A guest post by Lucy Rogers: Today (as of the time of writing) I saw Associate Professor Michael Mawson of the theology faculty at Auckland University advertise on Facebook an event hosting Professor Miguel De La Torre, a Cuban academic specialising in liberation theology. The event is to be held at the Maclaurin Chapel at […]
Guest Post: Criticising Cuba
Guest Post: Criticising Cuba
23 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of crime, growth disasters, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: Cuba
Promised debate at Auckland University on indigenous ways of knowing vs. science fails to materialize
22 Aug 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
In 2021, the Listener Letter fracas erupted in New Zealand when seven professors at Auckland University argued that the indigenous “way of knowing,” Mātauranga Māori (MM), while valuable in anthropology and sociology classes, should not be taught, as the government planned, as coequal with modern science. The seven signers were right: while MM does contain […]
Promised debate at Auckland University on indigenous ways of knowing vs. science fails to materialize
How Chlöe Swarbrick struggled to accept the PM’s position on sovereignty
21 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Bob Edlin writes – Historian and former Labour Government cabinet minister Michael Bassett, in an article posted here earlier today, said those who spend time on the web examining the Treaty of Waitangi will find claims there are four or even five articles when officially there have never been more than three. Bassett went on […]
How Chlöe Swarbrick struggled to accept the PM’s position on sovereignty
“Keyboard Warrior”: British Crackdown Results in Three-Year Sentence Over Anti-Migrant Postings
21 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: British politics, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Three years ago, we discussed the conviction of a British man for “toxic ideologies,” under the draconian laws criminalizing inciteful or dangerous speech. The erosion of free speech appears to have only accelerated in the UK. As is often the case, the attacks on free speech increase during periods of unrest, anger or fear. With […]
“Keyboard Warrior”: British Crackdown Results in Three-Year Sentence Over Anti-Migrant Postings
The censored school speech
20 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
This is the speech by Oliver Jull that won him a spot in the speech competition finals, but then his school canceled as it was worried it may offend some people. You don’t have to agree with it, to think he should be allowed to express his beliefs.
The censored school speech
PETER WILLIAMS: Waitangi Tribunal Report Predictable
18 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Seymour’s courageous but who will support him? That the Waitangi Tribunal was highly critical of the Act party’s proposed, although currently undrafted, Treaty Principles Bill was as predictable as the sun rising in the east. The timing is not surprising either. The Tribunal has become an extraordinarily political body, one that in this instance has…
PETER WILLIAMS: Waitangi Tribunal Report Predictable
Should the government operate petrol stations?
17 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, property rights
The extent to which the government should be involved in the provision of goods and services generates a lot of debate. Most of that debate is unhelpful, since it involves small-government, market-fundamentalist types arguing against anti-market socialist types. It’s all ideological, and there’s a pretty good chance that neither of the sides in that argument…
Should the government operate petrol stations?
DON BRASH: WHO IS MISLEADING THE PUBLIC?
16 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, resource economics Tags: constitutional law, native title
A letter signed by more than 170 legal “experts” has been circulated around the media in the last few days and quoted extensively. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate the letter in its entirety but have gathered some quotes. The letter claims to fact check Hobson’s Pledge’s ad which was published on…
DON BRASH: WHO IS MISLEADING THE PUBLIC?
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
Globe-Trotting Climate Activist Fined 100,000 Euros After Blocking Frankfurt Airport
15 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of crime, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics Tags: climate activists
If NGOs or collection campaigns don’t help out, the climate-blocking criminal could end up in prison as a substitute. How many years would that amount to?
Globe-Trotting Climate Activist Fined 100,000 Euros After Blocking Frankfurt Airport
“An America Issue”: Washington Post Reporter Calls on White House to Censor Trump for America
14 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
In my new book on free speech, I discuss at length how the mainstream media has joined an alliance with the government and corporations in favor of censorship and blacklisting. The Washington Post, however, appears to taking its anti-free speech campaign to a new level with open calls for a crackdown. The newspaper offered no objection […]
“An America Issue”: Washington Post Reporter Calls on White House to Censor Trump for America
School speech censorship
14 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Stuff reports: A speech which ordinarily would have failed to raise attention outside the walls of New Plymouth Boys’ High School has grabbed national attention after a student was banned from delivering it. Oliver Jull’s speech – The Decline of Western Civilization – was scratched from the school’s speech finals last week out of concerns […]
School speech censorship
“We are Monitoring”: EU Censor Threatens Musk Ahead of the Trump Interview
14 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left
In my new book on free speech and various columns, I write about the European Digital Services Act (DSA) as one of the greatest assaults on free speech in history. One of the most notorious anti-free speech figures in the world is European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Thierry Breton. Where some censors express […]
“We are Monitoring”: EU Censor Threatens Musk Ahead of the Trump Interview
The (Non) Mystery of Economic Growth
13 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, law and economics, macroeconomics, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: The Great Enrichment
The recipe for economic growth is not complicated. You can put it in very simple terms, as Adam Smith did a few hundred years ago. Or you can develop and utilize data-heavy indexes like the ones published by the Fraser Institute and Heritage Foundation. In either case, the result will be the same. If you […]
The (Non) Mystery of Economic Growth
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