To review: There was a flash in the blogospheric pan a few months ago over a controversial book called Nudge, the authors of which (a law professor and an economics professor, both of some renown) insisted that "libertarian paternalism" is not an axiomatic oxymoron. I, along with almost every other libertarian commentator, was skeptical.
Through sheer [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Kip's Law'
Linkfest: Go Nudge Yourself
November 19th, 2008 · No Comments
Tags: Freedom of Contract · Kip's Law · Libertarianism · Updates
Kip's Law Sighting: Are We at "Socialism" Yet?
October 22nd, 2008 · No Comments
Barney Frank calls for making Wall Street bonuses illegal:
"There should be a moratorium on bonuses," Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, told reporters yesterday in Washington. "They have a negative incentive effect because they are the ones that say if you take a risk and it pays off you get a big bonus," and if it causes [...]
Tags: Capitalism · Freedom of Contract · Kip's Law · Politics
Kip's Law Sighting: Anti-Market Airport Bureaucrat
September 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Despite the rain and wind from the remnants of Tropical Storm Hannah, my flight from Puerto Rico arrived a good 10-15 minutes early Saturday evening.
Apparently I'm one of the lucky ones:
A third of U.S. flights travel through New York airspace, and flight cancellations and delays at area airports account for three-quarters of significant delays at [...]
Tags: Economics & Finance · Kip's Law
Kip's Law Sighting: Now Even "Self-Respect" is a Public Good?
September 4th, 2008 · No Comments
I was only semi-seriously skimming a blogpost about the purported "costs" of privatization when I stumbled upon this tidbit:
The privatization process also laid waste to jobs that, while low paid, provided good benefits, civil service protection, union representation, and self-respect. Those lost jobs represent costs, personal and public, tangible and intangible.
This gobbledygook mirrors the one [...]
Tags: Activist Legislators & Nanny Statists · Capitalism · Kip's Law · Taxation & Fiscal Policy
Kip's Law Sighting: The Pizzaioli of Naples
August 28th, 2008 · 2 Comments
When you hear the term "price gouging," you normally think of things like milk, batteries, flashlights, shovels, gasoline…
…and pizza?
"Pizzaioli" or pizza chefs in Naples, birthplace of the Margherita, handed out free pizzas on Wednesday in protest at high prices charged by rivals who, they say, use the spike in commodity prices to rip off consumers.
…
The [...]
Tags: Capitalism · Kip's Law
Sunday CuteTuber™
August 24th, 2008 · No Comments
Considering how serious last week's CuteTuber™ video was, and how serious my next blogpost is, I thought it might be a good idea to go through my stash of videos and pick the most lighthearted for this week's CuteTuber™.
And I ended up crashing straight into Kip's Law:
Welcome to the cruel, [...]
Tags: Kip's Law · Sunday CuteTuber™
It's a Fine Line Between "Capitalist" and "Rent-Seeker"…
August 23rd, 2008 · 2 Comments
…and T. Boone Pickens has taken a flying Jedi leap right over it:
Roberts County, Texas, sits atop the Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground reservoir that stretches all the way to South Dakota. It's in Roberts County that T. Boone Pickens set aside eight acres from his ranch for drilling deep into the aquifer.
Then he turned [...]
Tags: Economics & Finance · Kip's Law · Rent-Seeking
Kip's Law Sighting: Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts
August 18th, 2008 · 1 Comment
To review: The only incursion upon property rights worse than private-for-private eminent domain (such as that shamefully sanctioned by Kelo v. New London) is landmarks preservation. At least with eminent domain, a soon-to-be-former property owner receives "just compensation" for the incursion upon his rights by the majoritarian mob.
With historic preservation, however, the mob doesn't even [...]
Tags: Kip's Law · Law · New York City & State · Property Rights
Kip's Law Sighting: On Disguising Nanny Statism as "Mere Zoning"
August 4th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Ezra Klein once again unleashes his remarkably adolescent intellect upon the blogosphere:
This is getting a little crazy. Responding to the South Los Angeles's new ordinance imposing a one-year moratorium on the construction of new fast food restaurants, William Saletan says, "We're not talking anymore about preaching diet and exercise, disclosing calorie counts, or restricting sodas [...]
Tags: Activist Legislators & Nanny Statists · Freedom of Contract · Kip's Law · Law · Property Rights

















