Category Archives: Social Policy

Liberalising Marijuana laws doesn’t seem to promote use much

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

The Effects of Marijuana Liberalizations: Evidence from Monitoring the Future by Angela K. Dills, Sietse Goffard, Jeffrey Miron – #23779 (HE LE PE) Abstract: By the end of 2016, 28 states had liberalized their marijuana laws: by decriminalizing possession, by … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, regulation, Science, Social Policy, Society | Comments Off on Liberalising Marijuana laws doesn’t seem to promote use much

Some Game of Thrones Season 8 speculation

Posted on September 2, 2017 by Paul Frijters

Let me indulge, purely for entertainment value, in some fan-speculation on what we will see on-screen after the Long Night is over and the final 6 episodes Of Game of Thrones are run in 2019. Let me first talk about … Continue reading →

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The worst bit of old age is not being extended. It’s being delayed.

Posted on July 17, 2017 by David Walker

You’ve heard it a million times: in developed nations, populations are ageing. But what does that mean? At the extremes, it could mean either of two quite different things. It could mean a host of frail elderly people stuck in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Health, Social Policy | 15 Comments

Quirky cultural customs: the causes of death

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Paul Frijters

Have you ever reflected on what a strange concept the notion of a ’cause of death’ really is? We use the term so often that it wouldn’t quickly register as a cultural oddity, but it really is a quirky beast … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and taxes, Ethics, Geeky Musings, Health, History, Libertarian Musings, Medical, Science, Social Policy | 9 Comments

Things we won’t say about race

Posted on June 28, 2017 by David Walker

Until yesterday I had never heard of Trevor Phillips. He is a former chairman of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which means he was in charge of enforcing British anti-discrimination laws in the Blair years. The documentary … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Immigration and refugees, Politics - international, Race and indigenous, Social Policy | 4 Comments

Wellbeing: more please

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Nicholas Gruen

The well-being or ‘happiness’ push has been rolling for more than a decade now. Though there were plenty of other voices like Bruno Frey, I date its take-off from around the turn of the 21st century when Richard Layard started … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Health, Inequality, Social Policy | 10 Comments

Could sortition help against corruption, part II

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Paul Frijters

In part 1, I looked at whether it made sense to have random individuals inserted into parliament, or to let policies be decided by juries full of randomly chosen individuals. Both were argued to be unworkable and likely to lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Democracy, Economics and public policy, Education, Ethics, History, Information, IT and Internet, Journalism, Law, Libertarian Musings, Life, Miscellaneous, Philosophy, Political theory, Politics - national, Print media, regulation, Social Policy, Society, Web and Government 2.0 | 14 Comments