Ukraine weighs legalizing pornography to raise tax revenue and buy drones

 Here's a story from the WaPo whose headline already conveys a lot about the economics of tradeoffs:

Ukraine weighs legalizing pornography to raise tax revenue and buy drones
Facing a massive defense budget shortfall, Ukraine has not been able to cash in on the millions of dollars earned by its clandestine adult-content industry. By Francesca Ebel and Anastacia Galouchka
 

"KYIV — For years, Ukraine’s huge but illegal porn industry has operated in the shadows. Law enforcement generally looked the other way, while some officials abused their power to extort bribes from people found to be skirting the law.

"Then, two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, the federal tax authorities discovered that nearly 8,000 Ukrainian OnlyFans creators had made more than $131 million during 2023 alone.

"Now, with Ukraine facing giant military expenses and a $27 billion budget gap, lawmakers are moving to decriminalize pornography — a momentous step for a country long stained by a reputation for exploiting and exporting women as sex workers. 

...

"Raising money on the backs of adult-content creators, however, is a fraught proposal in Ukraine, where the women’s protest group Femen rose to worldwide fame by demonstrating topless to decry sexual exploitation and patriarchal authoritarianism.

"Critics of the bill fear that it could undermine public morality, as well as increase the risk of human trafficking and child sexual abuse. 

...

"Supporters of legalization say that it will protect women, not encourage abuse.

“Human trafficking is based on coercion: A person is deceived; their documents are taken away,” Oksana said. “The modern creator economy is completely different. An adult woman verifies her identity and age on the platform and determines her own boundaries.” 

Iran's kidney market, reviewed in Al-Madina: Journal of Islamic Law

The new English language journal Madina: Journal of Islamic Law has, in it's inaugural issue, a literature review of the Iranian kidney market. (It appears only to have reviewed papers that were also published in English.) The title summarizes the conclusion, that the market aligns with the goals of Islamic law.

Faisal, Ahmad, Abdul Khakim Mahfud Zubaidi, Ahmad Nizar Zuhdi Al Hakimi, and Roya Goldoust. “The Iranian government’s efforts to facilitate foundation-led kidney donation align with the Maqāsid al-Sharī’ah.” Al-Madina: Journal of Islamic Law 1, no. 1 (2026): 28–48. 

Abstract
The issue of kidney transplantation, particularly through compensated living-unrelated donors, represents a complex intersection of medical necessity, ethical debate, and international governance. Iran is unique in legally regulating compensated kidney donation, aiming to address the chronic shortage of transplantable organs while providing structured financial incentives to donors. This study analyzes Iran’s
kidney donation system through the lens of maqāsid al-sharī’ah, emphasizing the objective of hifz al-nafs (preservation of life), to evaluate both the ethical legitimacy and life-saving effectiveness of the policy. Employing a qualitative-descriptive approach, the research synthesizes empirical evidence on donor demographics, motivations, compensation mechanisms, and clinical outcomes, alongside normative Islamic ethical considerations and international standards such as the WHO Guiding Principles and the Declaration of Istanbul. Findings reveal that while Iran’s system significantly enhances patient survival and fulfills the core goal of hifz al-nafs, donor participation is heavily influenced by economic necessity, raising ethical concerns about voluntariness, long-term welfare, and equitable access. Moreover, the system’s interaction with foreign patients highlights challenges in cross-border governance and the potential for transplant tourism. The study contributes academically by integrating empirical outcomes with Islamic normative ethics, and practically by offering insights for policymakers, religious authorities, and international health organizations on navigating the tension between life preservation, ethical legitimacy, and socioeconomic realities. The research underscores that while the Iranian model demonstrates pragmatic life-saving benefits, ethical safeguards for donors must remain central to uphold the objectives of maqāsid al-sharī’ah."

Organ trafficking research

 Frederike Ambagtsheer is the principal investigator of a Dutch project conducting organ trafficking research, whose website discusses their work:

welcome to organ trafficking research

This platform presents research projects on the human organ trade that are conducted by Erasmus MC's Organ Trafficking Research Group. We further provide information for interested audiences (e.g. students, researchers, law enforcement, law -and policy-makers, etc) about the complexities of this crime and the responses there-to.

