A guest post by Lucy Rogers: On 8 November 2024 Max Harris wrote an op ed for The Dominion Post on the Israel – Lebanon conflict. Harris’ article was profoundly misleading in numerous respects and I immediately wrote a response which was submitted to the editor of the Post on 9 November. To that email […]
Guest Post: Response to Max Harris
Guest Post: Response to Max Harris
24 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Attorney-General and Chief Justice reveal contrasting visions of judicial power
23 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Roger Partridge writes – Should judges stick to applying the law, or should they reshape it to reflect society’s values? This fundamental tension over judicial power was laid bare at a New Zealand Law Society webinar this month about what it takes to become a High Court judge. Comments from the country’s two senior legal […]
Attorney-General and Chief Justice reveal contrasting visions of judicial power
Mum jailed for letting a 10 year old go for a walk
17 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: nanny state
Reason reports: It was dinnertime on October 30, 2024, when police handcuffed Brittany Patterson in front of three of her four children and drove her to the station in Fannin County, Georgia. She was then fingerprinted, photographed, and dressed in an orange jumpsuit. Her crime? Hours earlier, around noon, Patterson had driven her eldest son […]
Mum jailed for letting a 10 year old go for a walk
TARGETED BEIRUT: THE 1983 MARINE BARRACKS BOMBING AND THE UNTOLD ORIGIN STORY OF THE WAR ON TERROR by Jack Carr and James M. Scott
16 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Lebanon, Middle-East politics, war against terror
(The scene around the U.S. Marine Corps base near Beirut, Lebanon, following a massive bomb blast that destroyed the base on Oct. 23, 1983) On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an unspeakable terrorist attack on Israel killing over 1200 men, women, and children, and seizing over 200 hostages. The Israeli response was a brutal attack […]
TARGETED BEIRUT: THE 1983 MARINE BARRACKS BOMBING AND THE UNTOLD ORIGIN STORY OF THE WAR ON TERROR by Jack Carr and James M. Scott
November 8, 1939—Failed Assassination Attempt
09 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism Tags: Nazi Germany, World War II
On November 8, 1939, Adolf Hitler narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Munich. The attempt took place in the Bürgerbräukeller, a popular beer hall where he annually commemorated the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, an early failed coup that Hitler had led in an attempt to seize power in Germany. The bomb was […]
November 8, 1939—Failed Assassination Attempt
Behold The Flying Dutchman: Trump Prosecutors Find Themselves on Listless Ships Without a Port of Call
09 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the collapse of the lawfare campaigns against Trump. The first to go will likely be the two cases by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who became a lame-duck prosecutor at around 2:30 am last Wednesday. We are also waiting for what is likely to be a reduction or […]
Behold The Flying Dutchman: Trump Prosecutors Find Themselves on Listless Ships Without a Port of Call
The Thrill is Gone: Will the Prosectorial Campaigns Collapse with the Political Campaigns Against Trump?
07 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the New York Post on the developments in the pending Trump cases. I previously wrote that, if Trump prevailed in this election, it was likely that Special Counsel Jack Smith would “not see a jury in either of his cases.” This morning, Smith is reportedly in discussions on the possible […]
The Thrill is Gone: Will the Prosectorial Campaigns Collapse with the Political Campaigns Against Trump?
Free Speech meets “Fit and Proper” in NZ
05 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, free speech, gun control
So there is a reason why I should read the local MSM, especially when it’s really local, as in the Waikato Times. However, I saw the story first in the US-based libertarian publication Reason and of course their headline was much different than the story which they linked to, New Zealand Government Punishes Gun Owners […]
Free Speech meets “Fit and Proper” in NZ
Does the TPM Secretary know he could face jail time?
05 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: law and order
I previously blogged on how the Electoral Commission referred Te Pati Maori to the Police for not filing their annual financials statements by 30 June 2024, as required by law. Their party secretary is Lance Norman (a manager in one of the Tamihere organisations) and I wonder if he realises the personal risk he is […]
Does the TPM Secretary know he could face jail time?
The Nation endorses Kamala Harris, but its interns object: “We cannot vote our way out of this genocide”
02 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Rawls and Nozick, war and peace Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, regressive left, useful idiots, war against terror
Well, I’ll be. The group of interns at the left-wing The Nation have objected to the magazine’s recent endorsement of Kamala Harris and published their gripes. Now why would that happen? We all know that many editors and reporters at the Washington Post objected to the paper’s failure to endorse Kamala Harris, but this kind of […]
The Nation endorses Kamala Harris, but its interns object: “We cannot vote our way out of this genocide”
THE SIEGE: A SIX DAY HOSTAGE CRISIS AND THE DARING SPECIAL FORCES OPERATION THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD by Ben Macintyre
01 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics Tags: Iran, Middle-East politics, war against terror
(On 30 April 1980 six gunmen took over the Iranian embassy in Kensington. The siege ended when the SAS stormed the building.) If one thinks about events that took place in 1980 two hostage situations should come to mind. The first and more prominent was the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran by Islamic […]
THE SIEGE: A SIX DAY HOSTAGE CRISIS AND THE DARING SPECIAL FORCES OPERATION THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD by Ben Macintyre
Over the Border: Gun and Torts Liability to Collide in Mexican Case Before the Supreme Court
28 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of crime, economics of regulation, growth disasters, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Mexico
This month, there is a new case on the docket after the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The First Circuit reversed a trial court that dismissed the case, alleging that the American firearms industry is legally responsible for violence in Mexico. I believe the First Circuit is […]
Over the Border: Gun and Torts Liability to Collide in Mexican Case Before the Supreme Court
Three Strikes law slightly improved but still unlikely to be an effective deterrent
25 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Nicole McKee announced: The Government is listening to New Zealanders and Cabinet has agreed to recommend modifications to the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says. I’m glad they took on board that the bill as introduced was so watered down from the old law, that it would not be…
Three Strikes law slightly improved but still unlikely to be an effective deterrent
Te Pati Maori back the drug dealers vs the Police
24 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
The Herald reports: Te Pāti Māori claims a police operation targeting Mongrel Mob members and associates alleged to be involved in a drug distribution network was “terrorism” and motivated by a “racist agenda”. It is amazing that a political party defends drug dealing gangs, and hates the Police so much they call them terrorists. TPM say they are…
Te Pati Maori back the drug dealers vs the Police
Reflections on United Arab Emirates
23 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, energy economics, growth miracles, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, property rights, Public Choice Tags: Dubai, economics of immigration
On my way to India, I connected through Abu Dhabi, capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). During my one-day layover, I toured not only Abu Dhabi, but its more famous sister-city, Dubai. Here are my main thoughts.In Dubai, these are not empty words.Per-capita, UAE is the most amazing country I’ve ever seen. With…
Reflections on United Arab Emirates
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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