Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Child Poverty Report 2024 has just been published. It’s an overview and selected findings, as opposed to a full report which is due in 2025. Poverty can be measured in various ways.
The child poverty conundrum
The child poverty conundrum
30 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, kittens, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, family poverty
The Obstacles for Escape
25 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, Economics of international refugee law, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, World War II
I often hear the argument, “Why did the Jews not simply leave Germany when Hitler got to power?” It was just not as simple as that. Many German and Austrian Jews saw themselves as German or Austrian first, and they considered themselves to be part of society. Why would they leave their homes and their […]
The Obstacles for Escape
Rowling Reportedly Sued by Olympic Boxer Over Gender Criticism
24 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of media and culture, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, British politics, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
We have previously discussed the cancel campaigns targeting JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. Rowling was not only the greatest selling author of all time but a wildly popular writer until she publicly opposed certain transgender policies as inimical to the advances in feminism. Now, she is the target of a lawsuit […]
Rowling Reportedly Sued by Olympic Boxer Over Gender Criticism
Women lose again
24 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, gender, law and economics, politics - Australia, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Giggle for Girls and its owner Sall Grover have lost the case in which they were accused of discrimination. Transgender woman Roxanne Tickle has won a novel gender identity case brought against a women’s-only social media app and its owner after she was excluded her from the platform. Federal Court Justice Robert Bromwich found Giggle for Girls and […]
Women lose again
Why Top CEOs Earn Big Paychecks
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of education, entrepreneurship, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, managerial economics, market efficiency, occupational choice, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, survivor principle Tags: CEO pay, superstar wages
CEO compensation at large firms is high, especially in comparison to average worker wages, sparking debates over income inequality. Critics argue that such pay packages are unfair and disproportionate to actual company performance. Proponents contend that high pay reflects productivity and is necessary to attract scarce top talent to large firms. Let’s go to the […]
Why Top CEOs Earn Big Paychecks
Telephone Operators: The Elimination of a Job
20 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, gender, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, market efficiency, occupational choice, survivor principle, unemployment Tags: creative destruction
My tradition on this blog is to take a break (mostly!) from current events in the later part of August. Instead, I pre-schedule daily posts based on things I read during the previous year about three of my preoccupations: economics, editing/writing, and academia. With the posts pre-scheduled, I can then relax more deeply when floating…
Telephone Operators: The Elimination of a Job
New Zealand fact of the day
19 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in international economics, labour economics, labour supply, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of immigration
In the year to June, 80,200 New Zealand citizens moved abroad, almost double the numbers prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, just 24,900 returned, according to Stats NZ — the country’s official data agency. The net loss of 55,300 citizens (which follows a net loss of 56,500 in the year to April) smashed the previous record […]
New Zealand fact of the day
Friedman vs Stiglitz, Chile vs Venezuela
16 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, Milton Friedman, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: Chile, free speech, political correctness, regressive left, The Great Enrichment, Venezuela
I’ve repeatedly praised Chile’s pro-market reforms (see here, here, and here) and I’ve repeatedly condemned Venezuela’s shift to socialism (see here, here, and here). But if you don’t have time to read all those columns, this chart from the Maddison database tells you everything you need to know. Simply stated, Chile’s reforms have delivered huge […]
Friedman vs Stiglitz, Chile vs Venezuela
NZ now has an asylum problem
12 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in Economics of international refugee law, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of immigration
Stuff reports: The number of people claiming refugee status in New Zealand has exploded in the past two years, statistics released by Immigration New Zealandshow. In the 11 months to 31 May 2024, a total of 2220 people claimed refugee status in New Zealand. Half of these asylum seekers – 1108 people – were from a […]
NZ now has an asylum problem
Minnesota’s Failed Class-Warfare Tax Policy
11 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic growth, fiscal policy, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
Writing about Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan in 2012, I opined that, “…it probably means nothing. I don’t think there’s been an election in my lifetime that was impacted by the second person on a presidential ticket.” I feel the same way about Tim Walz, who is Kamala Harris’ pick for Vice President. But […]
Minnesota’s Failed Class-Warfare Tax Policy
Blokes are bigger
10 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, health economics, sports economics Tags: gender gap, Olympics
The Creation of Ride-sharing and the Creativity of Markets
10 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of regulation, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, regulation, rentseeking, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: barriers to entry, creative destruction, taxi regulation
The idea behind Uber first arose, the story goes, on a snowy evening in Paris back around 2008, when Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp found themselves stuck in Paris on a snowy evening, unable to find a taxi. They wondered “What if you could request a ride simply by tapping your phone?” They co-founded Uber based…
The Creation of Ride-sharing and the Creativity of Markets
Basic income, again
09 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, labour economics, labour supply, poverty and inequality, unemployment, welfare reform Tags: universal basic income
This week’s column for the Stuff papers covered the excellent new US work testing the effects of a UBI. From November 2020, 3000 low-income people were randomly assigned into two groups for three years. One thousand people each received $1000 per month in unconditional funds for three years. Two thousand people each received $50 per month.Both…
Basic income, again
DON BRASH: John Key’s Call for “Caution” in Race Relations
06 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
He doesn’t want to have difficult conversations. Former National Party leader Sir John Key has urged people to “take the temperature down a wee bit” in the debate surrounding race issues. He believes this is an area where any government needs to “tread carefully.” He also mentioned recent issues such as ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill, the…
DON BRASH: John Key’s Call for “Caution” in Race Relations
How Politicians Should Debate: Kemi Badenoch
05 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, economics of regulation, gender, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: British politics
She’s been one of the rising stars of the British Conservative Party for some time now, and I’ve covered stories about her before (Would be nice if a US Democrat said this about Critical Race Theory and A Tory warning for the National Party of 2032), but I’ve finally decided to add Kemi Badenoch as a tag […]
How Politicians Should Debate: Kemi Badenoch
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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