Pretence of knowledge is a phrase coined by Friedrich Hayek to describe the psychological predilection of those who believe they know enough to plan a path to economic plenty and who inevitably produce economic and social misery. John Maynard Keynes a contemporary of Hayek illustrates the mindset. A few years after The Road to Serfdom…

I read, more or less at the same time, material which emanated from two places whose fundamental laws of economics appear to be quite different. I’ll call them down-to-earth land and cloud-cuckoo land. In down-to-earth land, ASIC reported that 243 manufacturers and 1387 construction companies went into administration in the second half of 2023; an…

I have a piece coming up on Quadrant Online about hate speech, free speech and Islam (now up). Henry Ergas covered a similar theme in Friday’s Australian newspaper under the heading of “Hate Speech underlines how Islam has changed.” Surprise-surprise, his is more erudite. On the other hand, mine is understandable by the common man…

You may have seen the 1996 movie Ransom starring Mel Gibson playing Tom Mullen. Tom’s son is kidnapped and suspecting that even if he pays the ransom his son will be killed he gives the kidnappers two options. Return his son and that will be the end of the matter. Alternatively, if his son is…

It would be hard to imagine a government being quite as inept as was the Albanese government in 2023. The man himself, globetrotter extraordinaire, showed how inadequate he was during the referendum debate. It wasn’t just the racist proposition itself; he was entirely hopeless in making the case. To boot, his Aboriginal Affairs minister Linda…

What’s worse? Chris Bowen plunging Australia into energy poverty in order to reach an unattainable goal which, even if it were reached, would make no difference to the climate. Or Australia voting at the UN to condemn Israel to a continuation of horrific attacks on its people. I argue in a Quadrant Online piece that…

A Bill passed the NSW parliament on 30 November. Reportedly, it was unanimously supported by Labor, the Greens, the Liberals and National Party. Was it about helping widows and orphans? Come on. What these days makes bedfellows of the main political parties? So-called climate change of course. The Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Bill 2023…

Went to a debate the other evening on the Voice; now that the dust has settled. It was at the Sydney Institute, which is run by Gerard Henderson. He puts on many good shows. When I say debate I mean separate short speeches by Paul Kelly (The Australian) and emerita professor of law Anne Twomey.…

Politicians lie compulsively, it’s sometimes said. Maybe. Certainly they don’t let reality interfere too much with their promises before elections. At the same time, I am reluctant to badge them all as liars. For example, both George Bush senior and Paul Keating failed to deliver tax cuts which they’d promised. Tony Abbot introduced tax measures…

I suppose if I hadn’t read Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Mark Steyn, Douglas Murray, Irshad Manji, Robert Spencer, Oriana Fallaci, Mark Durie, Michel Houellebecq and number of others; if I hadn’t often dipped into the Koran and the Hadith to check on what malign drivel was being said and written; if I hadn’t heard of Charlie…