If you try to look at the arguments for Brexit for any length of time with any basic understanding of economics, it doesn’t take long to realize the problems with all of them. With Brexit in full force are starting to see a decrease in wages, an increase in inequality, and a loss of jobs …
Author Archives: stidmatt
Most effective state parties
When asking the question of which state parties are the most effective, one of the first questions I ask is how effective is the party at keeping control of a state. If this is how we define a political party to be effective, then the most effective parties are the ones who are able to …
Oldest genealogy tree possible
King Gyges of Lydia was King of Lydia (which ruled over Western Anatolia) in the 7th century BC. He founded the Ardys dynasty. King Alyattes of Lydia (Gyges’ great-grandson) was most likely the great grandfather of King Cyrus the Great, through his daughter Aryenis. King Cyrus the great was an 8th generation ancestor of King …
How we could have saved Roe
A common refrain among Democrats today is that “Ruth Bader Ginsburg should have resigned before Clinton lost, and that would have saved abortion.” Let’s review this claim, by looking at different scenarios. RBG retires early If RBG retired before 2015, then Democrats could have replaced her with another Democrat. She could not have retired after …
British political crisis
We are currently witnessing the largest political crisis in the United Kingdom of the last century. Recap: In 2010 David Cameron became Prime Minister after Nick Clegg decided he would rather form a coalition with the mercantilist/fascist Tories versus the left-of-center Labour. I hope Nick Clegg burns in hell for eternity for what he did. …
Can you afford a passport
I was just thinking about a friend who had her identity stolen, and had no backup beyond her driver’s license which was the one document that had been stolen. If she had a passport, she would not have had her life ruined. It has cost her tens of thousands of dollars. The average American makes …
UBI-based inflation?
Many in the economic center and economic right are claiming that the stimulus payments are the cause of the inflation we are seeing now. One such article is in the latest Economist. It is a rather unusual article for the Economist because it doesn’t include any graphs. What if we actually do some basic graphing …
A fourth tunnel from New Jersey
The Port Authority Bus Terminal is currently the busiest bus terminal in the world, and it’s running at capacity. It is clear that something needs to be done. First and foremost, let’s deal with this argument that we don’t have the money. From 2010-2019 the United States built 2103 new miles of transit and 21,950 …
Republican governors 2022
Let’s do a quick roundup of Republican governors and see if they are fit for office. Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott would rather spend millions of dollars flying refugees to Martha’s Vineyard than ensuring they have the resources necessary for the ongoing hurricane season. Does this seem like a reasonable use of taxpayer money? Eric …
US GDP overview, Q2 2022
Well this is a weird recession, and a very mild one at that, but yes, definitely a recession at this point. When economists like myself look at recession data we generally look at the whole picture. We want to know not just “is the economy in a recession” but “why is the economy in recession”. …