The Intellectual Roots of YIMBYism
At the Democratic National Convention former President Obama came out strongly in favor of housing deregulation saying “we need to build more homes and clear away some of the outdated laws and...
View ArticleGuest Post: Criticising Cuba
A guest post by Lucy Rogers: Today (as of the time of writing) I saw Associate Professor Michael Mawson of the theology faculty at Auckland University advertise on Facebook an event hosting Professor...
View ArticleEuropean Policies = European Stagnation
I’ve written many times about how Americans are much richer than Europeans. And I’ve also written many times that the U.S. economy has been growing faster (which shouldn’t happen according to...
View ArticleWhy the @NZGreens are beside the point
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View ArticleFriedman vs Stiglitz: Estonia and Poland vs. Argentina and Venezuela
About 10 days ago, i showed that Milton Friedman was a much better economist than Joseph Stiglitz by comparing Chile (which followed Friedman’s ideas) and Venezuela (which followed Stiglitz’s ideas)....
View ArticleUber messy
Caught a fun phone call from an accountant after this week’s column over at the Dom Post (and Christchurch Press, etc) on the court’s decision in the Uber case.If Uber drivers are employees, rather...
View ArticleThe Santa Claus Election
For libertarians, this is a very depressing election (a feeling we tend to have every four years, so a familiar experience). What basically happens is that two politicians try to bribe us with our own...
View ArticleMonkeypox and Medsafe
In a sane world, medicines and vaccines already approved by trustworthy overseas regulators would automatically be able to be used in New Zealand as well.New Zealand is not sane. But neither is...
View ArticleEquality Act 2010
The UK’s Orwellian sounding Equality Act 2010 is strikingly Marxist. It demands equal pay for work of equal value where these are defined as follows: A’s work is equal to that of B if it is like B’s...
View Article“A Symbol of Imperial Violence and Colonialism”: Activists at UPenn Deface...
Benjamin Franklin once wrote “Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.” Yet, Franklin might be a bit confused by his critics at the University of Pennsylvania. Anti-Israel activists vandalized...
View ArticleTreaty of Waitangi legal “experts” have misunderstood its economic rationale...
Rob MacCulloch writes – The underlying aim of the Treaty of Waitangi, at least in economic terms, was to promote a higher standard of living for Māori and non-Māori alike. This article’s purpose is...
View ArticleCanada Is Part of the Anti-Convergence Club
Economists widely agree with the theory of “convergence,” which is the (mostly true) idea that poor nations should grow faster than rich nations as they catch up (converge). But there are exceptions....
View ArticleThe collapse of Maori nationalism
As with unionism, overreach will end iwi power push Graham Adams writes – One of former Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s most singular achievements during her tenure as premier was to push a...
View ArticleEnhancing democracy – the case for a second chamber in New Zealand’s Parliament
New Zealand did once have an upper house known as the Legislative Council. Is there are argument that it should be re-introduced? Philip Crump writes – New Zealand’s parliamentary system has long...
View ArticleSocialism in the 21st Century: A Regressive Ideology in Modern Times
Socialism, once hailed as a visionary and revolutionary alternative to capitalism, has deep roots in the progressive movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Advocating for state control of the...
View ArticleDON BRASH: WAS SOVEREIGNTY CEDED IN 1840?
I watched Tuesday night’s debate between David Seymour, Leader of the ACT Party, and Helmut Modlik, an iwi leader, with dismay. On the one hand, David Seymour argued with compelling logic the need to...
View ArticleThe Economic Way of Thinking in a Pandemic
During the pandemic, economists often found themselves at odds with politicians, physicians, epidemiologists and others. Some politicians, for example, were worried that the pharma companies might...
View ArticleA Nobel for Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson: Institutions and Prosperity
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024 has been awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and...
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