There is media fuss today around the resistance of schools in terms of excluding students excluded from other schools. The NZ Herald highlights statistics that 100s of schools appear to be reluctant and three remain outright resistant. The article highlights the legal obligation for schools to accept students in their zone. This can be ordered […]
The Genuine Legal Conflict for School Boards
The Genuine Legal Conflict for School Boards
18 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: crime and punishment, law and order
Natasha Hausdorff on the legality of everything about the war
17 Jul 2024 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
One of the biggest lacunae on Wikipedia is its lack of an entry on Natasha Hausdorff, a London barrister and expert on international law who happens to work with the UK Lawyers for Israel. She has a sterling background: She holds law degrees from Oxford and Tel Aviv Universities and was a Fellow in the […]
Natasha Hausdorff on the legality of everything about the war
The (ignored) war crimes of Hamas
15 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics
We hear a lot about the “war crimes of Israel and the IDF”; in fact, that’s about all we hear on campus regarding the war. And it is these “war crimes” that have brought the world’s opprobrium down on Israel, even though they are not war crimes. Yes, an odd IDF soldier might commit a […]
The (ignored) war crimes of Hamas
Universities and the Treaty
15 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
Grant Duncan writes: University management should take note of that, as there have been unrealistic efforts to force poorly defined “Treaty obligations” into teaching and research. For example, one university is now telling its academic staff that all curricula should, as a high priority, be “designed, developed and delivered in authentic partnerships with Māori [and] […]
Universities and the Treaty
BBB in the NYT
15 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning

I pitch Build, Baby, Build in today’s New York Times. No illustrations, but a bunch of cool graphs cooked up by Sara Chodosh of the NYT data analytics team. The original title was “The Panacea Policy,” but now it’s “Yes in My Backyard: The Case For Housing Deregulation.” And for you, dear readers, it’s ungated!…
BBB in the NYT
The Attempted Assassination of Trump is Not Nearly as Surprising as it Should Be
15 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election

Below is my column on the assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump. We all watched as the horrific scene unfolded on television. It was a traumatic moment for the entire country, but it was hardly surprising given this age of rage. We are still learning about the suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was […]
The Attempted Assassination of Trump is Not Nearly as Surprising as it Should Be
Biden’s Desperate Vote-Buying Proposal for Nationwide Rent Control
15 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: rent control

I’m not a political pundit, but I’m guessing that yesterday’s despicable assassination attempt on Donald Trump increases the likelihood that he reclaims the White House. That’s probably not good news for trade policy (though Biden has been just as bad), but it will be very good news for housing policy. Not because of what Trump […]
Biden’s Desperate Vote-Buying Proposal for Nationwide Rent Control
A Clown Show in Court: The Conviction of Just Stop Oil Protestors
14 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, property rights Tags: climate activists
Check out Just Stop Oils press release to bask in their impotent pontification
A Clown Show in Court: The Conviction of Just Stop Oil Protestors
DON BRASH: ANOTHER OUTSTANDING SPEECH FROM CHRIS BISHOP
13 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Four months ago, I described a speech by Chris Bishop in his capacity as Minister of Housing as perhaps the most important speech given by any Government minister since the election last year. He’s just given another, arguably even more important, laying out in words of one syllable what the Government plans to do…
DON BRASH: ANOTHER OUTSTANDING SPEECH FROM CHRIS BISHOP
“The First Amendment is Out of Control”: Academic and Media Figures Rally Against Free Speech
13 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left

Below is my column in Fox.com on renewed attacks on free speech and the apologists for this anti-free speech movement, including most recently comedian Jon Stewart. From moves to amend the First Amendment to mocking those being targeted, the left is pushing back at polls and efforts to restore free speech values. Here is the […]
“The First Amendment is Out of Control”: Academic and Media Figures Rally Against Free Speech
Bryan Caplan on YIMBY in the NYT
12 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Here is one excerpt: What few appreciate is that the overregulation of housing has blocked a classic American path: moving to a higher-wage part of the country to secure a better life. A paper by the economists Peter Ganong and Daniel Shoag shows that housing costs now routinely outweigh wage gains: While janitors and waiters do indeed […]
Bryan Caplan on YIMBY in the NYT
‘Goes Beyond the Limits’: Judge Throws Out Blue City’s Climate Case Against Oil Giants
12 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: climate alarmism
…simply a way to get in the back door what they cannot get in the front door,” Brown wrote in the ruling.
‘Goes Beyond the Limits’: Judge Throws Out Blue City’s Climate Case Against Oil Giants
Is France about to demonstrate “ideal” semi-presidentialism in action?
12 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, law and economics, Public Choice Tags: France
The outcome of the French assembly election of 2024 appears to have set up a situation that could be described as the “ideal” way that semi-presidential systems are meant to operate, based on how such governance models were articulated by their original theorists.
Is France about to demonstrate “ideal” semi-presidentialism in action?
Antifa Radicals Elected to the French and European Parliaments
10 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA

For many years, I have testified and written about Antifa and its growing anti-free speech philosophy. Some Democratic leaders have embraced this violent movement, which continues to gain strength on campuses and its cities across the nation. It is also a global movement. That is reflected in the alarming election of Antifa candidates to the […]
Antifa Radicals Elected to the French and European Parliaments
Energy, Business Groups Ask Supreme Court To Stop California From Forcing EVs On the Rest of America
09 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: constitutional law, federalism
Numerous trade associations are asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that effectively allowed California to push electric vehicles (EVs) on the rest of the U.S.
Energy, Business Groups Ask Supreme Court To Stop California From Forcing EVs On the Rest of America
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