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
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
The taxing problem of zombie and phoenix companies
04 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, fiscal policy, law and economics, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: Germany
Eric Crampton writes – Damien Grant isn’t normally the one making the case that the government needs to take more in tax. The liquidator and libertarian-minded columnist at the Sunday Star Times more typically wants what libertarians generally want – a government that spends less and that can let each of us keep more of […]
The taxing problem of zombie and phoenix companies
Who Won the Socialist Calculation Debate (with Peter Boettke) 2/17/25
29 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of information, entrepreneurship, F.A. Hayek, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, Ludwig von Mises, market efficiency, property rights, survivor principle, Thomas Sowell
Greens against the rule of law
25 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: rule of law
The Greens announced: Today, the Greens are announcing that a Green Government will commit to revoking any consents or permits handed out under the fast-track process for coal, Hardrock gold and seabed mining. This is the Greens saying that they will revoke consents and permits that were legally granted. This is the sort of behaviour…
Greens against the rule of law
Argentine Rental Market Natural Experiment
24 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of regulation, growth disasters, history of economic thought, income redistribution, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, regulation, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: Argentina, rent control
One of Argentine President Milei’s radical reforms was to “take a chainsaw” to rent control laws. Argentina had had some of the most restrictive rent control regimes ever. All of that was abandoned almost over night. Many media outlets noted with glee that rents fell dramatically. Even most economists were surprised by how much supply…
Argentine Rental Market Natural Experiment
If this is employment law, the law needs to change
22 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, managerial economics, occupational choice, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law
Eric Crampton writes – Yesterday [November 17], the Supreme Court ruled that Uber did not merely facilitate connections between four drivers and their various passengers – as Uber has maintained. And that the four drivers were not contractors for Uber either. Instead, those drivers were Uber employees while logged into the app.
If this is employment law, the law needs to change
Triggernometry debates sex with Neil deGrasse Tyson
18 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, gender, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Here we have the Triggernometry duo (Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster) questioning astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about his views on gender (the full interview is here). Tyson seems quite agitated, loud, and even patronizing, but largely misses the points that gender-critical people are making. For example, he begins with his infamous argument that sex (or gender; he…
Triggernometry debates sex with Neil deGrasse Tyson
COP30 Dispute Erupts over the Legal Definition of a Woman
14 Nov 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of climate change, economics of natural disasters, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, gender, global warming, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, property rights
One of the goals of the COP30 climate conference is helping women allegedly affected by climate change.
COP30 Dispute Erupts over the Legal Definition of a Woman
Don Brash’s Oxford Union speech
11 Nov 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: economics of colonialism
The House believes that the Sun should never have set on the British Empire Don Brash says – Mr/Madame President, I speak in opposition to the motion. But I also want to acknowledge at the outset that the British Empire did more good things for more people than any other empire in human history.
Don Brash’s Oxford Union speech
Supreme Court Issues Major Opinion on Transgender Identity and the Trump Passport Policy
09 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
In a significant win for the Trump Administration, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion on Thursday afternoon on the Trump Administration’s requirement that passport holders use their sex assigned at birth and that such requirements do not violate equal protection guarantees. While a brief, unsigned opinion issued on the interim docket, it represents […]
Supreme Court Issues Major Opinion on Transgender Identity and the Trump Passport Policy
An Economist’s Case for Liberty | David Friedman
07 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, David Friedman, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, income redistribution, law and economics, libertarianism, market efficiency, Milton Friedman, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking
Does the state need to own houses to help families?
01 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, industrial organisation, law and economics, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics Tags: public housing, state ownership
A good report from the NZ Initiative that looks at whether ownership of state houses is the best way to help low income NZ families with housing. Some key extracts: That $29,000 per unit estimated cost is not the cost of income related rents – they are the same regardless of whether the state or […]
Does the state need to own houses to help families?
Erasing the Duke of York: The Roll of the Peerage and the limits of removal
31 Oct 2025 1 Comment
in law and economics, property rights Tags: British constitutional law
Buckingham Palace today announced that the King has “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.” The style of Royal Highness, the title of prince, and his appointments to the various chivalric orders can be revoked under the royal prerogative without too much difficulty,[1] but Andrew’s peerages are another […]
Erasing the Duke of York: The Roll of the Peerage and the limits of removal
Devolution and Development
18 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of regulation, labour economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, urban economics Tags: Canada
An interesting research note from Eric Crampton and at the NZ Initiative on the benefits of devolution on development. It details how Canadian First Nations have transformed their economic fortunes and have built thousands of new homes after gaining powers for planning, zoning, tax, and infrastructure finance. A couple of examples: The Squamish Nation’s 6,000-apartment […]
Devolution and Development
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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