Huge differences that require explanation
28 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth miracles, labour economics, labour supply, population economics
The California billionaire tax is very likely a net revenue loser
28 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, entrepreneurship, politics - USA, public economics Tags: California, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment
This paper examines the revenue and migration impact of the 2026 California Billionaire Tax Act, a one-time 5 percent tax on the worldwide net worth of individuals exceeding $1 billion. Using data from the Forbes Billionaire List, news reports detailing the residential real estate holdings of California billionaires, and public announcements of billionaire departures from…
The California billionaire tax is very likely a net revenue loser
Holocaust Denial and Reason Magazine: 1976
27 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in libertarianism Tags: The Holocaust
In 1976 Reason Magazine published a piece by Austin App an antisemitic Holocaust denier.
Holocaust Denial and Reason Magazine: 1976
Bob Woodward Reveals He Spoke With Justices Stewart, Powell, White, Blackmun, and Rehnquist for “The Brethren”
27 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, politics - USA
Steven Goldberg, one of Brennan’s clerks, provided Woodward with the 75-page case history of U.S.v. Nixon.
Bob Woodward Reveals He Spoke With Justices Stewart, Powell, White, Blackmun, and Rehnquist for “The Brethren”
When Moochers Outnumber Producers, Can a Nation Be Salvaged?
27 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, development economics, economic history, fiscal policy, growth disasters, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, welfare reform
I periodically share data on the age-dependency ratio in various nations. That’s very important data. It helps to explain why young-to-old redistribution programs in many nations are becoming a recipe for fiscal crisis. But to fully understand the level of dependency in a country, you have to know the share of people who actually produce […]
When Moochers Outnumber Producers, Can a Nation Be Salvaged?
ROCKTOBER-Paradise by the Dashboard light.
27 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in Music
The career of Michael Lee Aday aka Meat Loaf, has been a turbulent one, to used an understatement. It went from filling huge stadiums with adore fans, to barely getting people to see him perform in small community halls in Ireland, and back to stadiums. His most iconic song though has to be “Paradise by […]
ROCKTOBER-Paradise by the Dashboard light.
How to Profit From a Cartel Without Joining One
27 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of regulation, financial economics, industrial organisation, law and economics Tags: competition law
Adam Smith warned that people in the same trade rarely meet without the conversation turning to a scheme to raise prices. Antitrust enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic now suspect they can skip the meeting—a shared shareholder may do the job. In May 2025, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)…
How to Profit From a Cartel Without Joining One
Some Links
26 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: California, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment
TweetMegan McArdle writes insightfully about California’s pending proposal to soak the rich. Three slices: These days, legislators generally don’t enact tax hikes so confiscatory that they trigger an immediate, obvious response. They adjust income tax rates by a few percentage points, fiddle with the deductions or impose new levies on some tiny portion of the…
Some Links
Brazil’s economic problems, in a nutshell
26 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, development economics, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, growth disasters, labour economics, macroeconomics, welfare reform Tags: Brazil
It would take true Milei-like ardour to slice through Brazil’s economic troubles. These are caused by a gnarly mix of high public spending, stubborn inflation and low saving. The result is a crippling cost of capital. Some analysts put Brazil’s real interest rate, the BCB’s policy rate adjusted for next year’s expected inflation, at 9% or…
Brazil’s economic problems, in a nutshell
The Use of Animals During World War II: A Vital Contribution to the War Effort
26 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in cats, defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War II
World War II was a global conflict that tested the limits of human resilience, innovation, and ingenuity. In addition to the millions of soldiers, civilians, and military machinery involved, a vast array of animals played indispensable roles throughout the war. From dogs and horses to pigeons and even reindeer, animals were employed for various purposes, […]
The Use of Animals During World War II: A Vital Contribution to the War Effort
I like maps
26 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, environmental economics Tags: maps, Tasmania
Mariana Mortágua on why crypto-assets are not money
26 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, financial economics, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, monetary economics
Economists typically identify money by the extent to which an asset satisfies three functions. First, it needs to be a medium of exchange, meaning that you give it up when you buy goods or services, and you can receive it when you sell goods or services. Second, it needs to be a unit of account, meaning that you…
Mariana Mortágua on why crypto-assets are not money
The Execution of Vidkun Quisling: Norway’s Reckoning with Treason
25 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Norway, World War II
When the guns of World War II finally fell silent in 1945, Europe faced not only the monumental task of rebuilding cities and economies, but also of seeking justice. Few names were as synonymous with betrayal as Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian politician whose collaboration with Nazi Germany turned his surname into a byword for “traitor.” […]
The Execution of Vidkun Quisling: Norway’s Reckoning with Treason
Job fatality and injury risk, and compensating differentials
25 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in labour economics, occupational choice, applied welfare economics, health and safety, econometerics, applied price theory, labour supply
Last week, my ECONS102 class covered health economics. Part of that topic involves discussion of approaches to measuring the ‘value of a preventable fatality’ (sometimes also called the ‘value of a statistical life’, or VSL). One of those approaches is the willingness-to-pay (WTP) approach, which involves estimating what people would be willing to pay in…
Job fatality and injury risk, and compensating differentials
‘Contemporary Law and Economics,’ by Adam Chilton, Joshua C. Macey & Mila Versteeg
24 Oct 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, Richard Posner, Ronald Coase
What does it mean to be a law & economics (L&E) scholar? It can’t require a Ph.D. in economics. Richard Posner doesn’t have one. He didn’t even major in economics as an undergraduate, preferring English—as did his Chicago colleagues Douglas Baird and Diane Wood. It can’t require a law degree, either, or Ronald Coase, William…
‘Contemporary Law and Economics,’ by Adam Chilton, Joshua C. Macey & Mila Versteeg
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