who want to help the poor and people who want to punish the rich. The former group has good motives while the latter group has ignoble motivations. Envy (common among the leftist intelligentsia) Public choice (common among leftist politicians) Zero-sum illiteracy […]
Why “Gini Coefficients” Are Meaningless
Why Climate Alarm is Fading (Matt Ridley)
09 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in environmentalism, environmental economics, global warming, economics of climate change, energy economics Tags: climate alarmism
Matt Ridley explains the demise of climatism in his recent video The Great Climate Climbdown is finally here – How can we undo the Damage Caused? For those preferring to read, there is a transcript below with my bolds and some helpful images. I’m going to try and give you my perspective on which arguments […]
Why Climate Alarm is Fading (Matt Ridley)
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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