In a sane world, medicines and vaccines already approved by trustworthy overseas regulators would automatically be able to be used in New Zealand as well.New Zealand is not sane. But neither is anywhere else really on that standard. Other places are just faster than NZ in getting things approved, with more practicable pathways for expedited…
Monkeypox and Medsafe
Monkeypox and Medsafe
15 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: drug lags, economics of pandemics
The Santa Claus Election
15 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic growth, economics of education, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, health and safety, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics, unions Tags: 2024 presidential election, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
For libertarians, this is a very depressing election (a feeling we tend to have every four years, so a familiar experience). What basically happens is that two politicians try to bribe us with our own money. This year, we have Kamala Harris, who was even worse than Bernie Sanders in the big-spender contest. And we […]
The Santa Claus Election
Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Right Answer.
14 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people is a good idea. Not…
Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Right Answer.
Farewell, my (hereditary) lords?
12 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics, Public Choice Tags: British politics, constitutional law
Last week, the Government unveiled legislation to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords. It’s a fairly straightforward bill that seeks to repeal section 2 of the House of Lords Act 1999, thereby making the exclusion of hereditary peers absolute rather than qualified. It also abolishes the Upper House’s jurisdiction over peerage […]
Farewell, my (hereditary) lords?
SHOWDOWN: Willie Jackson vs David Seymour on the Treaty Principles Bill
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Uber messy
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law, Uber
Caught a fun phone call from an accountant after this week’s column over at the Dom Post (and Christchurch Press, etc) on the court’s decision in the Uber case.If Uber drivers are employees, rather than contractors, as the Court sees things, how will depreciation on their cars be handled? Contractors can count all those expenses…
Uber messy
Rent controls make many tenants worse off in the Netherlands
10 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of regulation, income redistribution, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: rent control
Rent controls have created shortages of housing, every time and in every place that they have been tried. In the latest futile attempt to create working rent controls, the Netherlands has worsened its housing shortage. As Bloomberg reported recently (paywalled, but try this alternative link):Two years ago, Nine Moraal and her two children moved into a…
Rent controls make many tenants worse off in the Netherlands
Uber ruling – driving in the wrong direction
09 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, occupational regulation, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law, Uber
Dr Oliver Hartwich writes – Last week, an Uber driver surprised me in a conversation about the recent Court of Appeal decision classifying four Uber drivers as employees rather than contractors. My driver was blunt. He has no desire to be an employee. He values his flexibility to take breaks and drive when and where […]
Uber ruling – driving in the wrong direction
Recovering from New Zealand’s worst ever economic decision: The cancellation of the Kirk Government’s superannuation scheme
08 Sep 2024 1 Comment
in economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics
EEconomists wonder about the “New Zealand paradox”, which is that New Zealand under-performs economically given its policies, institutions, natural resources, educated people, and compliance with trade and other multi-lateral agreements. Our economic reforms from the mid-1980s and on were textbook economic theory and yet the real-world results disappointed. However, New Zealand has different policy settings […]
Recovering from New Zealand’s worst ever economic decision: The cancellation of the Kirk Government’s superannuation scheme
Friedman vs Stiglitz: Estonia and Poland vs. Argentina and Venezuela
06 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: Argentina, Chile, Poland, regressive left, Venezuela
About 10 days ago, i showed that Milton Friedman was a much better economist than Joseph Stiglitz by comparing Chile (which followed Friedman’s ideas) and Venezuela (which followed Stiglitz’s ideas). It was a slam-dunk win for Friedman. Chile started poor and has become relatively prosperous. The opposite happened in Venezuela, which started relatively prosperous and […]
Friedman vs Stiglitz: Estonia and Poland vs. Argentina and Venezuela
Interview with Greg Mankiw: New Keynesian Macro, Growth, and Economic Policy
04 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, development economics, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, Edward Prescott, fiscal policy, great depression, history of economic thought, labour economics, law and economics, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, monetarism, monetary economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, Robert E. Lucas, unemployment
Jon Hartley interviews Greg Mankiw on topics including New Keynesian macroeconomics, growth, and economic policy more broadly at his Capitalism and Freedom website (August 20, 2024, video and transcript available). Here are a few of the comments that caught my eye. On big models and small models in studying the macroeconomy: [O]n the issue of…
Interview with Greg Mankiw: New Keynesian Macro, Growth, and Economic Policy
Tackling the problem of electoral corruption: the 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act
02 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, Public Choice Tags: bribery and corruption, British history, British politics
Marking the anniversary of the passage of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act, Dr Kathryn Rix, assistant editor of the House of Commons, 1832-1945, begins a series of blog posts on this landmark reform by looking at the key changes made by the act and the motivations behind it. On 25 August 1883, the final day […]
Tackling the problem of electoral corruption: the 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act
Marx explained
01 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice
Why the @NZGreens are beside the point
31 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, technological progress Tags: child poverty, family poverty, The Great Enrichment
European Policies = European Stagnation
31 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, welfare reform Tags: Europe, social insurance
I’ve written many times about how Americans are much richer than Europeans. And I’ve also written many times that the U.S. economy has been growing faster (which shouldn’t happen according to convergence theory). There’s a simple reason for America’s superior performance. The U.S. is burdened by a medium-sized welfare state and a bad tax system […]
European Policies = European Stagnation
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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