Author Archives: Pierre Lemieux

About Pierre Lemieux

Economist and author

The NRA Proposal

Posted on by

[Revised version: The original version of this post contained an error in the calculation of the budget required by the NRA proposal.]

The National Rifle Association’s proposal to put a policeman in every school is not bad given the circumstances. Refusing to protect children with armed force when necessary in the vain hope to “de-escalate violence“, as an activist puts it, is tragically naïve. Let the madmen and children killers de-escalate violence first!

The NRA’s statement contains words of wisdom about which one wonders why it is apparently so revolting to so many people:

But what if, when Adam Lanza started shooting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday, he had been confronted by qualified, armed security?
Will you at least admit it’s possible [emphasis in original] that 26 innocent lives might have been spared? Is that so abhorrent to you that you would rather continue to risk the alternative?

“Members of Congress”, the NRA statement also points out, “work in offices surrounded by Capitol Police officers”.

The NRA’s statement, however, is not above criticism. Continue reading →

The Rise of the Young Mass Killer

Posted on by

The Sandy Hook shooting raises issues that are often forgotten by both the pro-gun and the anti-gun side.

The first issue, ignored by the pro-gun side, is that the availability of guns does, other things being equal, increase the potential damage that madmen can do. A spate of knife attacks on schoolchildren in China has been recently observed, but with fewer deaths than for gun attacks in Scotland, Norway, or America. Continue reading →

Deutsche Bank’s Sense of Justice

Posted on by

As the rule of law declined in parallel with growing government intervention over the past few decades, Leviathan acquired the habit of threatening large companies, especially those who depend most on their reputation capital, with fines and judicial proceedings, counting that they will pay quickly and obediently in order to get the bureaucrats off their back. As Willie Sutton explained when asked why he robbed banks, “that’s where the money is”. Continue reading →

Voting Under Influence

Posted on by

Suppose I were a pundit who could influence the vote of 500,000 Americans. There would then be a reasonable probability that I would be decisive in tomorrow’s election, that is, that my actions—my recommendation, in this case—would carry the election. Whom would I recommend that my readers vote for? Continue reading →

Why Prices Are Not Clearing the Market after Sandy

Posted on by

Numerous press reports (see, for example, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times) describe shortages of gasoline in New York City. These are real shortages, that is, waiting lines to obtain insufficient supplies. Economics teaches that prices would rise until quantity demanded decreases (and, with a lag, until quantity supplied increases), thus clearing the market and eliminating the shortage. Only temporary high prices would remain, and at those prices, anybody could get as much gasoline as one wants. Why is this mechanism not working? Continue reading →

À toutes les gloires de l’autorité

Posted on by

(Publié dans Le Devoir [Montréal], 18 septembre 2012)

Le plaidoyer d’Yves Rabeau dans Le Devoir du 10 septembre exprime aussi bien que faire se peut les arguments pour interdire l’acquisition d’Astral par Bell. Tous les économistes ne les partagent pas. Loin de là. Continue reading →

The Greeks Are Learning the Hard Way, If They Learn

Posted on by

On the one hand, we can understand why Greeks do not to want to pay for the false and self-serving promises of the politicians and bureaucrats who brought the country into its current predicaments. So repudiation of the state’s debt may be the least costly solution, at least for ordinary people. Continue reading →

The “War on Drugs” and the Defenders of Our Liberties

Posted on by

This is the most revolting video I have seen. Heads should fall, quasi literally — that is, criminal prosecutions should be launched — or perhaps literally full stop. And the indecent “war on drugs”, which is a war on the people, should be aborted immediately. Give Leviathan an inch, he will take a mile.