Shell abandons huge biofuel project in Netherlands
04 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, industrial organisation, transport economics Tags: biofuels
By Paul Homewood Another one bites the dust: From AFP: British oil giant Shell announced Wednesday it has abandoned construction of one of Europe’s largest biofuel plants in the Netherlands, as it focuses on its fossil fuels business. Faced with weak market conditions, the company last year suspended construction of the […]
Shell abandons huge biofuel project in Netherlands
China Still Building Coal Power Plants
04 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, growth miracles Tags: China, coal power
By Paul Homewood China continues to burn more and more coal, according to dw.com: China burned more coal at power plants between January and July of 2025 than at any time since 2016, despite massive renewable capacity, according to new environmental research report. The report, published by the Center for Research on Energy and […]
China Still Building Coal Power Plants
A gross failure of editorial judgment
03 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order, regressive left
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a story in the New Zealand Herald this morning about the death of former King Cobras gang leader Ulaiasi “Rocky” Pulete. Carrying the byline of Herald crime reporter Jared Savage, it’s written in the reverential tones normally reserved for an esteemed community leader, business person or sporting figure. Pulete is described as “a […]
A gross failure of editorial judgment
The by-election without much choice
03 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, discrimination, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking
It’s hard to get too much enthusiasm for the Tamaki Makaurau by-election. The Maori roll and seats have become more politicised than ever before, as they are no longer an exercise in ensuring a core level of Maori representation in Parliament, but rather an expression of Maori nationalism. It used to be that the Maori…
The by-election without much choice
Inside India’s endless trials
03 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of crime, growth disasters, growth miracles, law and economics, property rights Tags: India
The FT’s Krishn Kaushik covers the courts in India: …in one recent example a Delhi court concluded a property dispute after 66 years. Both the original litigants were dead. Still, the lawyer for one of the warring parties cautioned that the conclusion was in fact not the end, as the ruling would be appealed. Three […]
Inside India’s endless trials
Guardian joins NGO campaign to libel Israel
03 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
Imagine the reaction if Western media outlets participated in a campaign for Hamas to release the hostages in Gaza, which included suggested talking points, that was launched and coordinated in part by a pro-Israeli organisation in the UK: Let’s call it CAMERA-UK. The outrage expressed in posts decrying the media’s subservience to the “pro-Israel lobby” […]
Guardian joins NGO campaign to libel Israel
Bill Maher’s report card on the Presidency
02 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows
I didn’t put this video up when it came out a month ago, mainly because I forgot, but in it Maher lists the things about Trump’s Presidency that he really can’t stand (the degradation of the EPA, loss of healthcare, etc.), but also mentions issues he can’t be bothered to worry about (making Canada the […]
Bill Maher’s report card on the Presidency
Japanese Instrument of Surrender-the end of WWII
02 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Japan, World War II
On September 2, 1945, representatives from the Japanese government and Allied forces assembled aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which effectively ended World War II. The document was prepared by the U.S. War Department and approved by President Harry S. Truman. Eight short paragraphs formalized the “unconditional surrender to […]
Japanese Instrument of Surrender-the end of WWII
The problems of grade inflation
02 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
In my view, colleges and universities in America face two existential threats. The first is AI, which can destroy the ability of students to do homework, write essays, and learn to write. In many places it’s facilitated cheating, even during in-class assignments. If AI expands, it will destroy one of the main purposes of higher […]
The problems of grade inflation
Kiwis don’t need a Constitutional Court to crimp our elected law-makers – we already have judges who do that
02 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, Thailand
Bob Edlin writes – Thailand’s Constitutional Court reminds us of how judges can be politically powerful. It has removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, ruling that she “lacks the qualifications and possesses prohibited characteristics” under the Thai constitution. As the ABC reported, her dismissal flings the country into political instability. It also highlights the […]
Kiwis don’t need a Constitutional Court to crimp our elected law-makers – we already have judges who do that
A cunning neo-nazi
01 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, gender, law and economics Tags: crime and punishment, Germany, law and order, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination, useful idiots
The Herald reports: A German neo-Nazi will be allowed to start serving an 18-month sentence in a women’s prison after he used a new government policy to register a change in gender. Sven Liebich, who has been photographed at far-right rallies wearing a Nazi-style uniform, will be sent to the Chemnitz women’s prison in Saxony, […]
A cunning neo-nazi
U.S. denies visa to Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas (and other Palestinians) ahead of UN meeting
01 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank
This is from CNN, so you know it pained them to publish a piece like this (click to read): Mahmoud Abbas, 90, was elected President of Palestine in 2005 for a four-year term, but somehow has hung on for 16 more years, having been voted an indefinite Presidency by the PLO (Hamas doesn’t recognize him […]
U.S. denies visa to Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas (and other Palestinians) ahead of UN meeting
Do rising house prices damage economic growth?
01 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability
Don Brash writes – In recent years, when addressing Rotary and other audiences, I often talk about the five big challenges facing New Zealand – persistently slow growth in productivity, and therefore in income levels; ridiculously unaffordable house prices; the increasing division of our society into those with a Maori ancestor and those without; the […]
Do rising house prices damage economic growth?
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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