Oliver Hartwich writes – The World Justice Project ranks New Zealand 7th out of 142 countries on its ‘Rule of Law Index’, narrowly ahead of Australia’s 13th place. However, Australia still has hope – if only because of a recent decision by the Supreme Court of New Zealand. The case is easily told. Mike Smith, […]
OLIVER HARTWICH: Absurd – NZ courts can now decide on climate change
OLIVER HARTWICH: Absurd – NZ courts can now decide on climate change
17 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, liberalism, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: climate activists, rule of law
Supreme Court Unanimously Throws Out Bridgegate Convictions — And Rejects Prior Legal Arguments Against Trump
17 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice
The Supreme Court today unanimously threw out the convictions of Bridget Kelly, a former aide to Christie, and Bill Baroni, a former Port Authority official, for their role in “Bridgegate.” The dispute involved the controversial closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge to create traffic problems for the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., who […]
Supreme Court Unanimously Throws Out Bridgegate Convictions — And Rejects Prior Legal Arguments Against Trump
Orsted’s Financial Collapse Spells Armageddon For US Offshore Wind Industry
17 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: celebrity technologies, wind power
When the most heavily subsidised industry on earth can’t make it pay, you know the economics must really stink. Denmark’s Ørsted share price plummeted 25% late last year, and after slashing dividends to shareholders was forced to write $billions off the projected value of its US offshore projects, and its share price is still heading south. Exhibiting […]
Orsted’s Financial Collapse Spells Armageddon For US Offshore Wind Industry
Mihi Forbes and the great Atlas conspiracy
16 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, television Tags: conspiracy theorists
Graham Adams writes — Last week, Mihingarangi Forbes made an extraordinary claim while interviewing David Seymour on Mata Reports, a taxpayer-funded current affairs programme which, she says, looks at events through an “indigenous lens”. She asked him about Act’s links to the Atlas Network, which fosters connections between centre-right think tanks around the world. When […]
Mihi Forbes and the great Atlas conspiracy
Glenn Loury (and, to some extent, John McWhorter) backpedal about the death of George Floyd
15 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, movies, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, law and order, racial discrimination
The death of George Floyd, and his presumed murder by Derek Chauvin with the complicity of several Minneapolis policemen, was an iconic moment in today’s race relations, the most important event leading to the “racial reckoning” of the last few years. In late December of last year, I posted a movie, “The Fall of Minneapolis” […]
Glenn Loury (and, to some extent, John McWhorter) backpedal about the death of George Floyd
Critic of “Woke Kindergarten” suspended
15 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Remember “Woke Kindergarten”, a lesson plan for teachers to use in instructing propagandizing students in Hayward, California (see posts here and here)? The program was designed by an extreme “progressive” named Akiea “Ki” Gross, who was given $250,000 in taxpayer money by the school. And, lo and behold, performance in English and math actually dropped […]
Critic of “Woke Kindergarten” suspended
Congress and Courts enable Energy and Climate Fantasy and Tyranny
15 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Supreme Court should end “Chevron deference” to restore checks, balances and reality
Congress and Courts enable Energy and Climate Fantasy and Tyranny
The California Energy Scam: Newsom’s Actions Of “Leaking” Emissions To Poorer Developing Countries.
14 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: California, climate alarmism
By “leaking” emissions to other countries, California successfully reduces its in-state emissions, but effectively induces net increases to the world’s emissions!
The California Energy Scam: Newsom’s Actions Of “Leaking” Emissions To Poorer Developing Countries.
Weaponizing ‘The Science’
14 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
Pielke Jr. argues like this: “The notion of consensus-as-truth has been operationalized in various forms: journalistic “fact checkers,” academic “misinformation” researchers, and content moderation on social media platforms. The practical effect is the creation of self-appointed arbiters of truth — journalists, academics, social media platforms, and even governments — who render judgments on acceptable and unacceptable speech according to conformance with an acceptable view.”
Weaponizing ‘The Science’
Chris Trotter’s brain hasn’t melted
13 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
After the 2017 election, the brains of some folks on the NZ right seemed to melt. They imagined that Ardern was controlled by Davos, or the World Economic Forum, or the International Socialist Youth of which she had been President, or Soros. It was all just stupid. Labour had won the election, there were no conspiracies,…
Chris Trotter’s brain hasn’t melted
“Punishment” for protestors who break University of Chicago regulations: a light tap on the wrist at best
13 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, laws of war, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
A while back, 26 pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Chicago, along with two faculty members, were arrested and booked for holding an illegal sit-in in the admissions office. Later on, the city of Chicago dropped the charges of criminal trespass (I don’t know why this happened), and up to now I haven’t been able […]
“Punishment” for protestors who break University of Chicago regulations: a light tap on the wrist at best
Changes in Political Ideology by Occupation
13 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: regressive left
And in just twenty years too. The following graph is terrifying – unless you love the idea of a de-facto One Party State, which the Left does.
Changes in Political Ideology by Occupation
The U.S. follows New Zealand: let’s teach indigenous “ways of knowing” in the science classroom!
13 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The virus that has long infected New Zealand—the argument that indigenous “ways of knowing” should be taught alongside science in the science classroom—has now spread to America, with the help of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and its flagship journal, Science, often regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious venues. […]
The U.S. follows New Zealand: let’s teach indigenous “ways of knowing” in the science classroom!
Jon Haidt goes after DEI
13 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of education, economics of media and culture, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
A lot of academics who haven’t previously gone after DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives are coming out of the woodwork to criticize the philosophy and actions of DEI. New critics include Steve Pinker, who, in his Boston Globe article on how to fix the problems of Harvard, included “Disempowering DEI” as one of the […]
Jon Haidt goes after DEI
BRIAN EASTON: Te Tiriti as a social contract
12 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, regressive left
Interpreting the agreement made at Waitangi as a social contract is a way to move forward on treaty issues (This column follows ‘Our Understandings Of Te Tiriti Has Evolved Organically’.) Brian Easton writes – Te Tiriti is in the form of a social contract of the sort that political theorists have discussed since the seventeenth […]
BRIAN EASTON: Te Tiriti as a social contract
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