Utopia, you are standing in it!

Covid-19  still dominates the  news  bulletins and  there  is  only a  shadowy outline  of  the  political  debate that  will  emerge  in  sharper   focus as Christopher Luxon settles  into the  leadership of  the National  Party.

His supporters were  encouraged  by  the  bounce upward  for National  in the first  sampling  of  public opinion  since he took over.  National  rose  to  33%,  up  7%, in the  Curia  poll.

As  Curia’s  David  Farrar  noted,  the overall gap between the centre-left and centre-right is basically unchanged at 6%, so the centre-right needs to pick up another 4% or so to be in a position to form a Government.

“The key difference to last month, is that people now want to hear from National, and both National and Labour are in the 30s.Also very noteworthy is Luxon’s ratings. He enters the Preferred PM ratings at 20% (Ardern 39%). That 20% rating is the highest outside an…

Greetings from Santiago. Chileans vote today for a new president and there’s a risk that a Venezuelan-style leftist, Gabriel Boric, will prevail.

And that puts at risk the economic progress described in this video.

The video has a good discussion of Chile’s very successful system of private pensions (which will be in danger if Boric wins).

But it also points out how free trade helped create the prosperity of modern Chile.

And that narrative is confirmed by looking at Chile’s score from the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World.

I’m always happy to sing the praises of free trade and condemn protectionism, but let’s keep the focus on today’s election in Chile and why it matters.

That’s why this tweet tells you everything you need to know.

Notice how Chile began to prosper after it began to shift to free markets around 1980 and notice…

Considering that economics for the way it is taught within institutions of education is largely and homogeneously based on Keynesian theory and principles, it is important to understand John Maynard Keynes’s inspirations for his works in economics. One may inquire “‘For what reasons are understanding Keynes’s inspirations behind his works important to the field?.” Understanding Keynes, his theory, and his inspiration behind his theory is salient because endorsement of his theory is not limited to just academia and admiring scholars, but it has also affected the policies and actions politicians choose to adopt. Keynesian theory is not only the foundational basis on which economics is instructed in academia, but it is also the adumbration that policy-makers of both fiscal and monetary policy all around the world have referenced for nearly each and every decision they have birthed into existence since the mid 20th century..

Furthermore, since the world economy has…

As another northern winter bites, it’s worth revisiting the deadly renewable energy calamity that hit America’s heartland back in February. Hundreds died in freezing homes, left without electricity thanks to hundreds of iced-up wind turbines, left frozen solid, and breathless frigid conditions that meant the remainder delivered no power, in any event. Solar fared no better, panels were plastered in snow and ice from horizon to horizon, delivering nothing but a twisted sense of virtue.

The Lone Star State – America’s wind and solar capital – was the worst hit. It took days to restore power to Texans, and hundreds of thousands of others across the Midwest were in the same perilous predicament.

The deadly catastrophe was as perfectly predictable as it was perfectly avoidable.

Had Texans maintained their reliance on ever-reliable coal, nuclear and gas, instead of obsessing about subsidised wind turbines and solar panels, the disaster would have…

Franz Joseph I (August 18, 1830 – November 21, 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, and monarch of other states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from December 2, 1848 until his death. From May 1, 1850 to August 24, 1866 he was also President of the German Confederation. He was the longest-reigning ruler of Austria and Hungary, as well as the sixth-longest-reigning monarch of any country.

Franz Joseph was born August 18, 1830 in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna (on the 65th anniversary of the death of Franz of Lorraine, Holy RomanEmperorFranz I) as the eldest son of Archduke Franz Charles (the younger son of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II), and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria.

His mother, Princess Sophie of Bavaria (1805 – 1872) was born to King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife Caroline of Baden. She was the identical…