The following is written in Don’s capacity as trustee for Hobson’s Pledge: It is almost the end of 2025 and, as you may know, the Government has recently introduced to Parliament the two Bills it seeks to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) with. The Bills were pushed through first reading under urgency and have…
DON BRASH – RMA Reform: A step forward. But concerns for equal citizenship
DON BRASH – RMA Reform: A step forward. But concerns for equal citizenship
18 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, regulation, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, racial discrimination, zoning
Vertical Restraints in the EU: Economics Has Updated, Law Hasn’t Installed the Patch
17 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics Tags: competition law
Online commerce has transformed how firms design their distribution systems, yet EU competition law continues to treat many online-sales restrictions as suspect by default. This tension lies at the heart of today’s vertical restraints debate. While the economic theory of vertical agreements has been largely settled for decades, the legal framework has not fully absorbed…
Vertical Restraints in the EU: Economics Has Updated, Law Hasn’t Installed the Patch
Is involuntary hospitalization working?
17 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of crime, health economics, law and economics Tags: economics of mental health
From Natalia Emanuel, Valentin Bolotnyy, and Pim Welle: The involuntary hospitalization of people experiencing a mental health crisis is a widespread practice, as common in the US as incarceration in state and federal prisons and 2.4 times as common as death from cancer. The intent of involuntary hospitalization is to prevent individuals from harming themselves…
Is involuntary hospitalization working?
SURVIVING KATYN: STALIN’S POLISH MASSACRE AND THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH by Jane Rogoyska
15 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Poland, World War II
(Mass grave of Polish officers in Katyn Forest, exhumed by Germany in 1943) The Katyn forest massacre committed by the Soviet Union occurred between April and May 1940. Though killings took place in Kalinin and Kharkiv prisons operated by the NKVD and elsewhere, the massacre is named after the Katyn forest where mass graves were […]
SURVIVING KATYN: STALIN’S POLISH MASSACRE AND THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH by Jane Rogoyska
New Zealand’s Planning Revolution: bye bye RMA
13 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Inside the reform that will change how New Zealand is built Ani O’Brien writes – If you’ve ever tried to build a deck, subdivide a section, or watched a major infrastructure project slowly suffocate in a decade of “consenting hell,” you already know the RMA is New Zealand’s great productivity killer. For over 30 years, […]
New Zealand’s Planning Revolution: bye bye RMA
Greyhound racing law change is legal overreach
12 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, sports economics Tags: constitutional law, takings
Oliver Hartwich writes – Let me state this clearly at the outset: I have never placed a bet on a greyhound. I have never owned a greyhound. If I were a dog, I would likely prefer a soft sofa to a hard track. I am not writing this because I have a passion for racing, […]
Greyhound racing law change is legal overreach
Greenpeace Asks a DUTCH Court to Overturn a $345 Million Dakota Pipeline Judgement
12 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, environmental economics, environmentalism, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Greenpeace appears to think European courts have pre-eminence over US courts, even for events which happened in the USA.
Greenpeace Asks a DUTCH Court to Overturn a $345 Million Dakota Pipeline Judgement
Getting NZ building again
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights
Not surprised TPM lost the injunction
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - New Zealand
Stuff reported: Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi has been reinstated after an interim judgment by the High Court. The Te Tai Tokerau MP had sought the injunction against her party’s decision to expel her, claiming her expulsion breached numerous parts of the constitution. On Friday, Justice Paul Radich confirmed to Stuff that Kapa-King should be reinstated…
Not surprised TPM lost the injunction
The Rise and Fall of the American Bar Association
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics Tags: creative destruction
Below is my column in The Hill on the decline of the American Bar Association and the move in various…
The Rise and Fall of the American Bar Association
Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman-John Lennon’s Killer: A Psychological Profile
11 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, Music
This blog provides a structured psychological overview of Mark David Chapman, the individual responsible for the 1980 murder of musician John Lennon. Drawing upon documented interviews, legal testimony, and secondary analyses from criminology and psychology scholars, the essay examines key psychological themes associated with Chapman, including identity instability, obsessive ideation, parasocial attachment, and the role […]
Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman-John Lennon’s Killer: A Psychological Profile
Humphrey’s Estate and Jackson’s Experts: Supreme Court Justice Offers Surprising View of the Separation of Powers
10 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
As I discussed in yesterday’s coverage of the oral arguments in Trump v. Slaughter, the argument went poorly for those…
Humphrey’s Estate and Jackson’s Experts: Supreme Court Justice Offers Surprising View of the Separation of Powers
Antitrust at the Agencies: Meta Analysis Edition
09 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: competition law
The memorandum and order in FTC v. Meta Platforms Inc. that U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg filed Nov. 18, ruling in favor of Meta, has now been followed by a Dec. 2 revised order that contained fewer redactions. The memorandum doesn’t exactly provide the law & economics analysis I would have produced, had…
Antitrust at the Agencies: Meta Analysis Edition
Supreme Court should not let climate lawfare set US energy policy
08 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: nuisance suits
Let’s hope the Supreme Court agrees that Boulder’s lawsuit is an excellent opportunity to terminate frivolous climate lawfare, expand on the guidance it provided in these two previous cases – and end attempts by climate activists to impose destructive national policies through local and state courts.
Supreme Court should not let climate lawfare set US energy policy
The Oddly Worded Instruments That Undid a Prince
05 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: British constitutional law, British politics
In late October, it was announced that the King would formally strip Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his royal status. At the start of November, the Gazette announced that the King had issued a Warrant directing the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice to remove Andrew from the Roll of the Peerage along with Letters […]
The Oddly Worded Instruments That Undid a Prince
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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