Newsroom has an article on the 10 SOEs that a Government could sell. I’ve done a matrix looking at which could be best to sell. Asset Competitive Value Sensitivity Prospects QV B $54m D Y Landcorp A $1.6b B Y AsureQuality B $100m C Y Kordia B $62m C Y Kiwibank B $2.6b A Y…
What should we sell?
What should we sell?
02 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, privatisation
Should We Privatise More Government Businesses?
24 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, financial economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, privatisation
Pragmatic analysis says maybe we should, but we should also consider nationalisation. We should certainly consider better regulation. Brian Easton writes – An earlier column argued that we should make the government’s net worth – the value of its assets less its liabilities – more prominent in fiscal policy. Net worth is also fundamental when we are […]
Should We Privatise More Government Businesses?
The stupidity of Labour on assets
13 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, politics - USA, privatisation Tags: Singapore
The Herald reports: Opposition leader Chris Hipkins is dismissive of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon saying the country needs a “mature” conversation around the potential sale of state-owned assets. “What would this government do when they’ve run out of things to sell?” Hipkins said, after Luxon spoke positively of a new Treasury report that calls for […]
The stupidity of Labour on assets
Public-Private-Partnerships?
02 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, managerial economics, organisational economics, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, public economics
New Zealand’s economic development has always been a partnership between the public and private sectors. Brian Easton writes – Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) have become fashionable again, partly because of the government’s ambitions to accelerate infrastructural development. There is, of course, an ideological element too, while some of the opposition to them is also ideological. PPPs […]
Public-Private-Partnerships?
Should the government operate petrol stations?
17 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, property rights
The extent to which the government should be involved in the provision of goods and services generates a lot of debate. Most of that debate is unhelpful, since it involves small-government, market-fundamentalist types arguing against anti-market socialist types. It’s all ideological, and there’s a pretty good chance that neither of the sides in that argument…
Should the government operate petrol stations?
Is it time to take the Interislander away from Kiwirail?
17 May 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, industrial organisation, law and economics, managerial economics, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle, theory of the firm, transport economics
The Herald reports: KiwiRail’s seemingly endless requests for more money is damning. At one point, KiwiRail assured Robertson when he was the Finance Minister that the worst-case scenario would be an extra $300 million before requesting $1.2 billion a few months later. Not what most people regard as worst case. It’s no wonder Ministry of Transport officials […]
Is it time to take the Interislander away from Kiwirail?
No Knife But A Bloodletting Nevertheless.
15 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of media and culture, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, Public Choice, public economics, survivor principle Tags: media bias
Hosking went after Radio New Zealand this morning and it was bad.The Mike Hosking Breakfast, 0600 till 0900 has three producer/support staff, Radio NZ Morning report has 16 production staff to cover the same five day time slot, yet the state run highly subsidised show falls way behind in ratings.. That 16 figure for production […]
No Knife But A Bloodletting Nevertheless.
Reflections on the TCU Capitalism versus Socialism Debate
08 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, poverty and inequality, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: economics of socialism, Sweden
Two days ago at Texas Christian University, I debated Scott Sehon, chair of Bowdoin College’s Philosophy Department, on Capitalism versus Socialism. (Video forthcoming eventually). My opening statement was a slight variation on the one I wrote for an earlier debate on the same topic with Elizabeth Bruenig. Sehon’s opening statement was adapted from his Socialism:…
Reflections on the TCU Capitalism versus Socialism Debate
What Actually Happened Right After The Soviet Union Collapsed
14 Jun 2022 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, defence economics, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, growth disasters, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, Marxist economics, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, theory of the firm, unemployment Tags: fall of communism
The Socialist Calculation Debate | Steven Horwitz
28 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, F.A. Hayek, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle
A Quarter Century of ‘The Proper Scope of Government’: Theory and Applications | Oliver Hart
09 Jun 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Armen Alchian, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, entrepreneurship, financial economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, Ronald Coase, survivor principle, theory of the firm, transport economics, urban economics
Stossel: Sweden is Not a Socialist Success
05 Mar 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of education, entrepreneurship, health economics, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, privatisation, survivor principle Tags: Sweden
The Swedish model – myths and realities – Johan Norberg
12 Feb 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, health economics, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, privatisation, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: Sweden
David Friedman on Physics, Coase, Anarcho-Capitalism, and Cancel Culture
07 Feb 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, David Friedman, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: China
Patient choice saves lives
27 Jan 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, health economics, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, personnel economics, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: British politics, health insurance, NHS
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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