Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
23 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, law and economics, property rights Tags: Africa, agricultural economics, do gooders, economics of conservation, economics of endangered species, endangered species, expressive voting, Leftover Left, Twitter left, unintended consequences
https://twitter.com/ConversationUK/status/646227223716872197/photo/1
https://twitter.com/dlAfrican/status/646215227076292608
Capturing the economic value of wildlife for the benefit of wildlife. New in PERC Reports: bit.ly/1JHerwj http://t.co/yijFIChPDo—
PERC (@PERCtweets) September 13, 2015
How private ownership and trophy hunting saved the southern white rhino: bit.ly/1HhZy55 #WorldRhinoDay http://t.co/s4PudPwrrI—
PERC (@PERCtweets) September 22, 2015
22 Sep 2015 1 Comment
in Marxist economics, Public Choice Tags: British politics, economics of ideology, expressive voting, ideology, Leftover Left, political psychology, rational ignorance, rational rationality, Twitter left
The last thing Tories for Corbyn want is for Jeremy Corbyn to start compromising on his principles. Do not be corrupted by the baubles of office. Stay staunch to those ‘renegade Liberal’ principles that kept you in the wilderness for 30 years within the Labour Party. That will guarantee permanent Tory rule. We and the Trots want our £3 worth.
Source: What’s going to happen to a Corbyn-led Labour party | LabourList
WATCH: @afneil exposes Lord Falconer's policy splits with Corbyn and McDonnell order-order.com/2015/09/20/11-… http://t.co/y2pxdu9YKl—
Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) September 20, 2015
21 Sep 2015 1 Comment
17 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, Public Choice Tags: British politics, expressive voting, London, London newspaper market, media bias, rational ignorance, rational rationality
16 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics Tags: atomic power, environmental alarmism, expressive voting, Green alarmism, nuclear energy, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
15 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: British greens, British politics, economics of personality traits, expressive voting, New Zealand Greens, rational ignorance, rational rationality, votor demographics
https://twitter.com/LSEpoliticsblog/status/636528821211123712/photo/1
The large differences in personality types between Green voters and Labour voters is one of the first explanations I have seen as to why someone joins and votes for one over the other given both are left-wing parties with fewer and fewer differences in policy.
How does political party affiliation affect return rates for lost wallets? buff.ly/1AaWng8 http://t.co/7lm2pgUD4h—
LSE Politics&Policy (@LSEpoliticsblog) May 18, 2015
"The socio-economic base of Labour support is more spread out than that of the Tories" buff.ly/1IJB8na http://t.co/uDH5nYVIPu—
LSE Politics&Policy (@LSEpoliticsblog) May 05, 2015
13 Sep 2015 1 Comment
in business cycles, economic history, global financial crisis (GFC), inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, urban economics Tags: expressive voting, housing affordability, inflation rates, median voter theorem, mortgage belt, mortgage rates, rational ignorance, rational rationality
Mortgage interest rates were last in the double digits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, housing prices have exploded in New Zealand and barely paused for the recession in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.
Source: International House Price Database – Dallas Fed; Housing prices deflated by personal consumption expenditure deflator.
With house prices and mortgages several times what they used to be, the ability for any household income to absorb the sudden return of high mortgage interest rates because of a return of even moderate CPI inflation and double-digit mortgage rates is well-nigh impossible, politically.
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand Mortgage rates and Bryan Perry, Household Incomes in New Zealand: trends in indicators of inequality and hardship 1982 to 2014 – Ministry of Social Development, Wellington (August 2015) Table C.5.
The chart above shows that the number of 25 to 44-year-olds in New Zealand who have more than 30% of their income going to housing expenses has doubled since 1988 to nearly a third of all households. The number of 45 to 64-year-olds who pay more than 30% of their income in housing expenses has quadrupled to 20%. That is a lot of voters who would be offended by mismanagement of monetary policy.
None of these households would have much left over to absorb an increasing mortgage interest rates. That is very different political arithmetic too the last time both mortgage rates and CPI inflation were in double digits, which was more than 20 years ago. Not many New Zealanders under the age of 40 or 45 have an adult memory of high inflation and high mortgage rates.
10 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, population economics, transport economics Tags: expressive voting, Leftover Left, urban transport
Source: Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand Travel Survey.
10 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, deaths in custody, expressive voting, law and order, Leftover Left, police, police shootings
In coding the data from The Guardian interactive website, I included all 19 people they classified as unarmed and killed by police including
Unarmed people should not charge at armed police, struggle for their guns, or refuse to comply when threatened with a Taser, especially if poor of health or have a weak heart.
In the only two cases of police malfeasance – three corrections officer beating a prisoner to death or a trigger-happy police officer – charges have been laid or the officer dismissed pending further investigation. The man shot while fleeing police was a murder suspect.
