40 years ago New Zealand had a nationwide, coherent system of psychiatric hospitals – 8,000 psychiatric in-patient beds – each hospital fully staffed with psychiatrists, specialist psychiatric general practitioners, psychologists, trained psychiatric nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, etc. Then, according to The Encyclopedia of New Zealand: “In response to a mix of ideological and fiscal imperatives,…
ANDY ESPERSEN: Schizophrenic neglect must be addressed
ANDY ESPERSEN: Schizophrenic neglect must be addressed
24 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of mental illness
No, he wasn’t joshing when he played the “mana” card – and in the High Court it came up trumps with Justice Andrew
23 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction than non-Maori, if they draw a judge’s […]
No, he wasn’t joshing when he played the “mana” card – and in the High Court it came up trumps with Justice Andrew
Why conservatives like Trump
23 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
I am no fan of Trump. No amount of good policies can make up his manifest psychological flaws. I’d take a zombie Biden over a robust Trump anyday. But Trump has won the GOP nomination for President, and has a better than even chance of winning in November. This can be quite baffling to people […]
Why conservatives like Trump
ROGER PARTRIDGE: HOW TO REIN IN AN ACTIVIST SUPREME COURT
22 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, rule of law
My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament should not hesitate to take. But first a quick recap. The…
ROGER PARTRIDGE: HOW TO REIN IN AN ACTIVIST SUPREME COURT
Climate: The Movie
22 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, movies, politics - USA Tags: academic bias, climate alarmism
Martin Durkin’s Climate:The Movie is now released: Climate The Movie from Martin Durkin on Vimeo. This film exposes the climate alarm as an invented scare without any basis in science. It shows that mainstream studies and official data do not support the claim that we are witnessing an increase in extreme weather events – hurricanes, […]
Climate: The Movie
Another “Least Surprising Headline” for High Speed Rail
22 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, transport economics, urban economics
California voters made a terrible mistake back in 2008 when they narrowly approved a referendum for a $33 billion high-speed train between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Opponents said the project was a boondoggle and they made several predictions. It will wind up costing far more than advertised. It will take much longer to build […]
Another “Least Surprising Headline” for High Speed Rail
Do Me a Personal Favor: Please Pre-Order *Build, Baby, Build* Now
22 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: land supply, zoning
I started writing Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation, in the early weeks of Covid. Now, with the kind cooperation of the Cato Institute, my second non-fiction graphic novel releases on May 1, 2024. That’s less than six weeks away.The official coverPlease forgive my laughable arrogance, but I assure you that…
Do Me a Personal Favor: Please Pre-Order *Build, Baby, Build* Now
Nikole Hannah-Jones on reparations for descendants of slaves
21 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
As you know, I go back and forth on the question of affirmative action for college and professional-school admissions, and even after I thought I’d settled on a view (i.e., give some preference to minorities among those equally qualified for admission), it still keeps changing. After I read the long New York Times piece below […]
Nikole Hannah-Jones on reparations for descendants of slaves
Facebook Fact Checking
21 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia Tags: media bias
Sky News reports: The fact-checking director who oversees Mark Zuckerberg’s misinformation program on Facebook has been caught in secret emails colluding with a now disgraced operation which suppressed journalism during Australia’s Voice referendum. … RMIT FactLab was suspended from fact checking on Facebook after a Sky News Australia investigation in Augustfound the operation was filled with […]
Facebook Fact Checking
The cost of net zero
21 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - New Zealand Tags: climate alarmism
Emeritus Professor of Engineering Mike Kelly has published a paper estimating the costs to New Zealand to achieve net zero emissions. He says three major projects would need to be completed: And this has to be done within the next 26 years. The electricity sector would need to grow from 155 PJ to 425 PJ. […]
The cost of net zero
Aussie Renewable Investment Slumped 80% in 2023
20 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, global warming, politics - Australia Tags: wind power
Rooftop solar / battery installations were the exception. Perhaps Aussie households are preparing for the coming grid failure?
Aussie Renewable Investment Slumped 80% in 2023
Aussie Security Committee Madness: Spy Agency Chiefs Kicked Out, Replaced by Climate Head
20 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia, Public Choice Tags: climate alarmism
Imagine if the CIA and FBI were disinvited from the US National Security Council, and replaced by the head of the EPA. Because this is the grotesque level of government incompetence Aussies are enduring.
Aussie Security Committee Madness: Spy Agency Chiefs Kicked Out, Replaced by Climate Head
Elites’ Empty Climate Policies
20 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA
Randall G. Holcombe writes at Independent Institute President Biden’s Climate Aspirations. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images. H/T John Ray Most of what the political class calls policies are really aspirations with no policy content. They are feel-good statements that promote goals most people would support, with no associated policies that would […]
Elites’ Empty Climate Policies
GARY JUDD KC: On judicial imperialism
19 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights
Why judges must ‘stay in their lane’ This article with minor differences was published by The Law Association’s Law News on 15 March 2024 Provoked by the Supreme Court’s decision in Smith v Fonterra and others [2024] NZSC 5, Professor James Allan, Garrick Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, a Canadian who taught law at…
GARY JUDD KC: On judicial imperialism
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