There has been a fair bit of discussion over the Ocker court decision re Uber and their dishonest ways. In many countries, including Oz and New Zealand, Uber came in and set up illegal operations. In New Zealand they put anyone who wanted a go on their books. At that time New Zealand had rather […]
Uber
The RCT Agenda
12 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, econometerics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of information, economics of regulation, experimental economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, managerial economics, market efficiency, Marxist economics, occupational choice, organisational economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: The fatal conceit

Randomized Controlled Trials: Could you be any more scientific? The book I’m now writing, Unbeatable: The Brutally Honest Case for Free Markets, insists that the randomistas of the economics profession actually have a thinly-veiled political agenda. Namely: To get economists to humbly serve the demagogues that rule the world instead of bluntly challenging their unabated…
The RCT Agenda
Reading deal – rare media bouquet
11 Mar 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of media and culture, income redistribution, industrial organisation, law and economics, market efficiency, movies, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle, theory of the firm, urban economics Tags: Wellington
Both Matt Nippert of the NZ Herald and Tom Hunt of The Post deserve a bouquet for their analyses of the truly remarkable deal between the Wellington City Council (WCC) and the troubled American Cinema company Reading. For this who don’t know, Reading owns a large (more than 14, 000 square metres or 1.4 hectares) […]
Reading deal – rare media bouquet
TV layoffs not a threat to democracy
10 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, income redistribution, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: media bias
A few weeks ago I joined some contemporaries by abandoning the near sixty year habit of watching nightly TV news. I dropped it because I felt it did not give me real information that I had not acquired from other media sources, including some I pay for – The Economist, the NZ Herald, The Atlantic […]
TV layoffs not a threat to democracy
Sick Joke: Nothing ‘Green’ About California’s All Electric Vehicle Mandates
09 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, global warming, market efficiency, politics - USA, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: electric cars, solar power, wind power

There’s nothing wrong in theory about all-Electric Vehicles. But, if they really were a sensible substitute for petrol or diesel-powered vehicles, they’d already be jumping off the shelves. Except, for some strange reason, they aren’t. There’s plenty of irony attached to the all-EV cult: the world’s largest EV charging station is run entirely using diesel […]
Sick Joke: Nothing ‘Green’ About California’s All Electric Vehicle Mandates
ROBERT MacCULLOCH: Economics 101 explains why Newshub Bankrupted
02 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of information, economics of media and culture, industrial organisation, market efficiency, politics - New Zealand, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: creative destruction
Economics 101 explains why Newshub Bankrupted – it was the fault of its own journalists who should recognize they were the architects of their own demise. A thousand books and papers in economics and business strategy are about the topic of product differentiation – ensuring that what you sell is different from others in order…
ROBERT MacCULLOCH: Economics 101 explains why Newshub Bankrupted
What Economics Gets Wrong Today – David Friedman | Podcast EP 29
15 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, David Friedman, economic history, economics of crime, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, history of economic thought, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, market efficiency, Marxist economics, Milton Friedman, property rights
Walter Block on sex Discrimination
04 Jan 2022 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, economics of information, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, managerial economics, market efficiency, occupational choice, organisational economics, personnel economics, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap
How the Labor Market Adjusts to Technological Shocks (Lessons from Hoover Boot Camp) | Ch 3
26 Oct 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, health and safety, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, market efficiency, minimum wage, occupational choice, occupational regulation, personnel economics, poverty and inequality, survivor principle, unemployment
Essential Coase: Transaction Costs & Institutions
01 Oct 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, environmental economics, law and economics, market efficiency, property rights, Ronald Coase
Competition and Entrepreneurship | Israel Kirzner
09 Sep 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of information, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, Israel Kirzner, market efficiency, survivor principle Tags: entrepreneurial alertness
Harold Demsetz interview
19 Jul 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, market efficiency, property rights, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: competition law, Harold Demsetz
Luke Froeb The One Lesson of Business
26 Jun 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, personnel economics, survivor principle
A Quarter Century of ‘The Proper Scope of Government’: Theory and Applications | Oliver Hart
09 Jun 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Armen Alchian, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, entrepreneurship, financial economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, Ronald Coase, survivor principle, theory of the firm, transport economics, urban economics
How do you align the incentives of sea captains transporting criminals to Australia with those of the public?
06 Jun 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Armen Alchian, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, financial economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, personnel economics, property rights, Ronald Coase, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: adverse selection, asymmetric information, incentive compatibility, moral hazard
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