In the The New York Times on this day in 1924: "Hitler…No longer to be feared." http://t.co/lGiopIUCDT—
Matt Zwolinski (@Mattzwolinski) October 03, 2014
Famous last headlines
29 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture Tags: media bias, Nazi Germany
I thought America’s poor never had health insurance cover!? I’ve watched too much American TV?
26 Jul 2015 1 Comment
in applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of media and culture, health economics, industrial organisation, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: adverse selection, expressive voting, health insurance, Leftover Left, media bias, medicaid, Medicare, moral hazard, Obamacare, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
#Medicaid expands access to health coverage and supports work: bit.ly/1RKHQ2x #Medicaidat50 http://t.co/mydZMggcXg—
Center on Budget (@CenterOnBudget) July 20, 2015
6.4 million seniors get the vital support & care they need thanks to Medicaid: bit.ly/1HqYvNG #Medicaidat50 http://t.co/onWMiYj301—
Center on Budget (@CenterOnBudget) July 23, 2015
Reminder: #Medicaid helps millions of babies: bit.ly/1RS7ME5 #Medicaidat50 http://t.co/SeJ7MFPGWE—
Center on Budget (@CenterOnBudget) July 20, 2015
#Medicaid help millions of children across the country live healthier lives. #Medicaidat50: bit.ly/1RS7ME5 http://t.co/LT6rXhNzUg—
Center on Budget (@CenterOnBudget) July 16, 2015
50 years of coverage that every American deserves. #Medicare http://t.co/uRtERV2k9K—
American Progress (@amprog) July 30, 2015
Mann: Celebrating historic gains in coverage for kids CCF#2015 http://t.co/g7CYQ7DuwN—
Georgetown CCF (@GeorgetownCCF) July 22, 2015
#Medicare has been keeping seniors insured and healthy for 50 years. http://t.co/mXW4x12Rhi—
American Progress (@amprog) July 30, 2015
The majority of Americans of all ages don't recognize that gov subsidizes their health care: vox.com/2015/3/1/81257… http://t.co/ivq5eLThsi—
(@SocImages) April 22, 2015
Minimum salaries of American professional sports players and media coverage
13 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, gender, industrial organisation, labour economics, occupational choice, sports economics, survivor principle Tags: gender wage gap, media bias, sex discrimination, superstar wages, superstars
Creative destruction in London newspapers
12 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of information, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, Public Choice Tags: British economy, British politics, creative destruction, London, media bias
Truth is that editorialising has v little influence – less now than ever. Here's why: specc.ie/1c58mAr http://t.co/m8UM22W0zj—
Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) May 07, 2015
Good old left-wing hate speech at its best
12 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, income redistribution, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: British elections, expressive voting, free speech, hate speech, London newspapers, media bias, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
I agree with @D_Blanchflower – I wish newspapers didn't spin elections and played it straight, like they used to… http://t.co/5btL7PAFWe—
Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) May 07, 2015
Market segmentation in the London newspaper market
11 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: British elections, British politics, consumer sovereignty, creative destruction, entrepreneurial alertness, expressive voting, London newspapers, market selection, media bias, product differentiation, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, The meaning of competition
The truth about the press and power? Readers, not editors, decide elections. @RobertdgSmith specc.ie/1c58mAr http://t.co/Vhit9P9iM7—
Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) May 06, 2015
Newspaper bias just ain’t what it used to be
10 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, Public Choice Tags: British elections, creative destruction, expressive voting, London newspapers, media bias, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, red scares
Here's the Daily Mirror's polling day advice from days when it was more fair and balanced (h/t Guido) http://t.co/GJ5CNGMoRj—
Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) May 07, 2015
Hopeless KiwiRail bailout reporting by Radio New Zealand
10 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of media and culture, politics - New Zealand, rentseeking, transport economics Tags: corporate welfare, KiwiRail, media bias, privatisation, public ownership, Radio New Zealand, state owned enterprises
This morning on 9 to noon on Radio New Zealand, Kathryn Ryan, the compere of the program, repeatedly claimed that the government pumped $1 billion into the KiwiRail Turnaround Plan between 2010 and 2014. I was so annoyed by this that I made a broadcasting standards complaint while the program was still being broadcast on my mobile as a one finger typist.
