Peter Dunne writes – Should former Labour leader and Minister Andrew Little decide to seek the Wellington Mayoralty later this year he will have a very good, but by no means guaranteed, chance of winning. Little was regarded in national politics as a reasonable, competent safe pair of hands, although sometimes his passion got the […]
The challenge facing Andrew Little to become Mayor of Wellington
The challenge facing Andrew Little to become Mayor of Wellington
11 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
Why Economics Is Really Called ‘the Dismal Science’: The (not-so-dismal) origin myth of a ubiquitous term
11 Apr 2025 1 Comment
in history of economic thought
By Derek Thompson of The Atlantic Monthly. From 2013. “The story goes like this: Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish writer and philosopher, called economics “the dismal science” in reference to Thomas Malthus, that lugubrious economist who claimed humanity was trapped in a world where population growth would always strain natural resources and bring widespread misery. Dismal,…
Why Economics Is Really Called ‘the Dismal Science’: The (not-so-dismal) origin myth of a ubiquitous term
German Editor Sentenced and Fined for Satirical Picture of Interior Minister
11 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: free speech, Germany, political correctness, regressive left
We previously discussed the case of Deutschland-Kurier editor David Bendels who published a satirical meme of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser holding an altered sign that read “I hate freedom of speech.” Ironically, the sign was believable given the anti-free speech positions of Faeser and the German government. Faeser, however, went ballistic. In a country that routinely arrests […]
German Editor Sentenced and Fined for Satirical Picture of Interior Minister
“Coercive Control”: Parents Could Lose Custody Under Proposed Colorado Law for “Misgendering”
11 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of love and marriage, gender, health economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Parental rights are emerging as one of the major civil liberties movements of this generation — and one of the greatest conflicts between the right and the left in this country. For example, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled schools can hide a change of gender in young children from […]
“Coercive Control”: Parents Could Lose Custody Under Proposed Colorado Law for “Misgendering”
Paper Tigers? Princeton Faces Test Over Free Speech Following Disruption of Bennett Speech
10 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of education, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, war and peace Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
In sports, many are saying that it is a “great year to be a Princeton tiger.” The question this week is whether the same is true for free speech at Princeton. For years, we followed free speech controversies at the school over the investigation of dissenting faculty, the targeting of critics, and general intolerance for […]
Paper Tigers? Princeton Faces Test Over Free Speech Following Disruption of Bennett Speech
NPR Repeats False Claim That the Court Rejected Claims of Government Involvement in Censorship Efforts
10 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Leila Fadel and National Public Radio recently interviewed me on free speech. While the program ominously warned that “what you’re about to hear is hate speech” in playing extreme voices on the right, it did interview me and former Columbia University president Lee Bollinger from the free speech community. I wanted to address a statement […]
NPR Repeats False Claim That the Court Rejected Claims of Government Involvement in Censorship Efforts
The Year Without a Summer: A Climate Catastrophe and Its Global Impact
10 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of natural disasters
The “Year Without a Summer,” which occurred in 1816, stands as one of the most dramatic examples of short-term climate disruption in recorded history. This year was marked by unusual and extreme weather patterns that caused widespread crop failures, food shortages, and social unrest across the Northern Hemisphere. The phenomenon was primarily caused by the […]
The Year Without a Summer: A Climate Catastrophe and Its Global Impact
When Genius Failed
10 Apr 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, business cycles, economic growth, economics of information, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, financial economics, global financial crisis (GFC), history of economic thought, industrial organisation, macroeconomics, politics - USA
Myron Scholes was on top of the world in 1997, having won the Nobel Prize in economics that year for his work in financial economics, work that he had applied in the real world in a wildly successful hedge fund, Long Term Capital Management. But just one year later, LTCM was saved from collapse only […]
When Genius Failed
Book review: The Economists’ Hour
10 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, history of economic thought, labour economics, macroeconomics
Once upon a time, economists were backroom advisers, crunching numbers and developing theories, but rarely in the limelight and certainly not the central actors in political decision-making. However, as Binyamin Appelbaum outlines in his 2019 book The Economists’ Hour, that all changed in the late 1960s. The title of the book references the period from…
Book review: The Economists’ Hour
Norway’s Political Earthquake: A Backstop No More
09 Apr 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: Norway, wind power
After decades of quietly footing the bill for Europe’s grand energy experiments, it appears Norway has finally decided to walk off the stage — or at the very least, slam the door shut on a few cross-border power cables on the way out.
Norway’s Political Earthquake: A Backstop No More
THE TRIALS OF HARRY S. TRUMAN: THE EXTRAORDINARY PRESIDENCY OF AN ORDINARY MAN, 1945-1953 by Jeffrey Frank
09 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Korean war, World War II
(President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Vice President elect Harry S. Truman, Vice President Henry Wallace) During my forty-four year teaching career on the secondary and university level I was often asked; “Who is your favorite President?” The answer came very easily, Harry S. Truman. My response was based on his personality, moral code, and his actions […]
THE TRIALS OF HARRY S. TRUMAN: THE EXTRAORDINARY PRESIDENCY OF AN ORDINARY MAN, 1945-1953 by Jeffrey Frank
Take Thyself to Texas: The Supreme Court Rules For Trump on Stay and Jurisdiction Over Deportations
09 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law, economics of immigration
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court delivered a victory to the Trump Administration on the deportations under the 1798…
Take Thyself to Texas: The Supreme Court Rules For Trump on Stay and Jurisdiction Over Deportations
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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