Chris Bishop announced: “I have agreed with the Council’s alternative recommendations in nine instances, relating to development around Adelaide Road, the walkable catchment around the City Centre Zone (including Hay St), character precincts, building heights and controls on the interface of the City Centre Zone and Moir and Hania Street, setbacks for 1-3 residential units, […]
Bish delivers for Wellington
Bish delivers for Wellington
13 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, environmental economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Occasional Wind & Solar Generation Guarantee Staggering Backup Costs
13 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - Australia, technological progress Tags: wind power

Sunset kills solar output the same way calm weather renders wind turbines utterly useless. Around the world $trillions have been squandered on occasional power generation which is always and everywhere dependent on sunshine and/or the weather. In the beginning, there was a perfectly functional power supply with reliable generators connected by a systematically designed grid […]
Occasional Wind & Solar Generation Guarantee Staggering Backup Costs
The New York Times Denounces Cancel Culture . . . After Fueling Cancel Culture for Years
12 May 2024 1 Comment
in economics of education, economics of information, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left

For those of us who have criticized the cancel culture in higher education for years, the attacks and shunning have unrelenting. The media has played a role in that culture and none more prominently than the New York Times. Recently, however, the mob came for liberal professors and media who have remained silent for years…
The New York Times Denounces Cancel Culture . . . After Fueling Cancel Culture for Years
Faking It: Why ‘Cheap’ Wind & Solar Power Claims Never Stack Up
12 May 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia Tags: solar power, wind power

Like any ideological cult, wind and solar acolytes bury troublesome facts and replace them with oodles of helpful fiction. Start with the supposed cost of the electricity occasionally generated by wind turbines and solar panels. The usual trick is to invent some model said to capture the unique benefits of running on sunshine and breezes. […]
Faking It: Why ‘Cheap’ Wind & Solar Power Claims Never Stack Up
Some three strikes data
11 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
1st strikers 2nd strikers This data comes from someone who has OIAd this data. The Government’s proposed new law will see 55% of violent or sexual offenders not get a first strike and 31% of what would have been second strikers not get a second strike. Arguably it could even see 75% of first strikers and 53% […]
Some three strikes data
The Thomas Analogy: Why Recusal Was More Compelling for Merchan in Manhattan
11 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election

There has been much talk about the decision of Judge Juan Merchan not to recuse himself from the Trump trial in Manhattan. I do believe that Merchan should have recused himself but I admit that this can be a difficult question. I wanted to address this question since it continues to be raised by the […]
The Thomas Analogy: Why Recusal Was More Compelling for Merchan in Manhattan
The Treasury and productivity
10 May 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand

Late last week The Treasury released a new 40 page report on “The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections” (productivity forecasts and projections that is, rather than any possible fiscal implications – the latter will, I guess, be articulated in the Budget documents). In short, if (as it has) productivity growth has slowed down […]
The Treasury and productivity
DON BRASH: Letter sent to the Vice Chancellor AUT
09 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The following was written on behalf of Hobson’s Pledge: Dear Vice Chancellor Damon Salesa, We are a group of New Zealanders whose primary objective is to fight for equality under the law and advance the vision Governor William Hobson expressed at Waitangi in 1840. He is said to have spoken the following words to each…
DON BRASH: Letter sent to the Vice Chancellor AUT
Stormy Daniels Day: Alvin Bragg Lights Dumpster Fire in Manhattan
09 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election

Below is my New York Post column on the unseemly scene in the courtroom of Judge Juan Merchan as prosecutors used porn star Stormy Daniels to present lurid details on her alleged tryst with former president Donald Trump. It was a dumpster fire that Judge Merchan watched burn for a full day and then said […]
Stormy Daniels Day: Alvin Bragg Lights Dumpster Fire in Manhattan
Dishonest Pimping for a Global Wealth-Tax Cartel
07 May 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, wealth tax

Everything you need to know about wealth taxation can be summarized in two sentences. The biggest problem with most tax systems is the pervasive tax bias against income that is saved and invested, which discourages the accumulation of capital that helps to finance future growth. Wealth taxes would dramatically increase the tax bias against saving […]
Dishonest Pimping for a Global Wealth-Tax Cartel
Why have the media ignored this outrageous speech?
07 May 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Read the whole tweet. A Member of Parliament got up in the House and said the Government (which has a Cabinet which is 35% Māori) wants to exterminate Māori. Has the media reported this, with the editorials decrying such nonsensical and abusive language? Imagine if an ACT MP said in the House that a Labour-led […]
Why have the media ignored this outrageous speech?
GARY JUDD KC: A law school to be avoided – Auckland University of Technology
07 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for law students,” written these enlightened words: What sort of lawyers will…
GARY JUDD KC: A law school to be avoided – Auckland University of Technology
A Disbarred, Serial Perjurer Walks into a Courtroom and Asks to Take an Oath . . . Seriously, No Joke
07 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election

C-Span/YouTube Screenshot Below is my column in The Hill on the expected appearance of Michael Cohen in the Manhattan trial of former president Donald Trump. It will be a scene that is both mesmerizing and repellent for many, particularly in the bar. Here is the column: A disbarred, serial perjurer walks into a courtroom and…
A Disbarred, Serial Perjurer Walks into a Courtroom and Asks to Take an Oath . . . Seriously, No Joke
Vic’s proposed speech suppression code
06 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The FSU reports: Last week, we were sent draft principles for what discourse Victoria University intends to allow on campus. … “We should not provide a platform for, nor invite, individuals or groups to speak on campus that have previously demonstrated or are expected to express hate speech as the current law defines…” So Vic […]
Vic’s proposed speech suppression code
Majority of Northwestern’s Anti-Semitism Task Force Members Resign Over Deal With Protesters
06 May 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, useful idiots, war against terror

The backlash over the settlement of Northwestern University with pro-Palestinian protesters continues to mount. In a letter acquired by The Daily Northwestern, seven out of 11 members of the “President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate” resigned this week in protest.
Majority of Northwestern’s Anti-Semitism Task Force Members Resign Over Deal With Protesters
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