During my For a New Liberty Book Club, noted Austrian economist and Rothbard fan Bob Murphy invited me to have an in-depth conversation on this famed “libertarian manifesto.” Last week, we did it. Enjoy!
*For a New Liberty*: My Bob Murphy Interview
ACT’s High Hopes for Henry
16 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
One of the rapidly emerging features of the 2026 election is the announcement of candidates carrying a profile from another sphere of activity. New Zealand First started the trend in April with former All Black captain Taine Randell announced as the candidate for Tukituki. He won’t win the seat but will surely be in the […]
ACT’s High Hopes for Henry
The Meaning of “Globalise the Intifada!”
16 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Political slogans compress complicated ideas into a few memorable words. Their strength lies in their emotional force, but so does their danger. A slogan can encourage solidarity and peaceful reform, or it can glorify hatred and violence while allowing those who use it to deny responsibility for its consequences. “Globalise the Intifada” belongs firmly in […]
The Meaning of “Globalise the Intifada!”
Was this Corrections case settled to avoid a precedent Crown Law & Human Rights Commission did not want?
15 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, gender, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: sex discrimination
I am fuming. It is 2026 and the rest of the world is unwinding the destructive and nonsensical policies of the trans madness era, and here in New Zealand they are continuing to be embedded. Today, news broke that a female prison officer who now “identifies as a man” has managed not only to extract an apology and a […]
Was this Corrections case settled to avoid a precedent Crown Law & Human Rights Commission did not want?
Why is the PPTA not worried about far-left extremism?
15 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
The Press reports: A secondary teachers’ union is hiring an expert to develop guidelines for dealing with the rise in far-right extremism in the classroom. The successful applicant will be paid $10,000 to write “specific advice and guidelines for the membership on dealing with extremism in the classroom”. Do they mean Marxist extremists? I suspect…
Why is the PPTA not worried about far-left extremism?
The political malaise over New Zealand’s low wage problem
15 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand
Among prosperous nations, New Zealand is relatively a low-income country. That hurts. In 2024, net national income per capita was 30% higher in Australia, according to the Paris-based OECD. It was only 19% higher on average over the four years to 2019.
The political malaise over New Zealand’s low wage problem
War Is Not Genocide
14 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
The war in Gaza has produced terrible suffering. Many thousands of civilians have been killed, families have been displaced, neighbourhoods have been destroyed, and ordinary life has become almost impossible. None of this should be minimised. But neither should it be assumed that every exceptionally destructive war is therefore a genocide. Words matter, especially words […]
War Is Not Genocide
Tehran Rose: Will Far-Left Influencers Face Charges in Rallying America’s Enemies?
14 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Iran, regressive left
Below is my column in The Hill on the controversies involving far-left influencers rallying support for Iranian and anti-American interests.…
Tehran Rose: Will Far-Left Influencers Face Charges in Rallying America’s Enemies?
More academic censorship
14 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights
The FSU released: A peer-reviewed paper by a Māori clinical psychologist has been removed from her profession’s journal on the grounds that keeping it accessible could harm Māori. It was not retracted for error, fraud or misconduct, which are ordinarily the only reasons for such an action. Censorship knows no bounds. How dare she have…
More academic censorship
Does Costco Follow The Efficiency Wage Theory?
13 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, managerial economics, organisational economics, personnel economics
See He Earns $33 an Hour as a Costco Cashier, Now He’s a Millionaire: Long-tenured workers like cashier Tony Barzar are reliable, experienced and able to speed shoppers through a checkout line-Costco is willing to pay to keep them around by Sarah Nassauer of The WSJ. I explain The Efficiency Wage Theory below after article excerpts:”Costco has…
Does Costco Follow The Efficiency Wage Theory?
Radical Visions for Liberty | David Friedman, Bryan Caplan, John Devlin
13 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in David Friedman, law and economics, libertarianism
Germany Needs Milei-ism but Is Getting Romney-ism
13 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, macroeconomics Tags: Germany
In the past year, I’ve written about Germany’s fiscal deterioration and its costly fixation on net-zero environmentalism. As illustrated by the chart, these policies have contributed to malaise and economic stagnation (and were caused by – or contributed to – eroding societal capital). The good news is that Friedrich Merz, the country’s chancellor, wants economic […]
Germany Needs Milei-ism but Is Getting Romney-ism
Death and Decency
12 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of media and culture, law and economics
People generally refrain from speaking ill of the recently dead. The old maxim de mortuis nil nisi bonum—“of the dead, say nothing but good”—may be too absolute, but the custom behind it expresses an important principle of civilisation. The principal reason for restraint is not that death makes a person perfect or erases everything objectionable in […]
Death and Decency
What Economics Has To Do With Law | David Friedman
12 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in David Friedman, law and economics
The Supply And Demand Game
12 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of information, history of economic thought Tags: experimental economics
I played it in each class I taught. A former colleague taught it to me many years ago. As far as I know, I use the game invented by Edward Chamberlin and refined by Vernon Smith. Click here to see the Lessons From the Supply and Demand Game. Or just read it all here. Part…
The Supply And Demand Game
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments