Recent posts

Incentives in politics

Feb 09 — 12 mins read

If I had the power to add one new compulsory subject to the national school curriculum, then I would choose economics without hesitation. If more of us knew some basic economics, then we wouldn’t allow our politicians to lead us on one wild goose chase after another. Unfortunately, that is precisely what happens at every election, and we fall for the same old tricks each time.

Non-profit misconceptions

Feb 03 — 8 mins read

If you want to make sure that a person never changes, then subsidise his expenses and insulate him from all the surrounding circumstances of the outer world. Most would agree that this is accurate. But most would also balk at the suggestion that this is also why non-profit institutions tend to become bloated, inefficient, and corrupt.

Confusions about the minimum wage

Feb 01 — 7 mins read

In spite of whatever good intentions inspires them, the results of minimum wage laws show that they do not help workers, or indeed help anything except the egos of the politicians who create them.

Debunking the New Deal

Jan 22 — 15 mins read

The New Deal did not stop the Great Depression, but many seem to have been convinced that it did. In fact, it probably made it worse. The truth is that World War II stopped the Great Depression.

The “that wasn’t real communism” problem

Jan 20 — 8 mins read

Talking about a “real communism” betrays an ignorance of the multiple schools of thought inside the communist world. There have been multiple different implementations of policy by communist parties, varying by geography and the historical period.

What’s this site about?

Jan 19 — 2 mins read

This blog, which I’ve called “Unsupervised,” is a place for me to write about topics that are interesting or important to me, without the constraint of having to fit them into neat packages for books, or worry about whether someone else will allow them to be published.