Radio NZ reports: Auckland Councillors have voted not to proceed with a six-month trial of fortnightly kerbside rubbish collections in parts of the city, after considering public feedback. The proposed trial would’ve halved the number of kerbside collections in Te Atatū, Panmure, Tāmaki, Clendon Park and Weymouth, with the intention of reducing waste to landfill.…
Why not leave rubbish collection to the private sector?
Why not leave rubbish collection to the private sector?
31 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, environmental economics, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, Public Choice, urban economics
Is house flipping a perfectly competitive industry?
30 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, urban economics
One of the characteristics of perfect competition is free entry. If firms make an above average rate of return, new firms will enter. This increase in supply will lower price and the rate of return starts to fall. This might be happening in house flipping.See Why It’s a Tough Time for House-Flippers by Lori Ioannou of…
Is house flipping a perfectly competitive industry?
New York Unheated EV School Bus Horror
29 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of education, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA, transport economics, urban economics Tags: electric cars
Children’s fingers, toes and noses are so overrated…
New York Unheated EV School Bus Horror
Some Snapshots of Global Urbanization
26 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, population economics, urban economics
During the last half-century or so, one of the biggest changes in how humans live is the greater share of people around the world who live in cities. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs describes some pattern in its report on World Urbanization Prospects 2025: Summary of Results (November 2025). The report defines…
Some Snapshots of Global Urbanization
A tale of two cities and rent control
23 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, econometerics, economics of regulation, law and economics, market efficiency, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: rent control
WSJ: What the Twin Cities Tell Us About Fixing the Housing CrisisThe Natural Experiment: In 2022, St. Paul enacted one of the strictest rent-control regimes in the country. The ordinance capped annual rent increases at 3% for most apartments, even empty ones. It didn’t adjust for inflation. … Across the Mississippi River, Minneapolis steered clear of rent…
A tale of two cities and rent control
Rent Control Creates Ghost Apartments
22 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, urban economics Tags: rent control
Adam Lehodey writing at City Journal: In New York City, making a profit on real estate has become increasingly difficult. Rent-stabilization laws built on the mantra that “housing is a human right,” a dysfunctional housing court, and myriad other interventions have driven thousands of units off the market, giving rise to the phenomenon of New York’s “ghost…
Rent Control Creates Ghost Apartments
DON BRASH – RMA Reform: A step forward. But concerns for equal citizenship
18 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, regulation, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, racial discrimination, zoning
The following is written in Don’s capacity as trustee for Hobson’s Pledge: It is almost the end of 2025 and, as you may know, the Government has recently introduced to Parliament the two Bills it seeks to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) with. The Bills were pushed through first reading under urgency and have…
DON BRASH – RMA Reform: A step forward. But concerns for equal citizenship
Miliband Isolated as EU Prepares to Reverse Petrol Car Ban
16 Dec 2025 1 Comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, transport economics, urban economics Tags: British politics, electric cars
Ed Miliband has been left isolated over his Net Zero policies after the European Union dropped “indefinitely” a flagship pledge to ban sales of new petrol cars.
Miliband Isolated as EU Prepares to Reverse Petrol Car Ban
Demographic Decline, Part I: Baby Subsidies Are an Ineffective Response
15 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, fiscal policy, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, population economics, urban economics Tags: ageing society, population bust
I have a five-part series (here, here, here, here, and here) explaining that demographic decline will lead to fiscal crisis. The main takeaway is that entitlement programs are a ticking time bomb, and I castigate politicians who want to kick the can down the road (or make a bad situation even worse). This is a global problem, not merely an American problem, as […]
Demographic Decline, Part I: Baby Subsidies Are an Ineffective Response
New Zealand’s Planning Revolution: bye bye RMA
13 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Inside the reform that will change how New Zealand is built Ani O’Brien writes – If you’ve ever tried to build a deck, subdivide a section, or watched a major infrastructure project slowly suffocate in a decade of “consenting hell,” you already know the RMA is New Zealand’s great productivity killer. For over 30 years, […]
New Zealand’s Planning Revolution: bye bye RMA
Labour and Greens want unlimited rates increases
04 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics
Very pleased to see the Government commit to a law that will tie rates increases to a mixture of inflation and GDP. The era of local government being able to fund every pet project Councillors like is coming to an end. In future they will need to prioritise spending on core infrastructure and facilities. But…
Labour and Greens want unlimited rates increases
The terrible Supreme Court decision on Uber
28 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law
The Supreme Court has ruled that four Uber drivers are employees of Uber, despite written agreements they are contractors, not employees. The practical effect of this decision is terrible. Uber has been great for passengers. Not only can we hold drivers to account through ratings, we save a lot of money. An Uber to the…
The terrible Supreme Court decision on Uber
The Flaw at the Core of the Supreme Court’s Uber Decision
25 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: creative destruction, employment law
Roger Partridge writes – The Supreme Court’s Uber judgment (Rasier Operations BV v E Tū Inc [2025] NZSC 162) has delivered clarity of a sort. The Court dismissed Uber’s appeal, upholding the finding that the drivers involved in the proceedings are employees when logged into the Uber app. Yet the decision is deeply flawed. The Court […]
The Flaw at the Core of the Supreme Court’s Uber Decision
Argentine Rental Market Natural Experiment
24 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of regulation, growth disasters, history of economic thought, income redistribution, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, regulation, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: Argentina, rent control
One of Argentine President Milei’s radical reforms was to “take a chainsaw” to rent control laws. Argentina had had some of the most restrictive rent control regimes ever. All of that was abandoned almost over night. Many media outlets noted with glee that rents fell dramatically. Even most economists were surprised by how much supply…
Argentine Rental Market Natural Experiment
If this is employment law, the law needs to change
22 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, managerial economics, occupational choice, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law
Eric Crampton writes – Yesterday [November 17], the Supreme Court ruled that Uber did not merely facilitate connections between four drivers and their various passengers – as Uber has maintained. And that the four drivers were not contractors for Uber either. Instead, those drivers were Uber employees while logged into the app.
If this is employment law, the law needs to change
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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