New Rule: Flirting with Fascism | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
06 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Trump Pardons and Commutations Included Violent Offenders Who Assaulted Police Officers
24 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election, crime and punishment, law and order
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump stated that the roughly 1500 pardons and commutations for J6 defendants issued Monday night are not the final resolution of cases. The President indicated that some commutations may be converted into full pardons. What is now clear is that the executive action includes violent offenders. That is wrong regardless of […]
Trump Pardons and Commutations Included Violent Offenders Who Assaulted Police Officers
The End of Shock and Awe: How the Justice Department Made the Case for the J6 Pardons
22 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the New York Post on the pardoning of the January 6th defendants by President Donald Trump. The scope of the pardon appears broader than some had hoped. What is clear is that any such relief should not extend to violent actors, particularly those who attacked police officers. However, the Justice […]
The End of Shock and Awe: How the Justice Department Made the Case for the J6 Pardons
The impact of Fox News on American democracy
20 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, industrial organisation, politics - USA Tags: 2008 presidential election, 2012 presidential election, 2016 US presidential election, 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election, media bias
In yesterday’s post, I noted a number of opportunities for research on the economics of social media. At least one of those opportunities intersected with the impact of traditional media. So, I was interested to read this new article by Elliott Ash, Sergio Galletta, Matteo Pinna (all ETH Zurich), and Christopher Warshaw (George Washington University), published…
The impact of Fox News on American democracy
Jacksonian Obstruction: Smith Explains How He Was Planning to Circumvent the Decision in Fischer
15 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
The release of the first part of Jack Smith’s report at midnight was the special counsel’s version of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision: we had seen it before. Putting aside the public filings where Smith fought to get this information out before the election, there was little new in the report. What the report did […]
Jacksonian Obstruction: Smith Explains How He Was Planning to Circumvent the Decision in Fischer
How Jack Smith Destroyed His Own Case Against Trump
14 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the one thing that the forthcoming report of Special Counsel Jack Smith will not address: how he destroyed his own case against Donald Trump. Smith will be something of a tragic figure for future special counsels. The only thing missing is a shirt reading, “I spent over […]
How Jack Smith Destroyed His Own Case Against Trump
A peaceful transfer of power
09 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
This week the US Congress certified that Donald Trump won the Presidential election. He is now officially the President-Elect. It is worth noting what has not happened since election day. This of course is how it should be. A peaceful transfer of power is a vital part of democracy. However if the result had gone […]
A peaceful transfer of power
“Why We Influenced the 2020 Elections”: Facebook Files Reveal the Coordinated Effort to Bury the Laptop Story
01 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Recently, I spoke at an event about my book, “The Indispensable Right,” at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Appearing on the panel with me was a New York University professor and one of the Facebook board members directing “content moderation.” We had a sharp disagreement over the record of Meta/Facebook on censorship, which I […]
“Why We Influenced the 2020 Elections”: Facebook Files Reveal the Coordinated Effort to Bury the Laptop Story
Liz Cheney Under Fire for Allegedly Improper Contacts with Cassidy Hutchinson
16 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Former J6 Committee Co-Chair and Rep. Liz Cheney has long been criticized for her role in creating a one-sided and at times erroneous record of what occurred on January 6th. That includes editing out Trump’s call for supporters to protest “peacefully,” burying evidence on Trump’s offer to supply National Guard support for that day, and […]
Liz Cheney Under Fire for Allegedly Improper Contacts with Cassidy Hutchinson
Zuckerberg’s Censorship Admission is More Contrived than Contrite
29 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in liberalism, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Below is my column in Fox.com on the admission of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook yielded to pressure of the Biden Administration to censor citizens. The admission, however, appears more contrived than contrite. Here is the column: “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about…
Zuckerberg’s Censorship Admission is More Contrived than Contrite
“A Death Squad Ruling”: The Press and Pundits Make Wild Claims in the Wake of the Court’s Immunity Decision
08 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the over-wrought reaction to the Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States. Commentators seemed to compete for the most alarmist accounts from court-sanctioned death squads to political assassinations to the death of democracy. From the coverage of the immunity decision, one would think that the Madisonian […]
“A Death Squad Ruling”: The Press and Pundits Make Wild Claims in the Wake of the Court’s Immunity Decision
Insurrection-Lite: The Supreme Court Downsizes the “Insurrection” to Largely Trespassing
01 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the Hill on the Supreme Court decision on Friday in Fischer v. U.S. to reject hundreds of charges in January 6th cases for the obstruction of legal proceedings. For many cases, that will leave relatively minor offenses like trespass or unlawful entry. It is only the latest blow to efforts […]
Insurrection-Lite: The Supreme Court Downsizes the “Insurrection” to Largely Trespassing
“I Take Responsibility”: Pelosi Admits Fault for the Lack of Security Precautions on January 6th
12 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
For years, some of us have asked why the Capitol was so poorly prepared for the January 6th riot. As part of the coverage on that day, I remarked at the start of the protests that I had never seen the Capitol so thinly protected for a major demonstration. Some paths to the Capitol were…
“I Take Responsibility”: Pelosi Admits Fault for the Lack of Security Precautions on January 6th
Can Democracy Survive the “Defenders of Democracy”?
11 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2016 US presidential election, 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the latest calls to protect democracy with distinctly undemocratic measures. Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton insisted that the 2024 election was our D-Day, suggesting that voters would have to fight the GOP like the Nazis in World War II. Clinton previously called on Europe to censor American […]
Can Democracy Survive the “Defenders of Democracy”?
Laptop Deniers in Delaware: The Media Shrugs as the Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court
08 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in Fox.com on the authentication of Hunter Biden laptop in the Delaware trial. The government has denounced the Russian disinformation claims as a “conspiracy theory” and put on evidence that there is no evidence of tampering with the laptop. The FBI declared the laptop to be “real” and “authentic” and the […]
Laptop Deniers in Delaware: The Media Shrugs as the Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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