The Madness of Crowds
The topic of democracy has been batted around by several of us over the past couple of weeks, and with the “Occupy ____” movement building momentum (There was even an “Occupy Auckland” protest here...
Author: James K
Vox populi, vox dei
I’ve been thinking over Erik’s post about libertarians and democracy, and I’ve been taking the opportunity to think over my own attitudes toward democracy, and how compatible with libertarianism I think democracy is. First...
The Antipodean Political Style
A little taste of how politics can differ between the US and New Zealand. John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand was visiting Canterbury University in earthquake-stricken Christchurch. He sees a sign posted up...
Darwin and Smith
If you have a spare hour I strongly recommend listening to the latest episode of Econtalk. Russ Roberts interviews Robert Frank, and they talk about markets – how they go right, how they go...
Terrorism and the Mind-Killer
I didn’t find out about 9/11 until many hours after it happened. The first plane struck just after midnight New Zealand Standard Time, so I didn’t find out until I woke up Wednesday morning. ...
Taxation and Skin
I’ve been pondering Erik’s and Elias’s posts on taxation and spending, and I think both of them touched on an important point about fiscal responsibility. Erik’s point (following on from Radley Balko’s article) about...
Austerity and Stimulus
Since my last post, the debt limit has been raised, and all is well with the world, for now anyway. But the debt limit itself was never the real issue, it was just a...
Debt and the ticking clock
I have been watching the progress (what little there is) on the debt ceiling, and I have to say I’m feeling a little apprehensive. There is now less than a week before the US...
Neoliberalism and the Left
I don’t know about you guys, but I’d like to talk about something other than the Norway incident (aside from a little spleen-venting earlier, all I can say about that is killing innocent people...
Liberaltarianism and mutual improvement
In my last post I made something of a throwaway comment that liberal and libertarians had a lot to learn from each other. Herb asked, quite reasonably, for details. I gave him a quick...
Libertarianism and Privilege
Well, the last few days have certainly be interesting around here, haven’t they? After Erik’s excellent and widely-commented-on post a couple of days ago, I’ve stewed over Freddie’s article, Erik’s reply and the replies...
Experimentation and Policy
I spent the past three days at the New Zealand Association of Economists annual conference where I got to hobnob with my fellow practitioners of the Dismal Science. I attended a number of interesting...
Competition and Inequality
In my last post, Labour and the American Middle Class, I expressed my scepticism of the ability of unions to improve the incomes of the disadvantaged. However, this still leaves the question of how...
Labour and the American Middle Class
I’ve been pondering Erik’s post on the difference between pity-charity liberalism and bottom-up liberalism, and I think he’s hit upon a key distinction between traditional liberals and liberaltarianism, and it’s a difference that will...
Parliaments and Republics
In my introductory post I stated that one of the things I thought I could bring to The League was an outsider’s perspective to American debates. Since the relative merits of parliamentary democracy vs....
Somalia and Binary Thinking
There is a refrain that one comes across from time to time when debating the merits of libertarianism that, in crude terms, goes something like this: What you libertarians don’t understand is that we...
Doubt and Ideology
Erik just posted a piece considering how liberals and libertarians view liberty and justice, and how he is left ambivalent between these worldviews. If you haven’t read it yet please do so, I can...
Introductions and Disclaimers
Hello everyone, I’m James K and most of you will know me as a frequent commenter here. I’ve been asked by Erik to have a go as a full contributor at The League. First...
