The Herald reports: Labour leader Chris Hipkins says he is open to discussing whether New Zealand’s superannuation should be means-tested. Hipkins told Newstalk ZB’s Kerre Woodham he would not want full means-testing of the country’s pension but added “there are questions”. “I don’t want to do this on a unilateral basis, I think these need to…
Chippie is brave and right
Chippie is brave and right
06 May 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: ageing society
“Baseless and Insulting”: Three Justices Chastise Jackson for a “Groundless and Utterly Irresponsible” Claims Over the Finalizing of the Voting Rights Opinion
06 May 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: constitutional law
Since her appointment by President Joe Biden, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has quickly developed a radical and chilling…
“Baseless and Insulting”: Three Justices Chastise Jackson for a “Groundless and Utterly Irresponsible” Claims Over the Finalizing of the Voting Rights Opinion
“Get Rid of the Department of Climate Change”: Aussie One Nation’s Condition for a Future Coalition Government Deal
05 May 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - Australia
One Nation, which is riding high in national polls, has laid out a hard condition for supporting any future right wing Aussie coalition government. The post “Get Rid of the Department of Climate Change”: Aussie One Nation’s Condition for a Future Coalition Government Deal appeared first on Watts Up With That?.
“Get Rid of the Department of Climate Change”: Aussie One Nation’s Condition for a Future Coalition Government Deal
Pay us off or we’ll oppose it
04 May 2026 Leave a comment
ACT released last week: “An iwi group’s alleged demand for $180 million in order to approve the Bendigo Santana gold mine exposes how New Zealand’s resource management system has been warped by standover tactics and backroom dealing,” says ACT Resources spokesman Simon Court. Kā Rūnaka say extracting $180 million from Santana has not been their…
Pay us off or we’ll oppose it
The UK elections – how bad will Labour do
03 May 2026 Leave a comment
in politics, Public Choice Tags: British politics
On 7 May, there will be elections in Scotland, Wales and much of England. Up will be: The latest poll projections have Labour losing around 1,700 of their 2,200 councillors with the gains being Reform +1,450, Greens +900, Lib Dems +330. Losing 80% of your seats is terrible. In the Welsh Senedd, Labour have 30…
The UK elections – how bad will Labour do
Soper on Ardern
02 May 2026 Leave a comment
Audrey Young writes: There is one verdict that stands out among others, however, his scathing assessment of Dame Jacinda Ardern. He even weaponises her self-deprecating admission that she suffered from “imposter syndrome” against her. “She talked a number of occasions about an imposter syndrome, and I think she genuinely felt that because I thought she was…
Soper on Ardern
Medsafe Delenda Est
01 May 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: drug lags
Excellent news out of the UK. Abrysvo, a vaccine for RSV administered to pregnant women, reduces infant hospitalisation by 80%. From the BBC:A vaccine during pregnancy which protects newborns against nasty chest infections is cutting hospital admissions of babies by more than 80%, UK health officials say.A virus, called RSV, affects many babies in the first…
Medsafe Delenda Est
This may come as no surprise
30 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: black markets
RNZ reports:An RNZ investigation into the tobacco blackmarket found packs of cigarettes and loose tobacco being sold brazenly over the counter at heavily discounted prices.By law, cigarettes have to include pictures and health warnings covering at least 75-percent of the front of the packs. But the cigarettes being sold on the blackmarket are a throw…
This may come as no surprise
Shell Speech: Why the Second Comey Indictment is Likely to Fail
29 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech
Below is my column on Fox.com on the second indictment of former FBI director James Comey. Despite being one of…
Shell Speech: Why the Second Comey Indictment is Likely to Fail
The wrestling cartoonist with a vituperative vocabulary who has passed muster with the Greens
29 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, politics - USA
Bob Edlin writes – PoO was steered by David Farrar, on Kiwiblog, to the Green Party’s selection of a Samoan cartoonist as its candidate for the seat of Mangere in the General Election this year. But neither the candidate’s ethnicity, nor his profession, prompted Farrar’s expression of concern in an article on Kiwiblog headed … […]
The wrestling cartoonist with a vituperative vocabulary who has passed muster with the Greens
Unreported for nearly a year: media misconduct in Parliament
29 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, politics - New Zealand Tags: media bias
Inside the Press Gallery: power, silence, and the accountability gap in New Zealand media On the evening of 13 May 2025, Finance Minister Nicola Willis hosted a pre-Budget drinks event in her parliamentary office. The event appears, in official records, as “EVENT: Press Gallery… Parliament… Invited Guests” at 6pm in her ministerial diary. It was intended to […]
Unreported for nearly a year: media misconduct in Parliament
New Zealand’s alienated 28%
28 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
A new report on social cohesion was released on Thursday. The survey results in it are far from boring or inconsequential. Amongst screeds of important data, two big numbers stand out: 28% of New Zealanders are now in what the report calls the “alienated” camp of politics, and 44% of New Zealanders think the political […]
New Zealand’s alienated 28%
Winston Peters and the art of keeping National on the defensive
25 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
Labour’s decision to support the free trade agreement with India should have surprised nobody. It was always going to be the outcome, with the outstanding question being just when Labour would announce its support for the deal. As this column noted in early February, from the outset Labour has been effectively over a barrel on […]
Winston Peters and the art of keeping National on the defensive
The Washington Post vs Elizabeth Warren
25 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of media and culture, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
People sometimes will get excited about big-picture tax fights – whether politicians should raise taxes, whether they should add a VAT, or whether they should scrap the IRS for a flat tax. On the other had, there are a handful of tax issues that induce drowsiness but are nonetheless very important for purposes of tax […]
The Washington Post vs Elizabeth Warren
Misuse of HDCA
24 Apr 2026 1 Comment
in politics - New Zealand, law and economics, economics of crime Tags: crime and punishment, free speech
Shayne Currie reports: One of New Zealand’s biggest news organisations is appealing a precedent-setting court decision, in which a man convicted of assaulting his partner convinced a judge that an online news article about him and the attack should be removed. The district court judge agreed the man, who did not receive name suppression at…
Misuse of HDCA
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