Below is my column in The Hill on the decline of the American Bar Association and the move in various…
The Rise and Fall of the American Bar Association
The Rise and Fall of the American Bar Association
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics Tags: creative destruction
Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman-John Lennon’s Killer: A Psychological Profile
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, Music
This blog provides a structured psychological overview of Mark David Chapman, the individual responsible for the 1980 murder of musician John Lennon. Drawing upon documented interviews, legal testimony, and secondary analyses from criminology and psychology scholars, the essay examines key psychological themes associated with Chapman, including identity instability, obsessive ideation, parasocial attachment, and the role […]
Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman-John Lennon’s Killer: A Psychological Profile
Congressional leadership is corrupt
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, financial economics, politics - USA, Public Choice
Using transaction-level data on US congressional stock trades, we find that lawmakers who later ascend to leadership positions perform similarly to matched peers beforehand but outperform them by 47 percentage points annually after ascension. Leaders’ superior performance arises through two mechanisms. The political influence channel is reflected in higher returns when their party controls the…
Congressional leadership is corrupt
The state of the books
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics
Eric Crampton writes – StatsNZ has put up its year-end accounts for the government, split out across functional areas. Their data goes back to 2009 in the main table; I’m sure earlier data’s available somewhere in Infoshare. But sticking with the Excel sheet they’ve provided, we can lob in June-year population statistics and June quarter […]
The state of the books
Three Nobel lectures in economic science
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, history of economic thought, macroeconomics
The post Three Nobel lectures in economic science appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Three Nobel lectures in economic science
Why does Labour select so few Maori for winnable general seats?
10 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, politics - New Zealand Tags: racial discrimination
It is interesting to look at the list of Maori MPs who have won general electorates in NZ. The list is: So the breakdown by party is: Of Labour’s nine Maori MPs who won an electorate seat, five of them were in the 2020 landslide. Prior to that there had been only four. Just four…
Why does Labour select so few Maori for winnable general seats?
Productivity growth (or lack of it)
10 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, labour economics, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand
In a post last week I included this chart of the latest annual OECD data on labour productivity, expressed in PPP terms. It was grim, in a familiar sort of way. New Zealand’s overall economic performance has long been poor (the halcyon days when New Zealand was in the top 3 in the world relegated […]
Productivity growth (or lack of it)
Humphrey’s Estate and Jackson’s Experts: Supreme Court Justice Offers Surprising View of the Separation of Powers
10 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
As I discussed in yesterday’s coverage of the oral arguments in Trump v. Slaughter, the argument went poorly for those…
Humphrey’s Estate and Jackson’s Experts: Supreme Court Justice Offers Surprising View of the Separation of Powers
Evaluating the Sale of Warner Bros Discovery to Netflix from an Antitrust Perspective
09 Dec 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, market efficiency Tags: competition law
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has announced that it is selling its major assets to Netflix, including Warner Bros. Pictures (home of Harry Potter), DC Studios, and HBO Max. Netflix was chosen among a group of bidders that also included Paramount and Comcast. This post explores some of the antitrust issues and hurdles that a combined…
Evaluating the Sale of Warner Bros Discovery to Netflix from an Antitrust Perspective
Antitrust at the Agencies: Meta Analysis Edition
09 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: competition law
The memorandum and order in FTC v. Meta Platforms Inc. that U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg filed Nov. 18, ruling in favor of Meta, has now been followed by a Dec. 2 revised order that contained fewer redactions. The memorandum doesn’t exactly provide the law & economics analysis I would have produced, had…
Antitrust at the Agencies: Meta Analysis Edition
Three Royal Societies abandon their mission to promote global and universalist science
09 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science
A Kiwi who wishes to remain anonymous (of course) sent me this link to an announcement of a meeting of three Royal (Scientific) Societies: those of New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. The screenshot below also links to two other short documents, a communiqué and a statement by the Presidents of all three Societies. The object…
Three Royal Societies abandon their mission to promote global and universalist science
Quotation of the Day…
09 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, environmentalism
Tweet… is from page 223 of Art Carden’s and GMU Econ alum Caleb Fuller’s superb book, Mere Economics [original emphasis; footnotes deleted; link added]: The “finite resources” argument also begs the question because it assumes we know which materials are “resources” and which are not. Something is only a resource insofar as we can use…
Quotation of the Day…
Germany’s Accelerating Fiscal and Economic Decline
09 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: ageing society, Germany
A lot has happened if you look at the past 100 years of German economic policy. Hyperinflation leading to Hitler’s National Socialists taking power. An impressive free-market revival after World War II. A growing welfare state after the imposition of a value-added tax in the 1960s. Some semi-impressive spending restraint starting in the mid-1990s. Very […]
Germany’s Accelerating Fiscal and Economic Decline
A good poll for the Government
08 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
The latest 1 News – Verian poll is very good for the Government. The party vote is: So a whopping 12% lead on the party vote. This would give the Government 67 seats – the same as it got at the last election. Also of importance is net economic optimism or confidence. The last poll…
A good poll for the Government
Supreme Court should not let climate lawfare set US energy policy
08 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: nuisance suits
Let’s hope the Supreme Court agrees that Boulder’s lawsuit is an excellent opportunity to terminate frivolous climate lawfare, expand on the guidance it provided in these two previous cases – and end attempts by climate activists to impose destructive national policies through local and state courts.
Supreme Court should not let climate lawfare set US energy policy
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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