The US semiquincentennial (that is, half of 500 years) will be July 4 of this year, but economists celebrated a 250th anniversary of their own on March 9, marking the original publication date of Adam Smith’s An Inquity into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. It’s of course fundamentally impossible to sum up…
The Wealth of Nations: What’s It all About?
The Wealth of Nations: What’s It all About?
20 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in Adam Smith, history of economic thought
Prime Ministers in the House of Lords
20 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in constitutional political economy, economic history, Public Choice Tags: British constitutional law, British history, British politics
The retirement of Lord Salisbury in 1902 marked the end of the last premiership undertaken from the House of Lords, but in the nineteenth century, more prime ministers led governments from the Lords than the Commons. In this article, Dr Kathryn Rix, of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project, explores the history and significance of…
Prime Ministers in the House of Lords
An outrageous legal complaint decision overturned
19 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
An Area Standards Committee of the Law Society fined Stephen Franks and Franks Ogilvy for, well being lawyers. They sent a letter on behalf of their client to health professionals involved in “gender affirming care”. The ASC found that they had “used a legal process for an improper purpose”, censured them and fined them. I…
An outrageous legal complaint decision overturned
The 1943 German law that denies justice to be done.
19 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: extradition, Nazi Germany, World War II
In 1943 a law was passed in Germany which gave all foreign Waffen SS members the German nationality by default. This law still prevents extradition of WWII War criminals to be extradited to their native countries, because these men have the German nationality , and Germany does not extradite it’s own citizens. These are just […]
The 1943 German law that denies justice to be done.
‘Ever-wrong Ehrlich’s’ Greatest Hits (er, misses)
18 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, environmentalism, growth disasters, growth miracles, labour economics, labour supply, population economics Tags: pessimism bias, population bomb, population bust
His famous 1968 book, “The Population Bomb,” changed the world. He famously predicted that human “overpopulation” would soon outstrip food supplies, leading to catastrophic famines, and societal collapse. He predicted that hundreds of millions of people would starve to death in the 1970s and 1980s, that India would be unable to feed its population by 1980, and…
‘Ever-wrong Ehrlich’s’ Greatest Hits (er, misses)
From Compromise to Closure: The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
18 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, law and economics Tags: British constitutional law, British politics
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has now completed its journey through Parliament. Although peers made several amendments to the bill, the Commons rejected most of them. In the end, the Lords chose not to insist on the rejected amendments by a voice vote, paving the way for Royal Assent. Once that happens, the […]
From Compromise to Closure: The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
The Māori Seats – History, Not Myth
18 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economic history, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
Professor Anaru Eketone claims the Māori electorates were a cynical device to suppress Māori political influence.(paywalled) The historical record suggests the opposite: the Māori seats were created to bring Māori into the parliamentary system and guarantee representation, rather than exclude them. By 1867, when the Māori Representation Act 1867(1) passed, Europeans outnumbered Māori roughly four to one. […]
The Māori Seats – History, Not Myth
The Great Enrichment
18 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles
103 ways for local government to save money
17 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics
The Taxpayer’s Union has done a report listing 103 ways local government can save money. Some of the more significant ones which I support are: The post 103 ways for local government to save money first appeared on Kiwiblog.
103 ways for local government to save money
Medical Council proposes striking off doctors who disagree with their political views
17 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, economics of regulation, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, occupational regulation, politics, politics - New Zealand
The Medical Council has proposed a statement on cultural competence that is basically a political litmus test. It is outrageous overreach, and an example of why Parliament needs to rein in all these regulatory bodies. No one would object to a statement that doctors must be respectful of all cultures and beliefs, while undertaking their…
Medical Council proposes striking off doctors who disagree with their political views
Quotation of the Day…
17 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply Tags: creative destruction, The Great Enrichment
Tweet… is from page 103 of Historical Impromptus, a 2020 collection of some of Deirdre McCloskey’s work on economic history; this quotation, specifically, is from McCloskey’s 2000 review, in the Minnesota Journal of Global Trade, of Thomas Friedman’s The Lexus and the Olive Tree and John Gray’s False Dawn [original emphasis]: Globalization encourages the capitalist…
Quotation of the Day…
COMESA, WhatsApp Business, and Antitrust in Search of a Theory
17 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, property rights Tags: competition law
Meta’s decision to limit third-party AI access to WhatsApp Business has quickly drawn antitrust scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCC) is the latest authority to open an investigation. But before the case can answer whether Meta’s conduct harms competition, a more basic question…
COMESA, WhatsApp Business, and Antitrust in Search of a Theory
Did Negative Interest Rates Work ?
16 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in business cycles, econometerics, economic growth, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, monetary economics Tags: monetary policy
When recessions hit, the US Federal Reserve lowers its target interest rate–the “federal funds interest rate.” This interest rate applies to extremely safe borrowing: essentially, to overnight borrowing by large and safe financial institutions. The idea is that by altering this ultra-safe interest rate, other riskier interest rates will also be under pressure to adjust,…
Did Negative Interest Rates Work ?
If Iran stopped exporting oil
16 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in business cycles, defence economics, economic growth, energy economics, industrial organisation, international economics, International law, macroeconomics, resource economics, war and peace Tags: Iran
By ChatGPT-5.2 If Iran’s oil exports alone stopped, the world would feel it, but it would probably be a serious price shock rather than an immediate global supply collapse. Iran has recently been exporting roughly 1.1–1.5 million barrels a day, close to its 2025 average of about 1.69 million barrels a day, with China buying more than 80% of those shipped […]
If Iran stopped exporting oil
Stagflation, Recession? Probably Not
16 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, energy economics, international economics, war and peace Tags: Iran
See Why the Oil Shock Probably Won’t Derail the Economy. And One Way It Might: The U.S. is a net petroleum exporter and productivity is improving, but the bigger risk is stubborn inflation by Greg Ip of The WSJ. Stagflation combines the words stagnation and inflation. If oil prices rise, supply shifts to the left because the…
Stagflation, Recession? Probably Not
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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