A comprehensive article in the SST about the rise in black market tobacco sales in NZ. Some extracts: This is again a reminder that prohibition doesn’t work, and neither does trying to tax something so much to prohibit it.
The black market crisis in tobacco
The black market crisis in tobacco
16 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of smoking
The Great Escape
07 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, health economics Tags: maternal mortality
“Progressives” appear to whitewash female genital mutilation
18 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, gender, health economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
This is an example of how horrible cultural practices are excused—or made to seem less harmful—by “progressives” (read “the woke”) when they’re characteristic of minority groups. In this case the practice is one of the cruelest and most misogynistic forms of behavior around—female genital mutilation (FGM), especially in its most damaging form, infibulation (there are…
“Progressives” appear to whitewash female genital mutilation
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?
The Great Escape from cancer
16 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, health economics Tags: life expectancies, The Great Escape
Medicaid: What It Has Become
06 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - USA Tags: health insurance
As Craig Garthwaite and Timothy Layton point out: “Originally a small, inexpensive safety-net program, Medicaid has grown into a major national health-insurance provider, covering nearly one in four Americans and more people than the public health insurance programs of the United Kingdom, Germany, or France.” They review the program and offer some recommendations in “Coverage Isn’t…
Medicaid: What It Has Become
The Great Escape
27 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, health economics Tags: child mortality, life expectancies, The Great Escape
Puberty blockers BANNED
22 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, health economics Tags: sex discrimination
The lobotomy of our time is over: NZ bans puberty blockers for kids Ani O’Brien writes – The government has officially announced that puberty blockers will no longer be prescribed to children for the purposes of gender transition. It’s one of the most significant and overdue reversals of reckless policy New Zealand has ever seen.
Puberty blockers BANNED
The Great Escape
01 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, health economics Tags: anti-vaccination movement, child mortality, The Great Escape, vaccines
The Great Enrichment
29 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, health economics Tags: life expectancies, The Great Escape
NZ may be on the cusp of another measles outbreak – what happened in 2019 should be a warning
28 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: anti-vaccination movement, vaccines
Anna Howe, Emma Best and Rachel Webb write – The recent confirmation of new measles cases unconnected to international travel suggests the highly contagious disease has likely started spreading through communities, according to Health New Zealand. This is a stark reminder of the pending danger of a larger measles outbreak. To prevent transmission once the measles virus […]
NZ may be on the cusp of another measles outbreak – what happened in 2019 should be a warning
Cassandra Somers-Joce: A New Chapter for Governmental Candour? The Public Office (Accountability) Bill
07 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, health and safety, health economics, labour economics, law and economics, Public Choice Tags: British constitutional law, British politics, Internet
The Public Office (Accountability) Bill was introduced into the House of Commons on 16 September 2025. It gives effect to the Labour Party’s 2024 Manifesto commitment to introduce a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will ‘place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities and provide legal aid for victims of disasters or state-related deaths’. As the Government’s ‘Duty of […]
Cassandra Somers-Joce: A New Chapter for Governmental Candour? The Public Office (Accountability) Bill
The unraveling of Obamacare?
06 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - USA Tags: health insurance
Paul Krugman has a recent post defending the exchange subsidies and tax credits that the Republicans wish to cut, talking with Jonathan Cohn about the “premium apocalypse” (and here). Whether or not one agrees with Krugman normatively, the arguments if anything convince me that Obamacare probably is not financially or politically stable. To recap some […]
The unraveling of Obamacare?
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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