Brian Easton writes – While there have been decades of complaints – from all sides – about the workings of the Resource Management Act (RMA), replacing is proving difficult. The Coalition Government is making another attempt. To help answer the question, I am going to use the economic lens of the Coase Theorem, set out […]
Resource Management and Property Rights
Resource Management and Property Rights
08 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: housing affordability, land supply
Some great sentencing changes
07 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Paul Goldsmith announced the sentencing reforms passed third reading. While the revised three strikes law was so watered down to be almost useless, these law changes are much more meaningful and welcome. They include:
Some great sentencing changes
The Regulation Review Committee’s tikanga decision
07 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational regulation, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The Committee probably went as far as it could Gary Judd writes – What the Committee did The Regulation Review Committee decided (1) that making tikanga a compulsory subject for law students did not unduly trespass on personal rights and liberties, but (2) requiring tikanga to be incorporated in the other compulsory subjects was an […]
The Regulation Review Committee’s tikanga decision
Breaking up is hard to do
07 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle Tags: competition law
Eric Crampton writes – The pendulum theory of politics suggests that policies often swing from one extreme to another without finding a balanced middle ground. Consider New Zealand’s supermarkets. Current regulations have made it near-impossible for new large-scale grocers to enter the New Zealand market.
Breaking up is hard to do
The Liberation of Ohrdruf Concentration Camp: A Turning Point in the Final Days of World War II
05 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, World War II
The liberation of the Ohrdruf concentration camp on April 4, 1945, marked a significant moment in the final months of World War II. Located near the German town of Gotha, Ohrdruf was a subcamp of the larger Buchenwald concentration camp. The camp’s discovery by the advancing United States Army not only revealed the atrocities committed […]
The Liberation of Ohrdruf Concentration Camp: A Turning Point in the Final Days of World War II
Good principles for RMA reform
05 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking, resource economics, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply
Chris Bishop and Simon Court announced principles for the RMA replacement, and they generally look very good (but not perfect). Some key aspects: The new system will be based on the economic concept of “externalities”. Effects that are borne solely by the party undertaking the activity will not be controlled by the new system (for […]
Good principles for RMA reform
Uneducated vs educated
03 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, international economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: Brexit, British politics, political psychology
Political battles historically have been framed as contests between left-wing and right-wing ideologies, with clear distinctions based on policy preferences and socio-economic class interests. However, contemporary political dynamics reveal a new axis of conflict: the division between the educated and the uneducated. This emerging distinction marks a significant departure from traditional political alignments, reshaping electoral […]
Uneducated vs educated
Cultural Apartheid
03 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, health economics, human capital, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Muriel Newman writes – King’s Counsel Gary Judd has been at the forefront of a battle to defend New Zealand from the actions of Maori tribal leaders attempting to force their cultural apartheid onto our country. He’s defending the Rule of Law from attack by those pushing for ‘decolonisation’ by arguing that since ‘tikanga’ is an ‘amorphous […]
Cultural Apartheid
Prebs is Right – a 4 Year Parliamentary Term is no panacea to NZ’s stagnation. The problem is neither the Nats nor Labour have had a plan since 1993.
03 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic growth, economic history, law and economics, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
In an excellent article in the Herald, Richard Prebble (or “Prebs” as we call him) argues the proposals presented by National-ACT for a…
Prebs is Right – a 4 Year Parliamentary Term is no panacea to NZ’s stagnation. The problem is neither the Nats nor Labour have had a plan since 1993.
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?
Ninth Circuit Upholds California’s Ban on “Large Capacity” Magazines
31 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, law and economics, property rights Tags: gun control
In a decision that could well find itself before the Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s ban on “large capacity” magazines. In a rare move, Judge Lawrence Van Dyke offered a video dissent to the majority opinion.
Ninth Circuit Upholds California’s Ban on “Large Capacity” Magazines
‘Just Stop Oil’ … Stops
29 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, economics of crime, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, property rights Tags: British politics, climate activists
“Little doubt that civil disobedience makes the perpetrator feel virtuous. But the anti-CO2, anti-industrialization movement is at war with society, reality, and itself. This fringe is urged to question a false cause with study and reflection … Real environmentalism please!”
‘Just Stop Oil’ … Stops
Rep. Goldman: The FBI Investigation of Tesla Attacks is “Political Weaponization”
28 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
For many of us who were long active in Democratic politics, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize the party as a new generation of foul-mouthed, censorship-supporting, mob-enabling leaders take over. That sense returned this week when Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) claimed that the FBI investigating attacks on Tesla cars and facilities is nothing but […]
Rep. Goldman: The FBI Investigation of Tesla Attacks is “Political Weaponization”
Climate change can teach children about race, national curriculum review told
28 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of climate change, economics of education, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: British politics, climate activists, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
By Paul Homewood h/t Ian Cunningham Proof that the climate agenda was never really about climate: From the Telegraph: Climate change can be used to teach children about race, a national curriculum review has been told. Global warming should be used to allow teachers and pupils to “explore conversations about […]
Climate change can teach children about race, national curriculum review told
So out of touch
27 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order, political correctness. regressive left
Radio NZ reports: Green MP Tamatha Paul is doubling down on her comments that a “visible police presence” makes people feel “more on edge.” … The Wellington Central MP said she’d received “nothing but complaints” about police beat patrols. Paul told the event people in Wellington didn’t want to see police officers everywhere, and “for […]
So out of touch
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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