War on Police? Or one of the safest years in law enforcement since 1887? @Mark_J_Perry goo.gl/qNQ2lO http://t.co/2zPjZmG2fQ—
AEIdeas Blog (@AEIdeas) September 09, 2015
01 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, labour economics, poverty and inequality Tags: antimarket bias, expressive voting, fair trade, rational irrationality
24 Aug 2015 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: carbon tax, climate alarmism, expressive voting, fuel poverty, global warming
Who is harmed the most from higher energy costs? The poor, who spend almost 25% of their disposable income on energy? http://t.co/YOn28COXy8—
Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) June 22, 2015
22 Aug 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2016 presidential election, expressive voting, opinion polling, rational ignorance, rational rationality, voter demographics
The 2012 race was even crazier. GOP voters flirted seriously with nearly every other candidate before finally settling on Romney.
via What Can We Learn From National Primary Polling? Virtually Nothing. – Reason.com.
22 Aug 2015 1 Comment
in applied price theory, constitutional political economy, economics of information, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: British Labour Party, British politics, economics of advertising, Eric Crampton, expressive voting, false consciousness, Leftover Left, median voter theorem, New Zealand Greens, New Zealand Labour Party, rational ignorance, rational rationality
Rob Salmond has written a great blog this week on the ideological spectrum of New Zealand voters based on the New Zealand Election Study.
In the course of his blog he drove a tremendously big stake through the heart of the old left fantasy that if Labour or Greens goes left, a large block of voters not voting for them now or not voting at all (the missing million voters) will shake lose its false consciousness and follow you:
But “pulling the centre back towards the left” is massively, massively hard.
You win those people over by being relevant to them as they are, not by telling them they’re worldview needs a rethink. It is just basic psychology. Tell people they were right all along; they like you. Tell people they were wrong all along; they don’t.
And if you win a majority of centrists, you win. The New Zealand Election Study series records six MMP elections in New Zealand – the three where Labour did best among centrists were the three Labour won.
That’s another message from the academic study I quoted above – in Germany, Sweden, and the UK, the elections where the left did best among centrists were the elections where they took power. As their popularity among centrists declined, so did their seat share.
What is more disturbing for the old left fantasy of the missing million is voting for the Labour Party or Greens is correlated with ignorance rather than knowledge.
Furthermore, the more people know about economics, the less likely they are to vote for the left as Eric Crampton explains:
When they get to the polls, the ignorant are significantly more likely to support the Labour Party (4% increase in predicted probability for a standard deviation increase in ignorance) and significantly less likely to support the Green party (1% decrease in predicted probability) and United Future (0.5% decrease in predicted probability).
Understanding economics strongly predicted supporting National in 2005, which comes as little surprise: the National Party leader was former Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. A standard deviation increase in our “economic thinking” index correlates with a 5.7% increased probability of voting National, a 1.5% decreased probability of voting NZ First, and a slight decrease in the probability of voting United Future and Maori.
To make matters worse, Crampton found that joining political organisations does little to cure ignorance of politics or otherwise lead to a political awakening. Sometimes active political affiliation reduces ignorance, other times such organisational membership intensifies ignorance.
via Salmond on the centre | Kiwiblog and StephenFranks.co.nz » Blog Archive » Why the left wants everyone to vote.
21 Aug 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: climate alarmism, evidence-based policy, expressive politics, expressive voting, global warming, rational irrationality
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more
Beatrice Cherrier's blog
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
A rural perspective with a blue tint by Ele Ludemann
DPF's Kiwiblog - Fomenting Happy Mischief since 2003
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change
Tim Harding's writings on rationality, informal logic and skepticism
A window into Doc Freiberger's library
Let's examine hard decisions!
Commentary on monetary policy in the spirit of R. G. Hawtrey
Thoughts on public policy and the media
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Politics and the economy
A blog (primarily) on Canadian and Commonwealth political history and institutions
Reading between the lines, and underneath the hype.
Economics, and such stuff as dreams are made on
"The British constitution has always been puzzling, and always will be." --Queen Elizabeth II
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST
Undisciplined scholar, recovering academic
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Res ipsa loquitur - The thing itself speaks
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Researching the House of Commons, 1832-1868
Articles and research from the History of Parliament Trust
Reflections on books and art
Posts on the History of Law, Crime, and Justice
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Exploring the Monarchs of Europe
Cutting edge science you can dice with
Small Steps Toward A Much Better World
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
The truth about the great wind power fraud - we're not here to debate the wind industry, we're here to destroy it.
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Economics, public policy, monetary policy, financial regulation, with a New Zealand perspective
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Restraining Government in America and Around the World
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments