What was the impact of neoliberalism on welfare spending in the USA?
12 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in welfare reform Tags: Director's Law, expressive voting, growth in government, welfare spending
Symposium on Bryan Caplan’s The Myth of the Rational Voter
03 Apr 2015 Leave a comment
in Public Choice Tags: Bryan Caplan, expressive voting, Geoffrey Brennan, Mike Munger, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
https://youtu.be/k1pZHPIS8og?t=10
Recorded at Public Choice Society Meeting, March 7, 2008, San Antonio, TX.
- Chair: Randall Holcombe (Florida State University)
- Participants: Michael C Munger (Duke University)
- Art Carden (Rhodes College)
- Geoffrey Brennan (Australia National University)
- Bryan Caplan (George Mason University)
This admission has much wider application than Anarcho-communism
27 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Marxist economics Tags: expressive politics, expressive voting, Leftover Left, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
The Campaign To Make You Care About Climate Change Is Failing Miserably
27 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: climate alarmism, expressive voting, global warming, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
Since 1989, there’s been no significant change in the public’s concern level over global warming. To put this in perspective, note that the most expensive public-relations campaign in history—one that includes most governmental agencies, a long list of welfare-sucking corporations, the public school system, the universities, an infinite parade of celebrities, think tanks, well-funded environmental groups and an entire major political party—has, over the past 25 years or so, increased the number of Democrats who “worry greatly” about global warming by a mere four percentage points.
via The Campaign To Make You Care About Climate Change Is Failing Miserably, Climate Change Not a Top Worry in U.S., In U.S., Concern About Environmental Threats Eases and The number of people worried about climate change hasn’t changed since 1989 – The Washington Post.
In Defence of Negativity in Politics – John G. Geer
24 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of information, economics of media and culture, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: Attack Ads, expressive voting, John G. Geer, political psychology, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
John G. Geer, author of In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns, argues that negative ads are positive. They focus on important political issues and give voters critical information about differences between candidates. Attack ads do not degrade, but rather enrich the democratic process. When political candidates attack each other, they raise doubts about each other’s views and qualifications. Voters—and the democratic process—benefit from this clash of opinions.
The numbers behind any shift to a lower carbon economy simply don’t add up
24 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: carbon trading, climate alarmism, expressive voting, global warming, Kyoto Protocol, power prices, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
George Stigler on the extensive influence of economists on public policy
20 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in George Stigler, history of economic thought, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: evidence-based policy, expressive politics, expressive voting, intellectuals, politics of reform, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
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The carbon footprint of the round the world solar flight should include its support planes
18 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in environmental economics, global warming, technological progress, transport economics Tags: carbon footprint, climate alarmism, expressive voting, global warming, solar flight, solar power
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population vote for parties that welcome them
18 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in liberalism, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: expressive voting, voter demographics
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population is one of the most Democratic demographic groups in the country. According to the 2012 national exit polls conducted by the National Election Pool, gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults voted for Barack Obama over Mitt Romney by more than three-to-one (76% vs. 22%).
This Democratic advantage can be seen in the partisan identification of LGBT adults, a majority of whom are Democrats. It also expresses itself in policy preferences across a range of issues, including size of government, attitudes about gun policy and immigration…
Half of LGBT adults (50%) self-identify as liberal, 37% are moderate, and just 12% say they are conservative.
That’s hardly surprising that people vote for the parties that welcome them given the deep hostility of the Republican Party on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Until the middle of the 20th century, few black Americans voted for the Democratic party because it was the party of racism. People rarely vote for parties that really dislike them.
The transferability of these American results on partisanship to New Zealand is rather limited because there is no cultural war as there is in the USA currently over same-sex marriages. A same-sex marriage bill passed the New Zealand Parliament in 2013 fairly easily. The Christian based socially conservative parties in New Zealand are pretty tame in their rhetoric and still struggling to get into Parliament.
As such, the centre right parties in New Zealand aren’t seen as particularly hostile to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population. On the same-sex marriage bill, for example, the National Party split evenly on voting for and against, reflecting its moderation in just about every issue.
People of all sexualities can vote for New Zealand parties on grounds other than the fact of how welcoming they are to who they are. That makes the American results on partisanship and sexuality less relevant to New Zealand
Further evidence from the legacy media that climate alarmism is on the way out?
16 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of information, economics of media and culture, environmental economics, global warming Tags: climate alarmism, expressive voting, global warming, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
RT if you think this summarises the Anti-Science Left
15 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of information, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, environmental economics, global warming, health economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Anti-Science left, conjecture and refutation, expressive voting, Green Left, progressive left, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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