The Nobel prize goes to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson for their work on institutions, prosperity, and economic growth. Here is a key piece summarizing their work: Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth. This paper develops the empirical and theoretical case that differences in economic institutions are the fundamental cause of […]
Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson Win Nobel Prize for Institutions and Prosperity
Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson Win Nobel Prize for Institutions and Prosperity
15 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
‘Taxpayer Talk’ | Simon Court joins Jordan Williams to talk RMA reform
14 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, resource economics, transport economics, urban economics Tags: zoning
Industrial Policy: The Triumph of Hope over Experience
13 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, income redistribution, industrial organisation, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle
Industrial policy is when politicians and bureaucrats use various combinations of tax, spending, and regulatory policies to steer the economy. In other words, they are putting their thumbs on the scale to pick winners and losers. It means replacing the “invisible hand” of the market with the “grabbing hand” of politics. I’m motivated to write […]
Industrial Policy: The Triumph of Hope over Experience
DON BRASH: WAS SOVEREIGNTY CEDED IN 1840?
11 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
I watched Tuesday night’s debate between David Seymour, Leader of the ACT Party, and Helmut Modlik, an iwi leader, with dismay. On the one hand, David Seymour argued with compelling logic the need to resolve once and for all whether New Zealanders enjoy equal political rights or whether, as Helmut Modlik argued, those with…
DON BRASH: WAS SOVEREIGNTY CEDED IN 1840?
Socialism in the 21st Century: A Regressive Ideology in Modern Times
10 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
Socialism, once hailed as a visionary and revolutionary alternative to capitalism, has deep roots in the progressive movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Advocating for state control of the means of production and a more equitable distribution of wealth, socialism aimed to correct the injustices of industrial capitalism. However, as we navigate the […]
Socialism in the 21st Century: A Regressive Ideology in Modern Times
Addressing the Housing Crisis
10 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: affordable housing, land supply, regressive left
Japan’s population is roughly equal to the five most-populous states of the U.S. — California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas — concentrated in a nation that has approximately the land area of Montana, which is only about a fourth as large as those five most-populous states. Moreover, well over … Continue reading →
Addressing the Housing Crisis
Labour’s Climate Sleaze
09 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, Public Choice Tags: British politics, climate activists
By Paul Homewood LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -Britain on Thursday named Oxford University professor Rachel Kyte as its new climate envoy and announced a new investment facility, the latest steps in the new government’s efforts to bolster Britain’s role in international climate politics. The appointment of Kyte, a climate policy professor, as the UK’s […]
Labour’s Climate Sleaze
Enhancing democracy – the case for a second chamber in New Zealand’s Parliament
04 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics
New Zealand did once have an upper house known as the Legislative Council. Is there are argument that it should be re-introduced? Philip Crump writes – New Zealand’s parliamentary system has long been admired for its democratic principles and progressive governance although it has increasingly come under strain and criticism over recent years. In […]
Enhancing democracy – the case for a second chamber in New Zealand’s Parliament
The collapse of Maori nationalism
03 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking
As with unionism, overreach will end iwi power push Graham Adams writes – One of former Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s most singular achievements during her tenure as premier was to push a majority of voters to the point of revulsion regarding race-based policy. Now the coalition government is orchestrating a swift counter-revolution, with […]
The collapse of Maori nationalism
Tangled Webs: How Crony Capitalists Built The Climate Industrial Complex
02 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, Public Choice, rentseeking, resource economics Tags: celebrity technologies, solar power, wind power
Crony capitalists come in all shapes and sizes, and so do their political enablers. The whole point of patronage, networking and gladhanding is obtaining benefits not available to anyone else. The only people that complain about a rort are those that aren’t in on it. The Climate Industrial Complex was built on will the back […]
Tangled Webs: How Crony Capitalists Built The Climate Industrial Complex
Inquiring into banking
02 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, financial economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: monetary policy competition law
Hard on the heels of the Commerce Commission’s inquiry into some aspects of banking competition, Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee is also holding an inquiry. Submissions weren’t open for very long and have now closed, but the full terms of reference are here. It is a select committee inquiry, so it is hard to be […]
Inquiring into banking
The 1837 Canadian Rebellions
30 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, Public Choice Tags: Canada
Debunking Hate-and-Envy Tax Policy
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, financial economics, fiscal policy, health and safety, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, macroeconomics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: envy, regressive left, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment
On tax policy, our friends on the left are motivated by envy and hatred. As shown in this Stossel video, Robert Reich is a sad example of this mindset. John Stossel understates his argument. It’s not that Reich is wrong. He’s wildly wrong. There are four points in the video that deserve attention. It is […]
Debunking Hate-and-Envy Tax Policy
After 30 years, there is hope
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, environmentalism, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Chris Bishop and Simon Court announced: Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in […]
After 30 years, there is hope
Should we keep the wealthy non-diversified? (from my email)
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: top 1%
Byrne Hobart writes to me: One of the purposes of inheritance taxes is to avoid compounding intergenerational wealth. But The Missing Billionaires points out that if all of America’s millionaires had put their money in broad market indices in 1900, their heirs would number 16,000 billionaires, even accounting for taxes, splitting estates among multiple children, etc. So […]
Should we keep the wealthy non-diversified? (from my email)
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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