Long ago, I co-blogged for EconLog with Arnold Kling. Now he’s running a book club for Liberty Fund. Last month, Arnold invited me and philosopher Rachel Ferguson to discuss Mike Huemer’s new Progressive Myths. Enjoy!
*Progressive Myths*: The Kling Club Convo
*Progressive Myths*: The Kling Club Convo
14 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: The Great Enrichment
Bill Maher’s New Rule: Guilt by Civilization
09 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights, television, TV shows Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left, The Great Enrichment
For some reason Bill Maher’s latest comedy/news video, “New Rules: Guilt by Civilization”, is age-restricted (it must be the photo of Bianca Censori in her see-through outfit) , but you can see it by clicking either here or on the “Watch on YouTube” line below. The beginning is great, as Maher claims that the Democrats […]
Bill Maher’s New Rule: Guilt by Civilization
The Great Escape
02 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, health economics Tags: life expectancies, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape
When did sustained economic growth begin?
31 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, history of economic thought, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, poverty and inequality Tags: The Great Enrichment
The subtitle is New Estimates of Productivity Growth in England from 1250 to 1870, and the authors are Paul Bouscasse, Emi Nakamura, and Jón Steinsson. Abstract: We estimate productivity growth in England from 1250 to 1870. Real wages over this period were heavily influenced by plague-induced swings in the population. Our estimates account for these […]
When did sustained economic growth begin?
Everything is Pretty Damn Awesome
21 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, liberalism, macroeconomics Tags: The Great Enrichment
At the age of about 60, my wife began having terrible pain in her hip. For about a year, this greatly limited her ability to walk longer distances. One of her great joys, exploring new places on foot, was suddenly impossible to pursue. And then the pain got so bad that she could barely sleep,…
Everything is Pretty Damn Awesome
Nordhaus on the Perils of Long-Term Forecasting
01 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history Tags: The Great Enrichment
When people try to think about the long-term future, by which I mean here looking a half-century or a century ahead, they often suffer a lack of imagination. As a common example, they take today’s problems and just multiply them by a factor of ten. Or they assume that improved central planning, in one form…
Nordhaus on the Perils of Long-Term Forecasting
The Great Enrichment
01 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: The Great Enrichment
The Great Enrichment
30 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture Tags: creative destruction, The Great Enrichment
Creative destruction
04 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, industrial organisation, macroeconomics, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction, The Great Enrichment
US Productivity Growth: Downside, Upside
08 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics Tags: The Great Enrichment
Over time, a rising US standard of living is driven by productivity growth. Michael Peters succinctly describes the problem in “America Must Rediscover Its Dynamism” (Finance & Development, September 2024). He writes: The US economy has a multitrillion-dollar problem. It’s the dramatic slowdown in productivity growth over the past couple of decades. Between 1947 and…
US Productivity Growth: Downside, Upside
In 1900, when most U.S. women baked their own bread and did the laundry by hand, maintaining a home was a full-time job.
07 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: The Great Enrichment
The industrial revolution
01 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles Tags: industrial revolution, The Great Enrichment
Energy Essentials: Why Modern Civilisation Critically Depends On Coal, Oil & Gas
24 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: renewable energy, solar power, The Great Enrichment, wind power
In a world where humans are regarded as cockroaches and wilful ignorance a winning virtue, it’s little wonder that misanthropes in the West hate everything about coal, oil and gas. Except the myriad benefits that they bring. You won’t find the same attitudes being expressed in India, China and Indonesia – where hydrocarbons are dragging […]
Energy Essentials: Why Modern Civilisation Critically Depends On Coal, Oil & Gas
Creative destruction
31 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation Tags: The Great Enrichment
Why the @NZGreens are beside the point
31 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, technological progress Tags: child poverty, family poverty, The Great Enrichment
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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