Imagine waking up and discovering that, overnight, you had been granted superpowers. With a touch of your finger, you could cause new housing to emerge in places with housing shortages. It would cost you next to nothing. You could just do it.
The superpower that could unlock billions for KiwiRail – or another railway company
The superpower that could unlock billions for KiwiRail – or another railway company
15 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, transport economics, urban economics Tags: land supply, zoning
“Evictions are an Act of Policy Violence”: Pressley and Democrats Introduce Eviction Reform Legislation
15 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: regressive left, rent control
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) joined fellow Democrats last week in calling for the passage of the Housing Emergencies Lifeline Program…
“Evictions are an Act of Policy Violence”: Pressley and Democrats Introduce Eviction Reform Legislation
The economic value of eliminating cancer
14 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, econometerics, economic history, health economics Tags: life expectancies
This paper estimates the economic value to the United States of eliminating cancer mortality over a 35-year horizon beginning in 2030, which would eliminate 30.7 million cancer deaths with a total mortality burden of 380 million life-years. We quantify the economic value of this substantial reduction in cancer mortality by incorporating the monetized value of…
The economic value of eliminating cancer
Doctors Without Borders again accused of antisemitism
14 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, health economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left
For a long time the otherwise admirable organization Doctors Without Borders (also known as “MSF” for its French name Médecins Sans Frontières) has been accused of antisemitism. The accusations have been credible enough to make me curb my donations to the group. I still regret having donated over $10,000 to the organization after Kelly Houle…
Doctors Without Borders again accused of antisemitism
Bill Maher’s New Rule: When bad people do good things
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
There’s no real “rule” here, but simply Maher’s assertion—one that many people won’t sccept in the Time of Demonization—that people can do both good and bad things (it’s better to say that then brand someone as good or evil, though of course people can lean toward one side or another). This monologue was prompted, of…
Bill Maher’s New Rule: When bad people do good things
Migrant Income and Long-Run Economic Development
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, labour economics, labour supply Tags: economics of immigration
We study how international migrant income prospects affect long-run development in origin areas. We leverage the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis exchange rate shocks in a shift-share identification strategy across Philippine provinces. Initial migrant income shocks are magnified six-fold over time, increasing domestic income, education levels, migrant skills, and high-skilled migration. Remarkably, 74.9 percent of long-run…
Migrant Income and Long-Run Economic Development
BBC News once again promotes ‘targeting journalists’ narrative
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of media and culture, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Lebanon, Middle-East politics, war against terror
On the afternoon of April 9th the BBC New website published a report by David Gritten under the headline “Al Jazeera condemns killing of… The post BBC News once again promotes ‘targeting journalists’ narrative appeared first on CAMERA UK.
BBC News once again promotes ‘targeting journalists’ narrative
The Happiness Crash of 2020
13 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, technological progress
From the still-active Sam Peltzman: I document a sudden, sharp and historically unprecedented decline in self-reported happiness in the US population. It occurred during 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic, and mainly persists through 2024. This happiness crash spread across nearly all typical demographics and geographies. The happiest groups pre-Covid (e.g., whites, high income,…
The Happiness Crash of 2020
That time we gave Cocaine to our kids for a sore throat and toothaches.
12 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, health economics
How things have changed. Nowadays we wouldn’t dream of giving our children cocaine to treat sore throats or toothaches, Firstly because we know how devastating cocaine is and secondly we would be arrested, But in days of yore it was perfectly acceptable to give you offspring and indeed yourself a ‘healthy’ dose of cocaine.
That time we gave Cocaine to our kids for a sore throat and toothaches.
The Barnham Effect
12 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education Tags: personality psychology
The Barnum effect is the tendency for people to accept vague, general personality descriptions as if they were specifically true of them. For example, if someone reads: “You sometimes doubt whether you have made the right decision, but you also have a strong independent streak.” many people feel that it describes them personally, even though it could describe a […]
The Barnham Effect
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
12 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science, regressive left
As always, an Aussie who wishes to remain anonymous sent me this link, and noted that New Zealand isn’t the only country in the Antipodes that tries to make science (again “Western science”) coequal with indigenous knowledge. Clicking on the screenshot below will take you to the strategy developed by the Aussie government: the “Australian…
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
The Stresa Front -When Mussolini ‘condemned’ Hitler.
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, International law, war and peace Tags: Italy, Nazi Germany
The Stresa Front was a short-lived diplomatic alignment in 1935 between United Kingdom, France, and Italy, formed in response to the growing threat posed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Named after the Italian town of Stresa, where representatives met in April 1935, the agreement aimed to preserve the post–World War I European order and […]
The Stresa Front -When Mussolini ‘condemned’ Hitler.
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, Karl Popper, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, Freedom of religion, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
In 1633, the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo for heresy. His offence was to argue that the Earth moves around the Sun. The Church was not acting out of malice. It was protecting a politically approved consensus against what was considered to be dangerous nonsense. The theologians and philosophers who condemned Galileo were not fools. They […]
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
Bet On It Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 9
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in Austrian economics, business cycles, economic history, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Murray Rothbard Tags: monetary policy
SummaryIn 1973, when the first edition of For a New Liberty was published, Keynesians were still sitting pretty. Five years later, the Keynesians had so much egg on their faces that Rothbard was inspired to add this entirely new chapter on “Inflation and the Business Cycle: The Collapse of the Keynesian Paradigm” to his revised…
Bet On It Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 9
A good corporate welfare expose
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, Music, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
The Spinoff becomes an unlikely fiscal conservative: Tourism minister Louise Upston was excited when she announced that Robbie Williams will play two shows in Auckland and Christchurch later this year. “It’s fantastic to welcome a showstopper act like Robbie, giving fans the chance to see him entertaining us,” she said in a press release. The…
A good corporate welfare expose
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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