TONIGHT. Celebrate civilization and human progress.
Help counter the Greens’ anti-civilization “Earth Hour” tonight, which would have mankind return to the caves and huts of antiquity, where life was poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Instead, celebrate the myriad achievements of freedom and liberty, free markets, technological advances, and the wonders of abundant inexpensive energy!
Turn on your lights tonight from 8:30 – 9:30 p.m. local time.
Would you help us promote Human Achievement Hour to your contacts? As you know, the celebration is this Saturday, March 25, from 8:30-9:30 p.m. (local time). Simply ask your contacts to tweet or post about how they are celebrating – or just retweet or repost us on Twitter/ Facebook. Here also is a Ryan Young blog post you can retweet/share/forward:
Human Achievement of the Day: The Written Word
Much appreciated, everyone!…
Continue Reading“Government-orchestrated retail competition in electricity largely failed. With that failure came the return of regulatory-mandated, utility-administered wasteful energy efficiency programs. This time the programs carried the added justification of countering global warming.”
Prior to the oil shocks of the 1970s, energy was just another input in the management of capital, labor and other operating costs. Tradeoffs were made between energy costs and capital spent to increase efficiency. During the natural turnover of capital equipment, energy efficiency improved along with productivity, quality and waste reduction. Effective energy use was a technical matter where efficiency had to make economic sense.
Oil and gas shortages in the 1970s were caused by government price controls, but the news media hyped the concept of “running out” of resources. This brought politics into the use of energy, an example of how the problems from government intervention can breed more intervention.…
Continue Reading“It is no coincidence that a breakthrough in unconventional hydrocarbons (i.e., shale oil, shale gas, oil sands, and coalbed methane) should have taken place in some of the most economically free countries of the world, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. The combination of secure property rights, transparent and efficient regulation, a favorable tax regime, and minimal red tape made it possible.”
“One of the main obstacles to economic growth and social development in many resource economies is rent-seeking. It is not a unique feature of resource economies, but it does appear to have a particularly strong effect on them and to produce institutional weaknesses.”
– Peter Kaznacheev, Curse or Blessing? How Institutions Determine Success in Resource-Rich Economies, Cato Policy Analysis No. 808 (January 11, 2017)
This new study by Peter Kaznacheev, who is Senior Research Fellow at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) in Moscow, valuably interprets mineral resource theory in light of institutions (read: market versus government control).…
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