HT: David Spady
How does the logic of gun free zones differ?
02 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, property rights Tags: expressive boating, gun control, gun free zones, rational rationality, war on terror
HT: David Spady
Solution aversion and the anti-science Left
11 Mar 2016 1 Comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, health economics, law and economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: antiscience left, climate alarmism, geo-engineering, GMOs, growth of knowledge, gun control, motivated reasoning, nuclear power, political persuasion, solar power, solution aversion, wind power
Climate science is the latest manifestation of solution aversion: denying a problem because it has a costly solution. The Right does this on climate science, the Left does it on gun control, GMOs, and plenty more. Cass Sunstein explains:
It is often said that people who don’t want to solve the problem of climate change reject the underlying science, and hence don’t think there’s any problem to solve.
But consider a different possibility: Because they reject the proposed solution, they dismiss the science. If this is right, our whole picture of the politics of climate change is off.
Some psychologists wasted grant money on lab experiments to show that people that think the solution to a problem is costly tend to rubbish every aspect of the argument. Any politician will tell you you do not concede anything. Sunstein again:
Campbell and Kay asked the participants whether they agreed with the IPCC. And in both, about 80 percent of Democrats did agree; the policy solutions made no difference.
Republicans, in contrast, were far more likely to agree with the IPCC when the proposed solution didn’t involve regulatory restrictions…
Here, then, is powerful evidence that many people (of course not all) who purport to be skeptical about climate science are motivated by their hostility to costly regulation.
The Left is equally prone to motivated readings. For example, it was found that those on the left are much more concerned about home invasions when gun control can reduce them rather than increase them.
The Left picks and chooses which scientific consensus as it accepts. The overwhelming consensus among researchers is biotech crops are safe for humans and the environment. This is a conclusion that is rejected by the very environmentalist organisations that loudly insist on the policy relevance of the scientific consensus on global warming.
Previously the precautionary principle was used to introduce doubt when there was no doubt. But when climate science turned in their favour, environmentalists wanted public policy to be based on the latest science.
The Right is welcoming of the science of nuclear energy or geo-engineering. The Left rejects it point-blank. Their refusal to consider nuclear energy as a solution to global warming is a classic example of solution aversion. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
What the key voting blocs think of Obama’s gun-control proposals
09 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, politics - USA Tags: gun control, median voter theorem
Gun share prices skyrocket
07 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, financial economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: gun control
Political outlooks and risk perception
29 Nov 2015 1 Comment
in applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, health economics Tags: anti-vaccination movement, expressive voting, GMOs, gun control, political psychology, risk risk trade-offs
The truth about gun free zones
25 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, economics of regulation, law and economics Tags: expressive voting, gun control, gun free zones, meddlesome preferences, nanny state, offsetting behaviour, rational rationality, unintended consequences
The only person who is safe in a gun-free zone is the man with a gun
04 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, economics of regulation Tags: expressive voting, game theory, gun control, gun free zones, offsetting behaviour, rational ignorance, rational rationality, unintended consequences
Should backyard swimming pools be banned?
26 Aug 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, economics of regulation, health and safety, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: gun control, meddlesome preferences, nanny state, risk risk trade-offs
Why Is The NRA So Powerful
19 Aug 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, constitutional political economy, economics of regulation, Public Choice Tags: competition for political influence, gun control, lobby groups, median voter theorem, rational ignorance, special interests, voter demographics
What does U.S. gun ownership really look like? Load up with #PollPosition’s @Johnnydontlike: bit.ly/1y2EMjX http://t.co/fn5EpM75U7—
(@PJTV) March 25, 2015
Gun related homicides compared
09 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics Tags: crime and punishment, gun control
Gun related homicides http://t.co/BUZ4XIwTWY—
Charts and Maps (@ChartsandMaps) April 12, 2015
What is the most common use of a gun at crime scenes?
03 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, gun control
Gun-free zones an easy target for killers | John Lott
19 Jun 2015 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: game theory, gun control, John Lott, mass public shootings, offsetting behaviour, read killers, The fatal conceit, The pretence to knowledge, unintended consequences
1/3rd of mass shootings ended when members of the public subdued or shot the perpetrator
28 May 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, gun control
Jihad, Texas style
05 May 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, war and peace Tags: gun control, Jihad, taxes, war against terror
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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