Radio NZ reports: But the Greens’ commerce and consumer affairs spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March told RNZ that was only “one part of the puzzle” and the government needed to explore all its options – including breaking up the supermarket duopoly. “While we support having new players in the market, Nicola Willis is banking on big […]
Greens say taxing supermarkets more will lower food prices!
Greens say taxing supermarkets more will lower food prices!
10 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: competition law
10 great questions the Royal Commission should ask
10 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of pandemics
Two professors of economics have 10 questions they would have out to former Ministers about Covid-19. Hopefully these have been put by the Royal Commission. They are: I will be very disappointed if questions like these were not put to the former Ministers.
10 great questions the Royal Commission should ask
Why Do Americans Work So Many Hours?
10 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in health economics, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA

Compared to workers in most other high-income countries, Americans tend to work more hours per year. Here’s a figure from the OECD, which is based on taking the total number of hours worked in an economy and dividing it by the number of workers for the most recent year available. Because different countries will measure…
Why Do Americans Work So Many Hours?
45 words the left should avoid
10 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The left wing Third Way organisation has published a list of 45 words other than says Democrats (the left) should avoid using as they alienate people. Sadly for the, I doubt the right people will listen. Some of the words are: Someone who is bored should monitor for a few weeks how many of the […]
45 words the left should avoid
Whitewashing Zohran Mamdani’s Socialism at the New York Times
10 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in Marxist economics, politics - USA

When I wrote about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a few months ago, here was my main takeaway. Mamdani is an AOC-style hard-core leftist who wants to travel in the wrong direction as far and as fast as Javier Milei is traveling in the right direction. When asked to elaborate, I sometimes dig into the […]
Whitewashing Zohran Mamdani’s Socialism at the New York Times
French cabinet loses confidence vote
09 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, politics, Public Choice Tags: France
The National Assembly of France today voted against a confidence measure in the cabinet of Premier François Bayrou. As a result, per Art. 50 of the constitution, the premier must resign and the government is ousted. President Emmanuel Macron had appointed Bayrou last December after the previous premier, Michel Barnier, had been ousted in a […]
French cabinet loses confidence vote
I Saw What Happens in Kim Jong Un’s Secret Parties: Life of a North Kore…
09 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, Marxist economics Tags: North Korea
Abundance 2025 – Preview
09 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, macroeconomics, politics - USA

Five questions I’ll be bringing to the conference this week
Abundance 2025 – Preview
Population bust
09 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply, population economics Tags: ageing society, economics of fertility, population bust
A Positive Account of Rights with David Friedman
09 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, constitutional political economy, David Friedman, economic history, economics of crime, Gordon Tullock, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, property rights, Public Choice
The Once and Future Nation
08 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
Chris Trotter’s speech to the NZ First Convention 2025 NEW ZEALAND FIRST’S ENEMIES, and on occasion, its friends, delight in portraying the party as the prisoner of nostalgia. Bewitched, they say, by a nostalgic vision of a New Zealand that no longer exists. Bothered by the irreversible changes that have overwhelmed their nation. And bewildered […]
The Once and Future Nation
Financial Times uncritically promotes mocked ‘scholarly’ genocide resolution
08 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror

The ‘appeal to authority’ fallacy is committed when arguments are presented as true simply because an individual or group deemed to have authority supports it, rather than being backed by evidence or sound reasoning. This fallacy, our research over the years has demonstrated, is employed continually by British media outlets to defame Israel, saving their […]
Financial Times uncritically promotes mocked ‘scholarly’ genocide resolution
Supreme Court Matters: Constitutional Guardians or Constitutional Threat?
08 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Roger Partridge writes – When a constitutional law professor warns of “dangerous foes” threatening New Zealand’s legal system, you might expect concern about genuinely destabilising forces – political interference with judicial independence, or threats to the rule of law itself. You would be wrong. Professor Dean Knight of Victoria University recently addressed the Institute of Public […]
Supreme Court Matters: Constitutional Guardians or Constitutional Threat?
A schism between secular organizations
07 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, economics of religion, gender Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

You may recall that Richard Dawkins, Steve Pinker, and I resigned from the Honorary Board of the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) because they canceled a post I wrote for the FFRF—a statement they first vetted, approved, and published but then removed—without telling me or answering my email inquiries. (My canceled piece is archived here, […]
A schism between secular organizations

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