Germany has suffered a “spectacular” drop in electric car sales as the European Union faces growing calls to delay its net zero vehicle targets.
EV Sales Collapse in Germany
EV Sales Collapse in Germany
21 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, transport economics Tags: electric cars
Pierson on Wellington cycleways
20 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: celebrity technologies, cycleways
Lukje Pierson writes: A few weeks back, Wellington City Council published a story summarising what thousands of us think of its priorities for the next decade. Buried on page 40, you’ll find what Wellingtonians really think of the council’s controversial new cycleways. It turns out just 30% of us are happy, while 60% want to […]
Pierson on Wellington cycleways
Why Don’t We Have Flying Cars?
14 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, transport economics
In the 1970s the general aviation aircraft industry was selling 15,000 or more aircraft a year but that number fell by a factor of about 10 in the early 1980s. What happened? One factor was a massive increase in tort liability as discussed in my paper with Eric Helland, Product Liability and Moral Hazard: Evidence […]
Why Don’t We Have Flying Cars?
The End of the ISS is Coming but Why and What Will Replace it?
12 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in transport economics Tags: space
Please legalise new supermarkets
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, environmental economics, politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: land supply, zoning
Jaw-dropping bit from the Grocery Regulator, in interview at Interest.co.nz:“What we’ve been told by these players is when they come and they want to open up a large store in New Zealand, the cost to get a spade in the ground is double that of Australia,” he says in a new episode of the Of…
Please legalise new supermarkets
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
From the comments, on moving to the suburbs
07 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA, transport economics, urban economics
As Ed Banfield observed, the flight to the suburbs pre-dated the car because people prefer cheaper housing and more space: “The first elevated steam railroads were in New York in the 1870s, and twenty years later every sizable city had an electric trolley system. Railroads and trolleys enabled more people to commute and to commute […]
From the comments, on moving to the suburbs
Top notch DomPost op-ed #OTD on bloody cyclists
07 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in environmentalism, politics - New Zealand, transport economics
Volvo ditches electric car plans
06 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, transport economics Tags: electric cars
By Paul Homewood h/t Philip Bratby Volvo has ditched plans to sell only electric cars by 2030 amid waning demand for battery powered vehicles. The Swedish carmaker blamed the move on changing market conditions, amid fears many of the public continue to prefer petrol and diesel models. It comes as major […]
Volvo ditches electric car plans
Petrol cars ‘rationed to meet eco targets’
04 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, transport economics Tags: British politics, unintended consequences
By Paul Homewood h/t Doug Brodie I predicted this would happen: Car makers are rationing sales of petrol and hybrid vehicles in Britain to avoid hefty net zero fines, according to one of the country’s biggest dealership chains. Robert Forrester, chief executive of Vertu Motors, said manufacturers were delaying deliveries of cars […]
Petrol cars ‘rationed to meet eco targets’
Lets switch sides!!-Dagen H: Sweden’s Historic Switch to Right-Hand Traffic
03 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, transport economics Tags: Sweden
“Dagen H,” or “H Day,” stands for “Högertrafikomläggningen” in Swedish, meaning “The right-hand traffic diversion.” This term refers to one of the most significant and carefully planned transportation changes in Sweden’s history: the switch from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right. On September 3, 1967, Sweden made this monumental change, […]
Lets switch sides!!-Dagen H: Sweden’s Historic Switch to Right-Hand Traffic
Don’t Invest in a Light-Rail Boondoggle
12 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, politics - USA, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics
Last week, I observed that “Transit’s failure to recover from the pandemic is due largely to its downtown-centric orientation in most urban areas.” An op-ed in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun makes a similar point about the planned Red Line light-rail project for that city. “The problem with Baltimore transit is not … Continue reading →
Don’t Invest in a Light-Rail Boondoggle
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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