The report on 9 to Noon was in response to the government putting KiwiRail on notice, giving it two years to identify savings and reduce Crown funding required or risk the possibility of closure. Since KiwiRail was acquired in 2008 for $665 million as a commercial investment, Crown investments (taxpayers bailout) totalled $3.4 billion – see Figure 1.
Figure 1: State-owned enterprise welfare, Vote Transport and Vote Finance (KiwiRail), Budgets 08/09 to 15/16
Source: New Zealand budget papers, various years.
Table 1 shows that the KiwiRail Turnaround plan of $1.272 billion since the 2009-10 Budget is only a small part of the bailout of KiwiRail. 9 to Noon simply ignored the $210 million in the 2015 budget for KiwiRail for no explicable reason and instead talked about a $1 billion Turnaround plan rather than the $1.272 billion Turnaround plan.
Table 1: State-Owned Enterprise welfare, Vote Transport and Vote Finance (KiwiRail), Budgets 2008/09 to 2015/16, $million
| 08/09 |
09/10 |
10/11 |
11/12 |
12/13 |
13/14 |
14/15 |
15/16 |
|
|
New Zealand Railways Corporation Loans |
405 |
55 |
250 |
108 |
11 |
|||
|
KiwiRail Turnaround Plan |
20 |
250 |
250 |
250 |
94 |
198 |
210 |
|
|
KiwiRail Equity Injection |
323 |
25 |
29 |
|||||
|
Rail Network and Rolling Stock Upgrade |
105 |
71 |
10 |
|||||
|
New Zealand Railways Corporation Loans |
55 |
|||||||
|
New Zealand Railways Corporation Increase in Capital for the Purchase of Crown Rail |
376 |
|||||||
|
Crown Rail Operator Loans |
140 |
|||||||
|
Crown Rail Operator Equity Injection |
7 |
|||||||
|
Total |
578 |
530 |
376 |
510 |
680 |
119 |
209 |
239 |
Source: New Zealand budget papers, various years.
Other parts of the bailout of KiwiRail include $405 million in loans to the New Zealand Railways Corporation in the 2009-10 budge – see table 1. There was a $323 million equity injection in the 2012-13 Budget – see table 1. KiwiRail has also caused write-downs in the Crown balance sheet of an incredible $9.8 billion since it was repurchased in 2008.
9 to Noon ignored at least two thirds of the cost to the taxpayer of bailing out KiwiRail by only limiting its reporting to part of the KiwiRail Turnaround Plan. It ignored the contribution in the most recent budget to that plan. That does not meet broadcasting standards of accuracy or professional responsibility.
Any reasonable listener will infer, as I did when listening, that the entire cost of the bailout of KiwiRail is represented by the Turnaround Plan of about $1 billion. If listeners were left with that impression, they were misled by 9 to Noon and Radio New Zealand.
The political bias of psychologists
05 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of media and culture, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: academic bias, bureaucratic bias, expressive voting, Leftover Left, media bias, occupational choice, political bias, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, social psychology, Twitter left
Why is it that the economics profession is the only profession questioned on the grounds of its political diversity?
1) Academic psychology once had considerable political diversity, but has lost nearly all of it in the last 50 years;
2) This lack of political diversity can undermine the validity of social psychological science via mechanisms such as the embedding of liberal values into research questions and methods, steering researchers away from important but politically unpalatable research topics, and producing conclusions that mischaracterize liberals and conservatives alike;
3) Increased political diversity would improve social psychological science by reducing the impact of bias mechanisms such as confirmation bias, and by empowering dissenting minorities to improve the quality of the majority’s thinking; and
4) The underrepresentation of non-liberals in social psychology is most likely due to a combination of self-selection, hostile climate, and discrimination.
via Psychology’s Political Diversity Problem | Psychology Today.
The media history of climate change scares
03 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, global warming, industrial organisation, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: climate alarmism, global cooling, global warming, media bias
The academic bias that dare not speak its name
23 Jun 2015 2 Comments
Academic libs in soc sci and humanities, cons in business and nursing, moderates in engineering and computer sci http://t.co/ixwbWb5M6X—
Whyvert (@whyvert) May 23, 2015
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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