Fatal accidental hanging by a high-chair waist strap in a 2-year-old girl

High chairs are commonly used to feed children after 6 months. Related injuries are oftentime minor and rarely leading to death. We describe a case of a 2-year-old female child who used to jump alone on her high chair and also had the habit to fasten the straps by herself. Her mother found her hanging by the waist straps. A thorough investigation showed that she climbed her high chair and fastened the waist straps but not the crotch one. The girl slid down into the seat, trapping her neck in the waist straps and thus resulting in hanging. In here, we concluded that the victim's death was caused by asphyxia, itself, caused by accidental hanging. The present case is of a special interest because of the rare similar cases reported. This case suggests that a correct restraint use and a close supervision would have prevented such a fatal issue.     

Empirical investigations and their normative interpretations: A reply to Barnett and Block

Barnett and Block (Public Choice 140(1–2):1–13, 2009) disagree with some of the points put forward in an empirical study on the pre-1836 English lighthouse system (Cambridge Journal of Economics 30(3):389–502, 2006). They claim first that some private lighthouses were built and maintained for charitable purposes, which in fact does not refute my argument. Second, they misrepresent my empirical analysis, to make it ideological, which they thereafter intend to refute by contradictory ideological assertions. They finally change the evaluation criteria: The efficiency criterion is no longer used and liberty is taken as the ultimate goal.