Chris Bishop has announced changes to housing laws which will make a huge difference to housing affordability. Almost every expert has said that to reduce pressure on house prices you need to both build up and build out. The NIMBYs oppose building up and the Greenies opposes building out. Phil Rayford in 2017 had some […]
Finally a great housing package
Finally a great housing package
05 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Hayley Hooper: Historical Origins of the ‘Principle of Legality’ in British Public Law
30 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: British constitutional law
In 2021 the then Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC MP cited the principle of legality as an example of an aspect of public law that might ‘take on a life of [its] own, and lead to the courts overreaching.’ In the simplest terms, the principle of legality is a common law rule of statutory interpretation […]
Hayley Hooper: Historical Origins of the ‘Principle of Legality’ in British Public Law
What does RN stand for in the pending French election?
28 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Public Choice Tags: France
The RN intends to move ahead with a proposed law that states as its aim “to combat Islamist ideologies”. It includes measures to make it easier to close mosques and deport imams deemed to be radicalised, and a ban on clothing that “constitute in themselves an unequivocal and ostentatious affirmation” of Islamist ideology. Bardella said […]
What does RN stand for in the pending French election?
Do not stifle supply and then subsidize demand
25 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: offsetting behavior, unintended consequences
That phrasing comes from Arnold Kling, right? It is also the topic of my latest Bloomberg column. Here is one bit: Unfortunately, the US already was setting a bad example for the British. Recent plans from the Biden administration called for a broadly similar approach to housing policy, namely subsidizing demand. Earlier this year, Biden called for […]
Do not stifle supply and then subsidize demand
Guest Post: Funding Infrastructure
24 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics
A guest post by Gary Lindsay responding to the speech by Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop: Chris Bishop’s speech regarding infrastructure has been a long time coming. It’s great that a government is finally serious about the massive infrastructure deficit that has been building since the major (necessary) cuts in 1984. Correcting a 40 year infrastructure […]
Guest Post: Funding Infrastructure
Murphy’s Law of Economic Policy
21 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, Public Choice, public economics
Economists have the least influence on policy where they know the most and are most agreed; they have the most influence on policy where they know the least and disagree most vehemently.” I’d never heard of it before and it’s quoted in this review of a book called “Free Lunch Thinking – How Economics Ruins […]
Murphy’s Law of Economic Policy
Caught out! The NZ Initiative’s Article in the Herald Blaming the RBNZ for our Rip-Off Big Banks is Contradicted by its Own Expert Witness. (Willis Beware).
12 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, business cycles, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, financial economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
When it comes to the question of how best to avoid a banking collapse and multi-billion dollar bailout that can drag a whole nation into depression, the best solution, according to Chicago-Stanford economist, John Cochrane, is to require banks to set aside a fraction of their own funds as reserves to cover losses they may…
Caught out! The NZ Initiative’s Article in the Herald Blaming the RBNZ for our Rip-Off Big Banks is Contradicted by its Own Expert Witness. (Willis Beware).
Where did the Government get the law right and wrong with the Covid-19 response?
10 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of natural disasters, economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
For those who are interested in public law, a very interesting paper by Dean Knight summarising the various court cases over the Covid-19 response. It details in which areas the Government won judicial reviews, and in which areas they lost. The TLDR version is: Hopefully we will not go through another pandemic anytime soon.
Where did the Government get the law right and wrong with the Covid-19 response?
On electing gangsters
10 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, law and economics, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: economics of corruption, India
In India it’s common for politicians to have criminal cases against them. Why do voters vote for criminals? One compelling explanation provided by political scientist Milan Vaishnav is that voters often care less about their represntative’s ability to deliver broad-based development or draft good laws, and more about the effectiveness at helping them access limited […]
Haan, goonda hai, magar hamara goonda hai
Did the British Empire REALLY Drive the Industrial Revolution? IEA Debates
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Discovery, age of empires, economics of colonialism
A Primer on Marginal Tax Rates, Part IV: The Combined Burden of Levies on Income, Payroll, and Consumption
02 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
When I think of the world’s most mistreated taxpayers, a few options come to mind. Cam Newton, the quarterback who faced a marginal tax rate of nearly 200 percent on his Super Bowl bonus. The 8,000 French households who had to surrender more than 100 percent of their income in 2012. The unfortunate Spanish laborer […]
A Primer on Marginal Tax Rates, Part IV: The Combined Burden of Levies on Income, Payroll, and Consumption
“Democracy is on the Ballot”: California Democrats Seek to Prevent Voters from Approving New Taxes
01 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, income redistribution, law and economics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: constitutional law
“Democracy is on the ballot.” That mantra of President Joe Biden and other democrats has suggested that “this may be our last election” if the Republicans win in 2024. A few of us have noted that the Democrats seem more keen on claiming the mantle of the defenders of democracy than actually practicing. Democrats have […]
“Democracy is on the Ballot”: California Democrats Seek to Prevent Voters from Approving New Taxes
Karen Chhour Skewers The Maori Party
31 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, income redistribution, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: child abuse, child poverty, crime and punishment, family poverty, law and order
Article is by Chris Lynch and I have pinched this one from The BFD Blog. `ĀCT MP Karen Chhour has responded to the Maori Party’s “divisive outbursts.” Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said yesterday, ‘It’s now time for us to step comfortably into our rangatiratanga and to not give too much to this Pakeha Government with their […]
Karen Chhour Skewers The Maori Party
The Huge Potential Benefits of Charter Schools
30 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, managerial economics, organisational economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
Alwyn Poole writes – In New Zealand we have approximately 460 high schools. The gaps between the schools that produce the best results for students and those at the other end of the spectrum are enormous. In terms of the data for their leavers, the top 30 schools have an average of 87% of their […]
The Huge Potential Benefits of Charter Schools
India, Dependency, and the 17th Theorem of Government
28 May 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, financial economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: India
I released my First Theorem of Government in 2015 and today I’m going to unveil the 17th iteration in the series. But I’ll confess upfront that I’m doing a bit of recycling. My latest Theorem is very similar to something I shared back in 2014. I decided to upgrade my 2014 column to a Theorem […]
India, Dependency, and the 17th Theorem of Government
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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