According to the NZ Herald this morning: “Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has described the departure of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern from politics as “devastating for women around the world”.” Not this one. But then very little devastates me beyond the loss of a loved person or pet. Or dwelling on the suffering of…
Why I disagree with Helen Clark
Why I disagree with Helen Clark
20 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in economics of education, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, family poverty
The Greens’ weekend gift to the government
19 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, wealth tax
Roger Partridge writes – The Greens’ coronation of Chlöe Swarbrick at last weekend’s AGM delivered a manifesto for economic transformation that would make Soviet economists nostalgic for their glory days.
The Greens’ weekend gift to the government
No Pierogi For You: Dershowitz Denied Food in Martha’s Vineyard Over His Political Views
18 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, religious discrimination
Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz appears to be living through a remake of the Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode. However, Dershowitz is facing a new culinary menace in Martha’s Vineyard. Chef Krem Miskevich has barred the famed lawyer from buying pierogis because of his political views . . . and liberals are applauding him for it. Welcome to Pierogi […]
No Pierogi For You: Dershowitz Denied Food in Martha’s Vineyard Over His Political Views
Milei’s Achievements…and Challenges
17 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in development economics, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, growth disasters, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, monetary economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, unemployment Tags: Argentina
I’m back in Argentina, the South American country with the world’s best leader. What Javier Milei has accomplished is amazing. And the economic effects have been wonderful. One of my meetings earlier this week was with Marcelo Elizondo, the head of the International Chamber of Commerce for Argentina. He shared a presentation with me that […]
Milei’s Achievements…and Challenges
Dude, Whatever Happened to Difference Feminism?
17 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender gap, sex discrimination
Time to Revive an Out of Fashion Idea
Dude, Whatever Happened to Difference Feminism?
Lawrence Krauss interviews Carole Hooven
17 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
This is one of the twenty-odd interviews that Lawrence Krauss conducted to support the new book he edited, The War on Science, comprising essays about the pollution of academia by ideology. (Nearly all of us indict ideology from the Left, though many of us, including me, admit that the Right is currently a bigger threat to […]
Lawrence Krauss interviews Carole Hooven
A median voter theory of right-wing populism
16 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in labour economics, labour supply, Public Choice Tags: voter demographics
From a recent paper: Populists are often defined as those who claim that they fill “political representation gaps” -differences between the policymaking by established parties and the “popular will.” Research has largely neglected to what extent this claim is correct. I study descriptively whether representation gaps exist and their relationship with populism. To this end, I analyze […]
A median voter theory of right-wing populism
Tenth Circuit: Parents Do Not Have Right to Override Ban on Gender Transitioning of Minors
12 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of regulation, gender, health economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
The Tenth Circuit handed down a notable opinion this week in Poe v. Drummond, upholding Oklahoma’s law prohibiting gender transition procedures for anyone under eighteen. The opinion by Judge Joel Carson (joined by Judges Harris Hartz and Gregory Phillips) concluded that parental rights do not trump a state’s determination of what are safe treatments for […]
Tenth Circuit: Parents Do Not Have Right to Override Ban on Gender Transitioning of Minors
Chlöe Swarbrick’s homelessness hyperbole
11 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of regulation, human capital, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: family poverty, homelessness, regressive left
Ani O’Brien writes – Chlöe Swarbrick wants you to believe the Government is intentionally increasing homelessness. She told RNZ’s Mata with Mihingarangi Forbes: “The only conclusion that I can really come to is that this Government has intentionally increased homelessness…” It’s the kind of soundbite that plays well on social media. Outrage travels faster than nuance, and a […]
Chlöe Swarbrick’s homelessness hyperbole
The Lancet publishes a glowing but deeply misguided review of a book that denies the sex binary, yet the author of the review had previously TOUTED the sex binary
09 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: evolutionary biology, free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
We’ve all learned that The Lancet, once a respectable journal, has gone full-on “progressive,” denying the sex binary, adopting a comprehensive Left progressive position, blaming rich white countries for all the health problems of poorer countries, and advocating gender-activist language, as it did in its widely-criticized cover below. Much of this was done under the […]
The Lancet publishes a glowing but deeply misguided review of a book that denies the sex binary, yet the author of the review had previously TOUTED the sex binary
The US Auto Industry: Evolving, not Evaporating
09 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, survivor principle, transport economics, urban economics
One of those facts that “everyone knows” is that the US auto industry has been crushed by foreign competition. As Adam Ozimek points out in “Myths and Lessons from a Century of American Automaking” (Economic Innovation Institute, August 1, 2025), while the US car industry certainly no longer features large manufacturing plants in the city…
The US Auto Industry: Evolving, not Evaporating
GUEST POST: On the long-term costs of New Zealand Superannuation: more affordable now?
07 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: ageing society
A guest post by Michael Littlewood: As New Zealand’s population ages and, in particular, as the proportion of over-65s increases, the cost of New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) is rising. We know that and it doesn’t help us understand the issues to create headlines that catastrophise the expected costs. The pensions payable in the future, public […]
GUEST POST: On the long-term costs of New Zealand Superannuation: more affordable now?
Why the accommodation supplement does little to help low-income tenants
04 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, income redistribution, labour economics, Public Choice, welfare reform
In an article in The Conversation earlier this year, Edward Yiu and William Cheung (both University of Auckland) discuss New Zealand’s accommodation supplement for low-income renters:New Zealand’s unaffordable housing market has left many low and middle-income families reliant on the accommodation supplement to cover rent and mortgage payments.But our new research has found the scheme,…
Why the accommodation supplement does little to help low-income tenants
The Tragedy of India’s Government-Job Prep Towns
04 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth disasters, growth miracles, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, Public Choice Tags: India
In Massive Rent-Seeking in India’s Government Job Examination System I argued that the high value of government jobs has distorted India’s entire labor market and educational system. India’s most educated young people—precisely those it needs in the workforce—are devoting years of their life cramming for government exams instead of working productively. These exams cultivate no […]
The Tragedy of India’s Government-Job Prep Towns
Quotation of the Day…
03 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in labour economics, Milton Friedman
Tweet… is from page 246 of Milton & Rose Friedman’s great 1980 book, Free To Choose: A worker is protected from his employer by the existence of other employers for whom he can go to work. An employer is protected from exploitation by his employees by the existence of other workers whom he can hire.…
Quotation of the Day…
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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