Here is his comment on the paper presented here: Summary: The U.S. tax system is highly progressive. Effective tax rates increase from 2% for the bottom quintile of income to 45% for the top hundredth of one percent. But rates may be lower among those with the highest wealth. This comment starts with the “top 400” […]
David Splinter on how much tax billionaires pay
David Splinter on how much tax billionaires pay
30 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, entrepreneurship, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment
The Greens’ weekend gift to the government
19 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, wealth tax
Roger Partridge writes – The Greens’ coronation of Chlöe Swarbrick at last weekend’s AGM delivered a manifesto for economic transformation that would make Soviet economists nostalgic for their glory days.
The Greens’ weekend gift to the government
Milei’s Achievements…and Challenges
17 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in development economics, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, growth disasters, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, monetary economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, unemployment Tags: Argentina
I’m back in Argentina, the South American country with the world’s best leader. What Javier Milei has accomplished is amazing. And the economic effects have been wonderful. One of my meetings earlier this week was with Marcelo Elizondo, the head of the International Chamber of Commerce for Argentina. He shared a presentation with me that […]
Milei’s Achievements…and Challenges
Treasury states what we all knew
14 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, health economics, income redistribution, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: economics of pandemics
The Herald reports: A new Treasury paper has criticised the last Government for overspending during the pandemic, leaving the country with a high level of public debt that makes it vulnerable to future shocks. The paper calculated the total cost of the pandemic at about $66 billion. It put the total fiscal contribution to the […]
Treasury states what we all knew
GUEST POST: On the long-term costs of New Zealand Superannuation: more affordable now?
07 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: ageing society
A guest post by Michael Littlewood: As New Zealand’s population ages and, in particular, as the proportion of over-65s increases, the cost of New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) is rising. We know that and it doesn’t help us understand the issues to create headlines that catastrophise the expected costs. The pensions payable in the future, public […]
GUEST POST: On the long-term costs of New Zealand Superannuation: more affordable now?
Why the accommodation supplement does little to help low-income tenants
04 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, income redistribution, labour economics, Public Choice, welfare reform
In an article in The Conversation earlier this year, Edward Yiu and William Cheung (both University of Auckland) discuss New Zealand’s accommodation supplement for low-income renters:New Zealand’s unaffordable housing market has left many low and middle-income families reliant on the accommodation supplement to cover rent and mortgage payments.But our new research has found the scheme,…
Why the accommodation supplement does little to help low-income tenants
Mamdani’s unworkable proposal for NYC-owned grocery stores
31 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: economics of socialism, regressive left, rent control, useful idiots
Democrat Zohran Mamdani is likely to be the next mayor of NYC, as he proffered a number of campaign promises that delighted progressives young and old. (This is besides his pro-Palestinian stand on the Gaza war, which is irrelevant to his actions as NYC mayor but still delighted the benighted.) Here are a few of […]
Mamdani’s unworkable proposal for NYC-owned grocery stores
CA min wage goes up ==> CA employment declines
29 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking, unemployment Tags: California
The classic book, Economics in One Lesson reduces all of economics to a similar lesson:The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.The lesson of Chapter…
CA min wage goes up ==> CA employment declines
Horseshoe Theory: Trump and the Progressive Left
26 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, International law, labour economics, labour supply, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, regressive left, tarrifs
Many of Trump’s signature policies overlap with those of the American progressive left—e.g. tariffs, economic nationalism, immigration restrictions, deep distrust of elite institutions, and an eagerness to use the power of the state. Trump governs less like Reagan, more like Perón. As Ryan Bourne notes, this ideological convergence has led many on the progressive left […]
Horseshoe Theory: Trump and the Progressive Left
Stop the corporate welfare
22 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking
The Herald reports: More than half of the $257 million loan book held by the Government entity formerly known as the Provincial Growth Fund is considered to be at risk of impairment or default. The surge in at-risk loan advances made by Crown Regional Holdings (CRH) – a vehicle used by the Government to warehouse […]
Stop the corporate welfare
Making sense of the case for compensation in regulatory bill
21 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: takings
Eric Crampton writes – The Regulatory Standards Bill before Parliament provides no enforceable legal right to compensation for the cost of regulation. It only suggests that compensation can be warranted when regulation takes or impairs property. A sovereign Parliament remains free to ignore that advice, as is made abundantly clear in sections 24 through 26 […]
Making sense of the case for compensation in regulatory bill
The Timing of Abundance
18 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
In case you missed my *Build, Baby, Build* because of the 2024 election.
The Timing of Abundance
Govt fiscal constraints are the elephant in the pay equity room
11 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, fiscal policy, gender, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: gender wage gap, pay equity, sex discrimination
Michael Johnston writes – The way the government went about rolling back 33 pay equity claims lodged under the last government’s Pay Equity legislation was clumsy at best. The changes were made under urgency and applied retrospectively. It was not a good look. Predictable howls of rage and furious accusations ensued. Critics say the government […]
Govt fiscal constraints are the elephant in the pay equity room
Dr. Matthew Wielicki Torches the $7 Trillion Fossil Fuel Subsidy Myth
10 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, income redistribution, industrial organisation, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking
Let this article be Exhibit A in the case against climate policy by fiat. And remember: when someone tells you fossil fuels are living off your tax dollars, ask them to show the receipts. Odds are, they’re pointing to a spreadsheet full of make-believe.
Dr. Matthew Wielicki Torches the $7 Trillion Fossil Fuel Subsidy Myth
The gender wage gap uses bogus statistics | FACTUAL FEMINIST
02 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economics of regulation, gender, health and safety, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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