There is much work yet to be done in New Zealand to improve housing affordability, despite recent declines in valuations. Eric Crampton writes – It wasn’t that long ago that New Zealand’s housing market made international news because of its insanity. In 2016, The Guardian tagged Auckland as the “hottest property market in the world” […]
The long road to housing affordability
The long road to housing affordability
11 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Five More Climate Lawsuits Shot Down
10 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism, nuisance suits
Legal Newsline reports the string of climate lawfare defeats in their article Fifth judge agrees with Big Oil, dismisses another climate change case. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images. TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – A New Jersey state court judge refuses to be the one who sets international energy standards and has […]
Five More Climate Lawsuits Shot Down
NCAA bans transgender athletes from women’s sports
09 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, sports economics Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
(This is my 29,994th post, so we’ll reach 30,000 by the end of the weekend. I don’t know what to think about that!) I think we all know now that most Americans, and a majority of individuals in both Democratic and Republican parties, oppose the participation of trans-identified males in women’s sports, presumably on the […]
NCAA bans transgender athletes from women’s sports
It’s comforting to hear Hipkins’ stance on an all-powerful Treaty Commissioner – but what might change his mind?
06 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Bob Edlin writes – Labour leader Chris Hipkins has told RNZ’s Morning Report the Labour Party will not support the Māori Party’s outrageous call for the establishment of a parliamentary commissioner for the Treaty of Waitangi with the extraordinary power to veto parliamentary decisions. His position is stated in this account of his response to […]
It’s comforting to hear Hipkins’ stance on an all-powerful Treaty Commissioner – but what might change his mind?
Identity-based hiring goes wild in New Zealand
05 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Just to show you how, in the hiring process, New Zealand gives much more weight to identity than to merit, I enclose part of the job description for the position of Chief Operating Officer of Wellington Water, the water utility for the Greater Wellington region (Wellington, a lovely city, is the capital of New Zealand). […]
Identity-based hiring goes wild in New Zealand
Property, liberty, transparency: the principled basis for the Regulatory Standards Bill
04 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in Adam Smith, applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking
Bryce Wilkinson writes – If you believe some of its critics, the pending Regulatory Standards Bill is a demonic measure to end New Zealand society as we know it. This is beyond false; it is ridiculous. In fact, it is a modest transparency measure. It will better inform the public about laws and regulations likely […]
Property, liberty, transparency: the principled basis for the Regulatory Standards Bill
Mocking European Statism
04 Feb 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: employment law, European Union
I have a special page for humor involving Europe, but I have not added to it since sharing some Brexit humor in 2016. Let’s being the process of catching up with some amusing cartoons and memes mocking our government-loving cousins on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve made the serious point that bureaucrats […]
Mocking European Statism
Supreme Court’s rush to judgment is a constitutional wake-up call
02 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Roger Partridge writes – Has the Supreme Court once again stepped outside its lane? A recent ruling about who controls our coastlines suggests our highest court is trying to reshape laws made by Parliament, rather than just apply them. Even more concerning is the Court’s extraordinary haste in delivering its judgment, just as Parliament prepared […]
Supreme Court’s rush to judgment is a constitutional wake-up call
Stephen Fry on how the faults of the Left promoted the rise of the Right
31 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, environmentalism, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, British politics, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Here! I’ve been dealing with trivial stuff all day involving billing and the post office (the Black Hole of government agencies) and have had no time to right. Enjoy Stephen Fry’s hourlong talk on Triggernometry on why the American Left promoted the rise of the American Right. I’ve been saying that for a long time, […]
Stephen Fry on how the faults of the Left promoted the rise of the Right
When politicians campaign on competition, be very worried
31 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Armen Alchian, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, experimental economics, history of economic thought, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: competition law
Targeting big existing businesses may be tempting to politicians, but ensuring market openness will do more good Eric Crampton writes – It’s fair to say that economists like competition. It’s also fair to say that when politicians start talking about competition, economists ought to get a little bit nervous.
When politicians campaign on competition, be very worried
Reviewing Covid experiences and policies
30 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, health and safety, health economics, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, macroeconomics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. What we do have is […]
Reviewing Covid experiences and policies
ANANISH CHAUDHURI: Oral submission on the Treaty Principles Bill
30 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, development economics, discrimination, economic history, growth disasters, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Presented Jan 30, 2025 Kia Ora. Morena. Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou Katoa. My name is Ananish Chaudhuri. I am Professor of Economics at the University of Auckland. My views are my own and not those of my employer. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak this morning.…
ANANISH CHAUDHURI: Oral submission on the Treaty Principles Bill
Settled at last
30 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, law and economics, property rights
Green on Green? Climate Activists Assault Sigourney Weaver with Confetti
29 Jan 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
I guess even climate activists like Sigourney Weaver aren’t safe from the green mob.
Green on Green? Climate Activists Assault Sigourney Weaver with Confetti
ELIZABETH RATA: Oral Presentation to the Parliamentary Justice Committee on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill
28 Jan 2025 1 Comment
in economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, racial discrimination
January 27, 2025 What is the best title given to any New Zealand legislation? My money is on the 1877 Education Act – ‘An Act to make Further Provision for the Education of the People of New Zealand’ – the People of New Zealand. So as early as the 1870s there’s the commitment to a…
ELIZABETH RATA: Oral Presentation to the Parliamentary Justice Committee on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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