“All armies get it wrong at the beginning; the question is who adapts fastest.” (British military historian Michael Howard quoted by Elliot Cohen, page 100) ‘All Americans make promises but nothing ever happens.’ Iraqi housewife complaining why there was still sewage in the street outside her house 5 years after the Americans invaded and promised […]
The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006 to 2008 (2009)
The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006 to 2008 (2009)
06 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
The Title of Tsar. Part II.
06 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
The significance of the title of Emperor in Western Europe. From the time of Roman Emperor Constantine I (r. 306–337), the Roman Emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity. The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the Christian Emperor in the Church. Emperors […]
The Title of Tsar. Part II.
…and make the platforms pay for it
06 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
I still hope that NZ looks over in horror at Canada and pulls back from making it risky for platforms to link to news.Facebook’s clearly decided that being in news just isn’t worth the aggro. Look at this. Facebook referrals to top global news sites dropped from 120 million per month to about 20 million…
…and make the platforms pay for it
Douglas Haig’s Fantasies Drown In Mud I THE GREAT WAR Week 115
06 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War I
US leads the world in single-parent households…
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
… and the results are statistically disastrous. Summary of three pieces on Economist Melissa Kearney’s Research Freakonomics Radio: When did marriage become a luxury good? Related: Why Did You Marry That Person? (Replay) Related: Why Does the Richest Country in the World Have So Many Poor Kids? (Update) Related: The Fracking Boom, a Baby Boom, and the Retreat From…
US leads the world in single-parent households…
The Title of Tsar. Part I.
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
The title of Tsar (alternatively Czar, Tzar or Csar) was a title used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word Caesar. Caesar was a Cognomen which was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, a Cognomen was a nickname, but lost that purpose when […]
The Title of Tsar. Part I.
MPC appointments, past and future
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
A few weeks ago, just before I went away for 10 days holiday, the latest in the saga of the Reserve Bank MPC, and the blackball on external experts when the first MPC appointments were made, appeared in the Herald. You’ll recall that it was widely understood that there had been such a blackball, put […]
MPC appointments, past and future
CHRIS TROTTER: The angry majority
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
The People’s Champion vs The People’s Prosecutor: It is the news media’s job to elicit information from politicians – not to prosecute them. Peters’ promise to sort out TVNZ should be believed. If he finds himself in a position to carry out his threat, then it will only be because the angry majority has had […]
CHRIS TROTTER: The angry majority
The problems of a tax-free threshold
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, public economics
Jim Rose details the problems with a tax-free threshold for the NZ Taxpayers Union. Running one that’s revenue-neutral means you have to increase marginal rates further up. Increasing marginal rates to fund inframarginal transfers mightn’t make the most sense. And there are better ways of targeting support, if that’s what you want to do. He writes:The introduction…
The problems of a tax-free threshold
‘Green’ Energy Nirvana Collides With Brutal Reality: Wind & Solar Are Pointless
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming
The world runs on luck and credit. The wind and solar ‘industries’ are running out of both. What might have sounded a little hopeful 20 years ago, sounds utterly ridiculous today. Talk about an all-wind and sun-powered future these days smacks of a mixture of delusion and desperation. Wind turbine manufacturers are bleeding cash, with […]
‘Green’ Energy Nirvana Collides With Brutal Reality: Wind & Solar Are Pointless
Let’s Spend More Money on Something We Have to Give Away to Get People to Use It!
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in transport economics, urban economics
Kansas City voters sensibly rejected spending money on light rail at least seven times. But that common sense apparently didn’t extent to streetcars, which are an even dumber idea than light rail as streetcars are slower than buses, far more expensive, and can’t get out of their own way if … Continue reading →
Let’s Spend More Money on Something We Have to Give Away to Get People to Use It!
“There Is A Design Problem In Climate Policy” Featuring Dr. Roger Pielke Jr.
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic growth, economics of natural disasters, macroeconomics
On Wednesday in Denver, we had the pleasure of joining Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. (UC Boulder) and Chris Wright, CEO and Chairman of Liberty Energy for a live discussion as part of Liberty Energy’s “Liberty and Energy” Presentation Series. Roger is a Professor in the Environmental Studies department at the University of Colorado Boulder and […]
“There Is A Design Problem In Climate Policy” Featuring Dr. Roger Pielke Jr.
China and Migration
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
I am not bullish about China’s economy. Even 10 or more years ago, when many people thought China was going to be the economic superpower of the 21st century, I poured cold water on those predictions. Simply stated, China suffers from too much bad economic policy. Is it as bad as it was during Mao’s […]
China and Migration
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks (2006)
05 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
Perhaps the worst war plan in American history. (Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, page 115) ‘It failed utterly.’ (Verdict of Marek Belka, Prime Minister of Poland which contributed troops to the coalition, describing the entire American project to invade and ‘liberate’ Iraq, p.347) Bad assumptions The US Army invaded Iraq on 20 March […]
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks (2006)
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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