Has AI been propping up the American economy? For instance “the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s category for investment in information processing equipment and software accounts for over 90 percent of economic growth in the first half of 2025.” The key question is what would have been done with those resources otherwise. Regardless of their specific […]
Some simple economics of AI and macro cycles
Some simple economics of AI and macro cycles
20 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, business cycles, economic growth, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, macroeconomics
The Costs and Benefits of British Colonialism
20 Oct 2025 1 Comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: age of empires, economics of colonialism
The British Empire, which at its height ruled over a quarter of the world’s population and landmass, remains one of the most consequential forces in global history. Its legacy is deeply contested: defenders emphasize the spread of law, education, and infrastructure, while critics highlight the violence, exploitation, and cultural destruction it entailed. A balanced assessment […]
The Costs and Benefits of British Colonialism
The Battle of the Selle – Ludendorff Resigns I THE GREAT WAR Week 221
20 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: World War I
My excellent Conversation with George Selgin
19 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, business cycles, economic history, fiscal policy, great depression, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, monetary economics Tags: monetary policy
Here is the audio, video, and transcript. Here is part of the episode summary: Tyler and George discuss the surprising lack of fiscal and monetary stimulus in the New Deal, whether revaluing gold was really the best path to economic reflation, how much Glass-Steagall and other individual parts of the New Deal mattered, Keynes’ “very […]
My excellent Conversation with George Selgin
Two Alleged Antifa Members Charged with Terrorism-Related Crimes
18 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, law and order
I recently wrote about the effort of leading politicians, pundits, and the press to deny the existence of Antifa as violence on the left rises around the country. Even Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) insisted that “nobody” knows what the left-wing terrorist organization Antifa is and that it does not exist. However, he previously […]
Two Alleged Antifa Members Charged with Terrorism-Related Crimes
Devolution and Development
18 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of regulation, labour economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, urban economics Tags: Canada
An interesting research note from Eric Crampton and at the NZ Initiative on the benefits of devolution on development. It details how Canadian First Nations have transformed their economic fortunes and have built thousands of new homes after gaining powers for planning, zoning, tax, and infrastructure finance. A couple of examples: The Squamish Nation’s 6,000-apartment […]
Devolution and Development
State very expensive landlord
17 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics
A report by the New Zealand Initiative shows that the state is a very expensive landlord: Why does the government need to continue owning or managing more than 77,000 housing units, given its poor track record in this area, especially when state assistance can be provided without extensive government ownership? And why does it not […]
State very expensive landlord
Ten Modest Proposals to End the Gender Pay Gap
17 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: gender wage gap
An anonymous Swiftian guest essay
Ten Modest Proposals to End the Gender Pay Gap
Kenneth Williams – Parkinson 1979 (with Lorraine Chase and Kevin Keegan)
16 Oct 2025 1 Comment
in movies, television, TV shows
Chess Openings: Learn to Play the French Defense Against the Advance Var…
16 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in chess
The Question of Disproportionate Black Imprisonment
16 Oct 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, labour economics, law and economics
One of the most persistent concerns in contemporary criminal justice debates is the disproportionately high number of black people in prison, particularly in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. At first glance, this imbalance is often assumed to indicate systemic bias or racial discrimination within courts and law enforcement. Yet […]
The Question of Disproportionate Black Imprisonment
The Power of Creative Destruction
15 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in history of economic thought
That is the title of a book co-authored by Philippe Aghion, one of this this year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in economics. See The Power of Creative Destruction: Economic Upheaval and the Wealth of Nations.Here is the Amazon summary:”Inequality is on the rise, growth stagnant, the environment in crisis. Covid seems to have exposed every…
The Power of Creative Destruction
Middle East ceasefire is widely celebrated – but Peters notes that the pro-Palestine protesters have been silent
15 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, useful idiots, war against terror
Bob Edlin writes – Come in Chloe and your fellow champions of Palestinian statehood and tell us what you think of happenings in the Middle East in recent days. There was widespread celebration – not only in Israel and Gaza but around the world – of news of a cease-fire and that the hostages taken […]
Middle East ceasefire is widely celebrated – but Peters notes that the pro-Palestine protesters have been silent
Taxes and Growth, Part II
15 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
I wrote a column about taxes and growth in 2020. Let’s augment that analysis by digging into some details. I decided to address the issue today after seeing a tweet with this helpful summary of how different taxes cause different levels of economic damage (the Tax Foundation also has a table that ranks different taxes, […]
Taxes and Growth, Part II
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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