WSJ: What the Twin Cities Tell Us About Fixing the Housing CrisisThe Natural Experiment: In 2022, St. Paul enacted one of the strictest rent-control regimes in the country. The ordinance capped annual rent increases at 3% for most apartments, even empty ones. It didn’t adjust for inflation. … Across the Mississippi River, Minneapolis steered clear of rent…
A tale of two cities and rent control
A tale of two cities and rent control
23 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, econometerics, economics of regulation, law and economics, market efficiency, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: rent control
Adam Smith And Joseph Campbell On The Dangers Of “The Man Of System”
23 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in Adam Smith, applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, economics of regulation, history of economic thought
Here is a passage from The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Smith (author of the book The Wealth of Nations in 1776 that started economics) at the Library of Economics and Liberty. Smith emphasizes the arrogance and conceit of those who think they can arrange society any way they want. In a separate passage, Smith…
Adam Smith And Joseph Campbell On The Dangers Of “The Man Of System”
Rent Control Creates Ghost Apartments
22 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, urban economics Tags: rent control
Adam Lehodey writing at City Journal: In New York City, making a profit on real estate has become increasingly difficult. Rent-stabilization laws built on the mantra that “housing is a human right,” a dysfunctional housing court, and myriad other interventions have driven thousands of units off the market, giving rise to the phenomenon of New York’s “ghost…
Rent Control Creates Ghost Apartments
My first AI op-ed summary
21 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economics of education, economics of information, entrepreneurship, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, politics - New Zealand Tags: gender wage gap
Ask not what economics can do for sports; ask what sports can do for economics
20 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, history of economic thought, sports economics
Regular readers of this blog will know that I enjoy blogging about research that uses a sports setting to illustrate economic concepts (except when the research is terrible). Sport makes for an interesting setting for testing economic theories. The rules are known. The incentives are usually clear. The outcomes are usually unambiguous. Other real-world settings…
Ask not what economics can do for sports; ask what sports can do for economics
Stop Slaying the Strawman Case Against Tariffs
19 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, international economics, politics - USA Tags: free trade, tariffs
TweetHere’s a letter to a new correspondent. Mr. W__: Because I read the Wall Street Journal avidly, I was familiar, before you sent it, with its report titled “Why Everyone Got Trump’s Tariffs Wrong.” Nevertheless, thanks for your email in which you suggest that this report should prompt me to humbly reassess what you call…
Stop Slaying the Strawman Case Against Tariffs
Lessons from Brexit
19 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic growth, international economic law, international economics, macroeconomics Tags: British politics, economics of customs unions, free trade, tariffs
How we connect economically with the world is critical. Brian Easton writes – The British Labour Government is struggling. Partly it is because they were badly prepared in opposition: the Conservative Government was making such a charlie of itself that Labour expected that it would do better and gave little thought as to how it […]
Lessons from Brexit
DON BRASH – RMA Reform: A step forward. But concerns for equal citizenship
18 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, regulation, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, racial discrimination, zoning
The following is written in Don’s capacity as trustee for Hobson’s Pledge: It is almost the end of 2025 and, as you may know, the Government has recently introduced to Parliament the two Bills it seeks to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) with. The Bills were pushed through first reading under urgency and have…
DON BRASH – RMA Reform: A step forward. But concerns for equal citizenship
Vertical Restraints in the EU: Economics Has Updated, Law Hasn’t Installed the Patch
17 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics Tags: competition law
Online commerce has transformed how firms design their distribution systems, yet EU competition law continues to treat many online-sales restrictions as suspect by default. This tension lies at the heart of today’s vertical restraints debate. While the economic theory of vertical agreements has been largely settled for decades, the legal framework has not fully absorbed…
Vertical Restraints in the EU: Economics Has Updated, Law Hasn’t Installed the Patch
Is involuntary hospitalization working?
17 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of crime, health economics, law and economics Tags: economics of mental health
From Natalia Emanuel, Valentin Bolotnyy, and Pim Welle: The involuntary hospitalization of people experiencing a mental health crisis is a widespread practice, as common in the US as incarceration in state and federal prisons and 2.4 times as common as death from cancer. The intent of involuntary hospitalization is to prevent individuals from harming themselves…
Is involuntary hospitalization working?
“AI is everywhere but in the productivity statistics…”
15 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of information, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation Tags: creative destruction
These people are saying it is there too. Though I am not quite sure what they (or anyone, for that matter) mean by AI: First, we argue that AI can already be seen in productivity statistics for the United States. The production and use effects of software and software R&D (alone) contributed (a) 50 percent…
“AI is everywhere but in the productivity statistics…”
New Zealand’s Planning Revolution: bye bye RMA
13 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Inside the reform that will change how New Zealand is built Ani O’Brien writes – If you’ve ever tried to build a deck, subdivide a section, or watched a major infrastructure project slowly suffocate in a decade of “consenting hell,” you already know the RMA is New Zealand’s great productivity killer. For over 30 years, […]
New Zealand’s Planning Revolution: bye bye RMA
Humanity Has a Huge Surplus of Economic Misunderstanding
13 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: free trade, tarrifs
TweetHere’s a letter to AP Fact Check. Editor: Melissa Goldin does a deep dive into the cause(s) of the U.S. “agricultural trade deficit” (“FACT FOCUS: Trump blames Biden for the agricultural trade deficit. It’s not that simple,” December 10). To what extent is this “deficit” caused by the policies of Biden? To what extent is…
Humanity Has a Huge Surplus of Economic Misunderstanding
Getting NZ building again
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights
Congressional leadership is corrupt
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, financial economics, politics - USA, Public Choice
Using transaction-level data on US congressional stock trades, we find that lawmakers who later ascend to leadership positions perform similarly to matched peers beforehand but outperform them by 47 percentage points annually after ascension. Leaders’ superior performance arises through two mechanisms. The political influence channel is reflected in higher returns when their party controls the…
Congressional leadership is corrupt
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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