The Herald reports: The Supreme Court has ruled the majority of the Court of Appeal “erred” in a major decision that ultimately eased the test for Māori to gain customary rights for use of the foreshore and seabed. Its just-issued ruling allows an appeal by the Attorney-General against the Court of Appeal’s decision last October, at a time the […]
So will they call the Supreme Court racist names now?
So will they call the Supreme Court racist names now?
19 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
It’s the Maori Party that is driving division
14 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: racial discrimination
New Zealand women got the vote in 1893; they got the right to stand for parliament a generation later in 1919. But there has never been a parliamentary party based on gender. That’s because most women do not put being female first and foremost in their lives. Their gender is an accident of birth. So…
It’s the Maori Party that is driving division
NZ Nursing Council Raises A Middle Finger To Health Minister Shane Reti And The Coalition Government.
08 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of regulation, health economics, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, occupational regulation, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
What follows are Scope of Practice requirements for Enrolled and Registered Nurses from 25 January 2025. There are some small differences in requirements but the points I am highlighting are the same and what follows is for Enrolled Nurses. Scope of Practice Enrolled Nurses Enrolled nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand reflect knowledge, concepts and worldviews of both tangata whenua and tangata […]
NZ Nursing Council Raises A Middle Finger To Health Minister Shane Reti And The Coalition Government.
Take Two Puberty Blockers and Call Me in the Morning? Justice Sotomayor Under Fire For Aspirin Analogy in Oral Argument
06 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is under fire today for seemingly dismissing medical concerns over the risks of puberty blockers and gender surgeries for minors with a comparison to taking Aspirin. In the oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, Sotomayor pointed out that there are risks to any medical procedure or drug. However, the […]
Take Two Puberty Blockers and Call Me in the Morning? Justice Sotomayor Under Fire For Aspirin Analogy in Oral Argument
Are protection orders worth anything?
05 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, gender, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
The Spinoff has an article by Zeni Gibson which details eight years of harassment by a man called Greg. Her suffering has been appalling, and hey tormenter has made a mockery of the law that should be protecting her. I can’t even summarise all the multiple failings, but it sadly doesn’t surprise me. There have…
Are protection orders worth anything?
The Missing Myths
04 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, discrimination, economic history, economics of climate change, economics of information, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, environmentalism, financial economics, gender, global warming, health economics, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, free speech, gender wage gap, law and order, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination

Michael Huemer’s Progressive Myths is the best book on wokeness. One of its many strengths is its focus on basic facts. As the author explains:I have selected beliefs that can be debunked fairly quickly and forcefully. Many other progressive beliefs require long argumentation and subjective judgment calls to assess. About these more difficult issues, I…
The Missing Myths
A defense of the sex binary against Steven Novella’s “multidimensional” definition of sex
27 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left

At the CSICon meetings in Las Vegas this November, I gave a half-hour talk on the two aspects of evolutionary biology that have been most deeply misrepresented by ideologues: sex and race. “Progressives” maintain that sex is not binary but a spectrum, and also that “race and ethnicity are social constructs, without scientific or biological […]
A defense of the sex binary against Steven Novella’s “multidimensional” definition of sex
Maximum Progress on Progressivism
27 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation

If you are not yet a fan of Michael Huemer, you should be. Hyperbole is the worst thing in the universe, but I still affirm the following: Huemer’s The Problem of Political Authority is the best book on political philosophy. Huemer’s Ethical Intuitionism is the best book on meta-ethics. Huemer’s Knowledge, Reality, and Value is…
Maximum Progress on Progressivism
Defying cries of “transphobia”, the Washington Post calls for debate on whether trans women should participate in women’s sports
22 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, sports economics Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

The good news is that the Washington Post, defying the inevitable cries that the paper is “transphobic”, is calling for a “respectful debate on trans women in sports”. This is, of course, because of the increasing number of biological men who identify as women (I prefer that jawbreaker to “trans women” because the latter plays […]
Defying cries of “transphobia”, the Washington Post calls for debate on whether trans women should participate in women’s sports
Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour while a bloke named Jones (no, not Shane) says he understands the Māori Party’s frustration
19 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Bob Edlin writes – Associate Justice Minister David Seymour “refused” Morning Report’s invitation to be interviewed on RNZ’s Morning Report, the day after the Treaty Principles Bill he is promoting had passed its first reading in Parliament after “a fiery debate and vote”. No matter. There were plenty of other people all too eager to […]
Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour while a bloke named Jones (no, not Shane) says he understands the Māori Party’s frustration
Pamela Paul on politics and transgender issues
17 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination

I keep thinking that Pamela Paul, who is consistently heterodox by criticizing the “progressive” left, will be given the boot as a regular NYT op-ed columnist. But I’m happy to see that she’s still in there swinging, this time criticizing the progressive (do I need to keep calling it that?) brand of transgender activism in […]
Pamela Paul on politics and transgender issues
PNAS publishes an opinion piece arguing that the politicization of science is bad (contradicting the NAS President’s views)
13 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: affirmative action, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left

I’m actually surprised that the article below was published in The Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS), one of the more high-quality science journals, just a tad below Science and Nature in prestige. It has had a reputation for being “progressive” (e.g., woke), one that I discussed last year when Steve Pinker had […]
PNAS publishes an opinion piece arguing that the politicization of science is bad (contradicting the NAS President’s views)
Ananish Chaudhuri: The sheer lunacy of contemporary progressive politics or How I became a right-wing extremist
11 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: Age of Enlightenment, economics of pandemics, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
With Kemi Badenoch taking over the leadership of Tories in the UK, newspapers have been replete with how this represents a radical turn to the right. Similar headlines appeared when Labour was booted from power in New Zealand. There was a time when I would have thought: “Shame. Why can’t these people not be more…
Ananish Chaudhuri: The sheer lunacy of contemporary progressive politics or How I became a right-wing extremist
Who Matters More in a Move: You or Your Spouse?
04 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economics of love and marriage, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, marriage and divorce, sex discrimination
New research finds couples are more likely to move for a job when it benefits the man, even when the woman’s career stands to benefit more by movingBy Dalvin Brown of The WSJ. Excerpts:”Couples are moving again for better job opportunities. They are more likely to make those moves when the husband’s earnings stand to…
Who Matters More in a Move: You or Your Spouse?
The National Childcare Program During World War II
02 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, war and peace Tags: World War II
The United States has has a nationwide childcare program at one time in its history: a temporary program during World War II. Tim Sablik of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond tells the story and summarizes some economic research on the topic in “When Uncle Sam Watched Rosie’s Kids: To support women working on the…
The National Childcare Program During World War II
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