The Daily Wire reports: Israeli secret service operatives used a fake phone call to trigger what appeared to be an “emergency meeting” among Iran’s top military leaders — and then targeted the location of the meeting. Amit Segal told the Call Me Back podcast on Monday: “What Israel did was create a fake phone call for 20 […]
Impressive intelligence operation
Impressive intelligence operation
28 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Iran, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Why “cheaper” solar raises costs. Part II: The hidden costs of residential solar
28 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: solar power
Residential solar follows a similar pattern: it seems affordable for homeowners, but raises system costs through rate structures that over-incentivize adoption. Generous subsidies, like retail-rate net metering, drive excessive solar growth, risking grid stability and shifting costs to non-solar customers that are often less affluent.
Why “cheaper” solar raises costs. Part II: The hidden costs of residential solar
Bad Economic History Fuels Bad Present-Day Economic Policies
28 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, liberalism, politics - USA, Public Choice
TweetAt CapX, I explain what motivated Phil Gramm and me to write our book, The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism. A slice: Likewise with America’s own industrial revolution, the ‘Gilded Age’. American schoolchildren are taught that the final third of the 19th century witnessed John D. Rockefeller and…
Bad Economic History Fuels Bad Present-Day Economic Policies
Vaccines rule
28 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in health economics Tags: anti-vaccination movement, The Great Escape, vaccines
The Icarian Gene: The Rise and Fall of the Expert Class
27 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The warning was stark. At issue was a privileged class that has long dictated policy despite countervailing public opinion. At issue, the luminary warned, is nothing short of democracy itself. No, it was not the continued rallies of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., VT) to “fight oligarchy.” It was Justice Clarence Thomas rallying his colleagues to […]
The Icarian Gene: The Rise and Fall of the Expert Class
Supersonics Takeoff!
27 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, transport economics
In Lift the Ban on Supersonics I wrote: Civilian supersonic aircraft have been banned in the United States for over 50 years! In case that wasn’t clear, we didn’t ban noisy aircraft we banned supersonic aircraft. Thus, even quiet supersonic aircraft are banned today. This was a serious mistake. Aside from the fact that the noise was exaggerated, technological development […]
Supersonics Takeoff!
An important article by Andrew Sullivan
27 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, gender, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Before I leave for the airport, I wanted to call people’s attention to this new, long op-ed piece by Andrew Sullivan in the NYT. Click to read, or find it archived for free here: Sullivan’s thesis is that extreme trans-activism has not only been inimical for society in several ways, but has also eroded respect […]
An important article by Andrew Sullivan
Why the US is Struggling to Land on the Moon
27 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture Tags: moon landings, space
Weaker incentives in unionized plants make them more likely to close
27 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, history of economic thought, labour economics, unions Tags: union power
Unionized plants have worse incentive alignment: 26% less likely to offer performance-based bonuses. 11% less likely to promote based on performance 13% less likely to dismiss workers for poor performance. Consequently, unionized plants have: Higher rates of business closures, lower investment slower employment growth BOTTOM LINE: right-to-work states (no unions) have higher employment and better outcomes. CITE:Maksimovic, Vojislav and…
Weaker incentives in unionized plants make them more likely to close
Nice summary
26 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education Tags: conjecture and refutation, cranks, philosophy of science
The Uncertain Future of Nuclear Power
26 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: atomic energy
Unfettered: Fishback 25 Years Later
25 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: economics of immigration, employment law, monopsony
A quarter century ago, economist Price Fishback published “Operations of ‘Unfettered’ Labor Markets: Exit and Voice in American Labor Markets at the Turn of the Century” 1,762 more words
Unfettered: Fishback 25 Years Later
World’s Best Tweet about Communism and Capitalism
25 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, history of economic thought, liberalism, Marxist economics, Public Choice Tags: capitalism and freedom, capitalism and socialism, economics of central planning
I shared a very clever tweet back in 2018 that highlighted the huge gap between “almost capitalism” and “almost socialism.” That column was entitled the “World’s Best Tweet about Socialism and Capitalism.” And capitalism won the comparison (needless to say). Let’s do the same thing today, but we’ll replace socialism with communism. And our “Best […]
World’s Best Tweet about Communism and Capitalism
Bill Maher on dads
25 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
Here’s the latest comedy/news bit from Bill Maher’s “Real Time,” this one called “New Rule: Make Dads Great Again.” It’s about the misandry shown in many t.v. shows and commercials, in which dads are depicted as bumbling, ignorant oafs while moms are the “smart ones” who keep men on the rails. Maher recognizes that this […]
Bill Maher on dads
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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