“Progress” is a word that often generates both a lot of positive vibes, and also a lot of pushback? Progress toward what? At what cost? So it’s perhaps useful to specify that when I refer to “progress,” I’m referring to an overall movement toward good things of life: in no particular order, longer and healthier…
Is Progress Sustainable? Mokyr’s Nobel Lecture
Is Progress Sustainable? Mokyr’s Nobel Lecture
18 Jul 2026 1 Comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, macroeconomics
The political malaise over New Zealand’s low wage problem
15 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand
Among prosperous nations, New Zealand is relatively a low-income country. That hurts. In 2024, net national income per capita was 30% higher in Australia, according to the Paris-based OECD. It was only 19% higher on average over the four years to 2019.
The political malaise over New Zealand’s low wage problem
Germany Needs Milei-ism but Is Getting Romney-ism
13 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, macroeconomics Tags: Germany
In the past year, I’ve written about Germany’s fiscal deterioration and its costly fixation on net-zero environmentalism. As illustrated by the chart, these policies have contributed to malaise and economic stagnation (and were caused by – or contributed to – eroding societal capital). The good news is that Friedrich Merz, the country’s chancellor, wants economic […]
Germany Needs Milei-ism but Is Getting Romney-ism
Do falling birth rates boost per capita income?
06 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic growth, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics Tags: economics of fertility
The secular decline in birth rates across the globe over the past seven decades has slowed population growth, raised average ages, and reshaped labor markets and the macroeconomy. Contrary to the widespread expectation that these trends hamper economic growth, we find lower birth rates are associated with higher growth in GDP per working-age adult across…
Do falling birth rates boost per capita income?
Adrian Wooldridge on Sweden and liberalism
20 Jun 2026 1 Comment
in economic growth, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics Tags: Sweden
Sweden is continuing to reap the rewards of this mixture of fiscal rectitude and pro-market reforms. GDP is projected to grow by 1.8% to 1.9% this year; headline inflation stands at 1.5%; debt-to-GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world, at just above 35%. There are some flies in this ointment, of course:…
Adrian Wooldridge on Sweden and liberalism
A Nordic Nightmare for AOC
19 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
In 2015, I wrote a column entitled “A Nordic Nightmare for Bernie Sanders.” Today, let’s do something similar, but this time I’ll explain why economic data from northernmost Europe is bad news for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I’m motivated to address the issue because I just saw this tweet about how Scandinavian-Americans are much richer than their […]
A Nordic Nightmare for AOC
Piketty’s Eco-Marxist Utopia: Why Degrowth and Global Redistribution Will Trap the Poor in Poverty
13 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, fiscal policy, global warming, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism, regressive left
The world’s poor deserve better than another utopia designed for them by the globalist intelligentsia. They deserve cheap energy, open markets, secure property rights, and the freedom to industrialise on terms they choose for themselves. That is what worked in East Asia. It is what will work in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. And…
Piketty’s Eco-Marxist Utopia: Why Degrowth and Global Redistribution Will Trap the Poor in Poverty
Why Everything Feels More Expensive (hedonic adaptation)
12 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, economics of media and culture, macroeconomics
Middle-class Americans have more income than they did 50 years ago, but the squeeze is realBy Roland Fryer. He is a professor of economics at Harvard. Excerpts: “Before indicting the economy, consider what 50 years of growth actually delivered. The car in your driveway is far less likely to kill you than its 1975 counterpart—traffic fatalities…
Why Everything Feels More Expensive (hedonic adaptation)
Superannuation affordability options
09 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: ageing society, economics of immigration, population bust
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith at The Spinoff asked me what I thought the options might be for dealing with rising superannuation costs. Her story’s here, along with comment from Max Rashbrooke and Shamubeel Eaqub. My most-preferred option is ongoing increases in immigration rates, coupled with shifting to CPI-indexation of super benefits and indexing the age of eligibility to healthy…
Superannuation affordability options
Absurdity Alert: Writing About Germany’s Economic Decline Without Mentioning Green Energy Policies
02 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, macroeconomics, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Argentina, Germany
I was astounded in 2020 when I read an article in the New York Times about the economic catastrophe in Venezuela and there was not a single mention of socialism. And I was even more astounded in 2024 when the NYT published another article about Venezuela’s economic misery and once again didn’t mention socialism. Today’s […]
Absurdity Alert: Writing About Germany’s Economic Decline Without Mentioning Green Energy Policies
SEZs as policy trial areas
29 May 2026 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic growth, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, macroeconomics, property rights
A decade ago, I coauthored a report looking at how greater localism and subsidiarity could be achieved in a very centralised country where local councils have variable capabilities. We settled on policy trial areas. The basic gist was as follows. First, a community would pitch a policy trial area – a special economic zone – with different policy…
SEZs as policy trial areas
Europe’s War on Wealth
29 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, occupational choice, P.T. Bauer, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: European Union
Given the relative economic weakness that plagues most European nations (documented here, here, here, here, and here), a top priority for policy makers should be to improve incentives for wealth creation. But that assumes politicians care about the prosperity of citizens. Based on a new report from the European Commission, the answer is no. Instead of […]
Europe’s War on Wealth
Trade Deficit Illiteracy, Part III
28 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, economic growth, fiscal policy, history of economic thought, international economics, macroeconomics, politics - USA
Looking at Part I and Part II, and considering the focus of today’s column, this series should actually be entitled “Trade Deficit Literacy.” That’s because the material I cite explains that a trade deficit is merely the flip side of an investment surplus. And it is good that the United States is a magnet for […]
Trade Deficit Illiteracy, Part III
Blame Washington for the Great Depression, Part III
27 May 2026 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, great depression, history of economic thought, macroeconomics
To follow up on Part I and Part II in this series, let’s start with this Stossel video featuring Professor Don Boudreaux of George Mason University. The message is simple and accurate. Starting nearly 100 years ago, we got terrible statist policy from Herbert Hoover, followed by terrible statist policy from Franklin Roosevelt. No wonder […]
Blame Washington for the Great Depression, Part III
Schumpeter comes to Wellington
27 May 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
(And what we can learn from the Luddites) In 1987 Telecom New Zealand employed about 25,000 people. By 1997 it employed under 8,000. A single corporation shed 17,000 jobs in a decade, in a country of 3.3 million. The cost of Telecom’s long-distance calls fell by 60 per cent between 1987 and 1992. The decade that followed […]
Schumpeter comes to Wellington
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