Absolute pacifism—the belief that all forms of violence and warfare are unjustifiable—is morally appealing in theory but dangerously flawed in practice. History vividly illustrates situations where such unwavering commitment to nonviolence could lead to disastrous consequences. George Orwell, the renowned British writer and political thinker, recognized this peril during World War II, arguing compellingly against […]
Orwell against pacifism
Orwell against pacifism
25 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace
NYT series: Religion is back, and it’s a good thing, too. Dawkins responds and dissents.
25 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
The NYT’s associate editor Lauren Jackson is doing a year-long series on “belief” for the paper. In her latest piece (click below to read, or find it archived here), she pulls out all the stops, averring the several points that we’ve seen appearing over and over again in the MSM. To wit: 1.) America needs […]
NYT series: Religion is back, and it’s a good thing, too. Dawkins responds and dissents.
Pandemic Preparation Without Romance
25 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
My latest paper, Pandemic Preparation Without Romance, has just appeared at Public Choice. Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic, despite its unprecedented scale, mirrored previous disasters in its predictable missteps in preparedness and response. Rather than blaming individual actors or assuming better leadership would have prevented disaster, I examine how standard political incentives—myopic voters, bureaucratic gridlock, and […]
Pandemic Preparation Without Romance
Marriage is in decline
25 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of love and marriage, gender, labour economics, law and economics Tags: marriage and divorce
Smith Reviews Stiglitz
24 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, experimental economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation
Vernon Smith reviews Joe Stiglitz’s book The Road to Freedom: Stiglitz did work in the abstract intellectual theoretical tradition of neoclassical economics showing how the standard results were changed by asymmetric or imperfect information. He is oblivious, however, to the experimental lab and field empirical research showing that agent knowledge of all such information is […]
Smith Reviews Stiglitz
Crimson Chide: Harvard Makes the Case Against Itself
24 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Below is my column in The Hill on Harvard faculty organizing in opposition to the Trump Administration’s measures targeting the university for failure to protect Jewish students and its lack of diversity of viewpoints on campus. Despite being a vocal critic of Harvard’s culture of orthodoxy, I have encouraged the Administration to moderate some of […]
Crimson Chide: Harvard Makes the Case Against Itself
Interview with Robert Barro: Empirical Macroeconomics
24 Apr 2025 1 Comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, econometerics, economic history, fiscal policy, macroeconomics
Jon Hartley serves as interlocutor in “Revisiting Empirical Macroeconomics with Robert Barro” (Hoover Institution, Capitalism and Freedom Podcast, March 25, 2025, audio and transcript available). Here are a few of the comments from Barro that especially caught my eye. One basic question in economics is about “the multiplier”–that is, how much will an increase in…
Interview with Robert Barro: Empirical Macroeconomics
Long-Run Effects of Trade Wars
24 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, econometerics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, unemployment Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, tariffs, unintended consequences
This short note shows that accounting for capital adjustment is critical when analyzing the long-run effects of trade wars on real wages and consumption. The reason is that trade wars increase the relative price between investment goods and labor by taxing imported investment goods and their inputs. This price shift depresses capital demand, shrinks the […]
Long-Run Effects of Trade Wars
Guest Post: Cultural reports: You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you?
24 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
A guest post by a reader: I regret to inform you that cultural reports are back, wearing a wig and a false mustache. In March 2024, Parliament passed the Legal Services Amendment Bill, which abolished public legal aid funding for section 27 reports, also known as “cultural reports”. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith stated: “This will […]
Guest Post: Cultural reports: You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you?
Where Britain has gone
23 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, sports economics Tags: sex discrimination
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill to define the biological definition of man and woman in law. . . . “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the term ‘woman’ in law”, says New Zealand First Leader […]
Where Britain has gone
Same scandal, different script: how the Herald protects one MP and targets another
23 Apr 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of religion, law and economics, politics - New Zealand
Centrist reports – In brief NZ Herald gave Green MP Benjamin Doyle 4,000+ words of forensic coverage. National MP Hamish Campbell got 1,300 words and no expert input. Doyle’s social media scandal, with no police angle, was softened by cultural context and framed as a moral panic. Campbell’s ties to a sect under FBI/NZ Police […]
Same scandal, different script: how the Herald protects one MP and targets another
It shouldn’t take a Minister for common sense to prevail
23 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of bureaucracy, gender, health economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Radio NZ reports: The coalition has directed Health New Zealand to say “women” instead of “pregnant people” in its communications about health issues. Associate Health Minister Casey Costello wrote to interim chief executive Dr Dale Bramley on 27 March, telling the agency to use “clear language”. “Recent documents that have reached my office from the […]
It shouldn’t take a Minister for common sense to prevail
Holocaust in Croatia
22 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: Croatia, Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, World War II
Many Eastern European nations are diverting their guilt in the Holocaust by saying that they were occupied. To me, that is like the German Nazis saying “We didn’t know.” Croatia cannot claim they were occupied. The Independent State of Croatia was ruled by the Croatian fascist Ustaša movement. The Ustaša immediately embarked on a campaign […]
Holocaust in Croatia
My debate with Dani Rodrik about tariffs and free trade
22 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economic law, international economics, labour economics, politics - USA, unemployment Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, tariffs
This occurred in Knoxville, you can watch it here. Lots of fun, and p.s. I am more of a free trader than he is. We did have some disagreements.
My debate with Dani Rodrik about tariffs and free trade
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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