The organ trafficking research group is based at Erasmus MC's Department of Internal Medicine, Section Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation in Rotterdam(opens in new tab), The Netherlands. This department is part of the recently established Erasmus MC Transplant Institute (opens in new tab)which houses one of the largest kidney transplantation centers in Europe.

...

what we do

We are an enthusiastic and dedicated team of researchers that conduct empirical research on different facets of organ trade and trafficking. Our research is structured into various projects. Methods include a mix of qualitative and quantitative research strategies including systematic literature reviews, surveys, ethnographic research, crime scripting and network analysis.

We conduct research in countries across the globe and we focus on all stages of the organ trading chain, including organ buying, selling, the organisation of illegal transplants and law enforcement responses. We also explore alternative measures such as allowing financial rewards for organ donation. In addition, we advise governments and (inter)national organizations on how to address organ trade problems.

Our research is funded by organisations including the European Commission, the European Research Council and the Dutch Research Council (NWO)."

 

 

Heroin, hitmen and black markets on Behavioral Grooves

The hosts of the podcast Behavioral Grooves open by chatting about heroin and hitmen, followed by a discussion among the three of us: 

  Behavioral Economics: When Markets Clash with Morals | Al Roth

"Horse meat, kidneys, prostitution. What happens when the things people want to buy, sell, and trade collide with what society has deemed “off-limits”? Nobel Prize-winning economist Alvin “Al” Roth joins us to explore the behavioral science behind controversial markets, from repugnance and social norms to black markets, incentives, and informed consent. We also dig into his work redesigning the kidney exchange market and how asking a different question can open up new possibilities for solving seemingly impossible problems.

Topics
[0:00] Intro and Speed Round with Alvin “Al” Roth
[9:21] What Is a Market?
[13:10] Repugnance vs. Disgust
[20:00] How Social Norms Shape Markets and Morality
[24:12] Do Laws Change Morality, or Does Morality Change Laws?
[28:25] Drugs, Hitmen, and the Social Support Behind a Ban
[34:23] Rethinking the Market for Prostitution
[38:12] Can Money Be Coercive?
[46:12] Redesigning Kidney Donation With Incentives
[50:42] What Do We Do When the Data Can't Change Minds?
[52:47] “Ought Implies Can” and the Limits of Moral Rules
[1:03:05] Grooving Session: What We Learned From Al Roth"

Moral Economics in Korean

Here's the first commercial translation I've seen of my book Moral Economics, which appeared in English in May 2026.

 I suspect that, now that A.I. can offer substantial assistance, some translations will appear more rapidly than in the past. 

The title in Korean is 금지된 거래의 경제학도덕과 시장은 공존할 수 있는가, The Economics of Forbidden Transactions: Can Morality and Markets Coexist? (You can buy it here.)

 

Here's a book review in the Seoul Economic Daily.

Here's another. Both are in English.

School choice: peer effects and social justice

 The not-so-secret secret of building a good school is to have good students. And sometimes that can lead to conflicts between the desire to build better school systems to serve children in the aggregate, and the desire to put your child in the best school for him or her.  

A NYT columnist talks about this, writing "In New York, a combination of housing segregation and “academic” sorting, called school choice, that begins as early as pre-K means most Black students — even middle-class ones — are forced to attend racially segregated schools with high rates of poverty." (emphasis added)

In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?
A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice. By Nikole Hannah-Jones

#######

On a somewhat related note, when I speak to prospective PhD students who are visiting universities after being admitted to multiple PhD programs, I encourage them to talk to the graduate students already there, and discover how happy, productive, and collaborative they are.  A good PhD program is one where you learn a lot by collaborating with your fellow students in study and research. 

There's life after tenure denial: Emily Oster (on Mary in America)

 That there is life after tenure-denial is robustly proclaimed and manifested by Emily Oster, in the opening minutes of an interview by Mary Childs on her podcast Mary in America.  There is also, apparently, a Tshirt advertised on the internet saying "Emily Oster is wrong."

 

x