A recent Freakonomics podcast explained that economists do not vote, because, according to Steve Levitt, “there never has been, and there never will be, a vote cast in a presidential election that could possibly be decisive.” He’s wrong. Think of voting like “pushing a whale.” A whale* washes up on a beach. The townspeople collect, …
In many jurisdictions, refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test invokes the same charges as those imposed for those who do submit and are found to have exceeded the legal blood alcohol limit. Logically, refusal implies guilt. Similarly, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives’ failure to vigorously and openly cooperate with the Robocall scandal investigation can only …
In my mailbox today I found this flyer from the Ontario PC party. At the upper right is a quote, attributed to The Trentonian, May 13, 2011: “[Tim Hudak] said a PC government will give families, seniors and small business owners relief on hydro bills and by pulling the plug on mandatory smart meters.” Yes, …
A racketeer, writes the historian Charles Tilly, is one who “creates a threat and then charges for its reduction.” When governments…create threats and then offer citizens protection from those threats, the state is running a protection racket… Through…conjured threats, the public is treated to a simulation of a real terrorist attack, yet at each post-arrest …