Author Archive

The Bogus “97% of Climate Scientists Agree” Claim

If you have the temerity to challenge calls for the government to take aggressive action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, you will probably have someone call you a “climate science denier.” You will further be lectured that “97% of climate scientists agree” on this consensus. But there’s a bait-and-switch going on here, as Joseph Bast […]

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Piketty Hits Back

I want to move on with my life, but I’m apparently one of the few people who actually read Chris Giles’ FT critique of Piketty, and so I can explain just how ludicrous his counterattack in Bloomberg is. My conclusion: There are many oddities in Piketty’s work. We know for a fact that he has […]

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Come to a “Night of Clarity” in Nashville on August 15

On August 15 my business partner Carlos Lara and I will have another “Night of Clarity” event in downtown Nashville. For those who are curious what this is, here is the memorial video from last year: The lineup of speakers this year is the same, except the headliner is David Stockman rather than Ron Paul. […]

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Potpourri

==> I tackle some objections to anarcho-capitalism in this “Lions of Liberty” podcast. ==> Peter Klein provides a lengthy quotation from Rothbard on Gabriel Kolko (who recently died). ==> Hilarious Bryan Caplan response to the “world’s first and only stand-up economist” Yoram Bauman. (Bauman’s statements about climate change are as accurate as his self-billing.) ==> […]

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Piketty vs. Giles

Here is my initial reaction to the affair. Let me emphasize my main position: I am not an expert on the various estimates of wealth concentration. So I don’t know how to referee on the specific allegations. However, let us not forget that Piketty clearly put in bogus information on both the minimum wage and […]

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Yikes! Piketty Accused of Literally Making Up Wealth Inequality Data

OK, so I personally busted Piketty just making stuff up about tax rates, and in a way that served his narrative. Economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth at the Manhattan Institute caught him just making stuff up about the minimum wage, and in a way that served his narrative. Now Chris Giles of FT comes out with an […]

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Don’t Trust Joe Romm to Interpret IPCC Tables

That’s the moral in my latest IER post. (Thanks to Josiah Neeley who helped me find some of the stuff in the IPCC reports.) Here’s the conclusion, but if this is “your thing” I really encourage you to follow the link: Romm and his interventionist allies can’t have it both ways. The IPCC is reporting […]

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Potpourri

==> The President only says false things 27% of the time. ==> Apparently Axl Rose has the widest vocal range of famous musicians. I still think Karen Carpenter has a nicer voice. ==> More Piketty problems.

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