The Herald reports: During her Budget presentation, Willis said that pay equity costs in 2020 were initially expected to reach $3.7b but there had since been a “blowout” with costs rising steeply, especially due to Labour’s 2022 decision to fund claims in the “funded sector”. The exact figure isn’t known, but as they have announced […]
The cost of Labour’s botched pay equity scheme
The cost of Labour’s botched pay equity scheme
23 May 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Econ 101 is Underrated: Pharma Price Controls
22 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, health economics, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: 2024 presidential election, patents and copyrights, price controls, price discrimination
Econ 101 is often dismissed as too simplistic. Yet recent events suggest that Econ 101 is underrated. Take the tariff debate: understanding that a tariff is a tax, that prices represent opportunity costs, that a bilateral trade deficit is largely meaningless, that a so-called trade “deficit” is equally a goods surplus or an investment surplus—these […]
Econ 101 is Underrated: Pharma Price Controls
Racist or righteous? Privileges Committee versus Te Pāti Māori
21 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Ani O’Brien writes – I have written many times before about narratives and the role of constructing the binary of good and evil in politics. This week we again see how storytelling is shaping a prominent political conflict with the race to own the narrative as the Privileges Committee hands down its recommendations. On the […]
Racist or righteous? Privileges Committee versus Te Pāti Māori
The Nail in the Coffin for Maori Seats
21 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Don Brash writes – I don’t know about you, but I have had a gutsful of the disrespect and disdain Te Pāti Māori show for our Parliament and for all of us. With their hateful rhetoric and disruptive antics they have demonstrated that Māori seats have become the home of the most extreme race activists.
The Nail in the Coffin for Maori Seats
“For Posterity’s Sake”: Why the Biden-Hur Tapes is a Virtual Racketeering Indictment
21 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, media bias
“For posterity’s sake.” Those words from President Joe Biden sum up the crushing impact of the leaked audiotapes from the interview between then-President Joe Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur. Not only did they remove any serious doubt over Biden committing the federal crimes charged against President Donald Trump, but they also constituted what is […]
“For Posterity’s Sake”: Why the Biden-Hur Tapes is a Virtual Racketeering Indictment
Labour goes all in with Te Pāti Māori
20 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
The Labour Party can’t form a potential Government without TPM, so they appear to have decided to go all in on their behalf. Evidence: Personally I’m delighted. The more Labour hug the toxic TPM, the more it will doom them come the election as voters realise that a vote for Labour is a vote for…
Labour goes all in with Te Pāti Māori
Courting Controversy: Justices’ Side Commentaries Undermine the Supreme Court
20 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: constitutional law
Below is my column in The Hill on the controversy this month over extrajudicial comments made by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. These are only the latest such comments by justices that became distractions during the discussion of pending cases before the Court. Here is the column:
Courting Controversy: Justices’ Side Commentaries Undermine the Supreme Court
Fiscal starting points
19 May 2025 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
Not that long ago, New Zealand’s fiscal balances looked pretty good by advanced country standards. Sure, the fiscal pressures from longer life expectancies were beginning to build – as they were in most of the advanced world – but in absolute and relative terms New Zealand still looked in pretty good shape. Just a few […]
Fiscal starting points
He should have apologised
19 May 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - Australia, property rights Tags: defamation, free speech
The ABC reports: There are concerns that former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto will be bankrupted after being ordered to pay costs of $2.3 million after losing his defamation battle with Moira Deeming. … The Federal Court order handed down on Friday morning, raises the prospect Mr Pesutto will be bankrupted and forced out of…
He should have apologised
Propping up the film sector or stimulating growth?
19 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, movies, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle, television Tags: corporate welfare
Ani O’Brien writes – On Friday night, having imbibed a few wines I strayed onto X to unwisely engage in some (slightly drunk) opinion sharing. I tweeted:
Propping up the film sector or stimulating growth?
To Be or Not To Be a Hypocrite? Outrage over Trump Targeting Law Firms is Turning Shakespearean
19 May 2025 Leave a comment
Below is my column in The Hill on the recent opinion blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order sanctioning the law firm of Perkins Coie for its role, on behalf of the Clinton campaign, in the Russian collusion scandal. The opposition to the order has taken on a certain Shakespearean flare that conceals the underlying hypocrisy […]
To Be or Not To Be a Hypocrite? Outrage over Trump Targeting Law Firms is Turning Shakespearean
Once again, pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Chicago violate campus rules but don’t get punished
19 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left
If you’ve read about the various pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests across American campuses, one thing you’ll notice is a general reluctance to punish demonstrators when they violate university rules. Of course protests are usually fine if they conform to First Amendment principles (though some schools don’t hold those principles), but they’re never fine when they […]
Once again, pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Chicago violate campus rules but don’t get punished
Banning the AFD would make them stronger
18 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics Tags: free speech, Germany
Matt Goodwin writes: There’s a national election. The mainstream parties do badly. They are challenged by an insurgent party that seems more in touch with the country. The mainstream parties then form a coalition, with no plan other than to keep themselves in power and the insurgent party out of power. Then, the intelligence services in that […]
Banning the AFD would make them stronger
A New Rule from Bill Maher
18 May 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows
Here’s the comedy bit from Bill Maher’s latest “Real Time”, and it’s called “New Rule: Don’t be a hypocrite.” A few examples: Trump touting electric cars (Teslas) after he appropriated Elon Musk. Republicans buying Tesla cybertrucks after most saying they’d never buy an electric truck The American Academy of Pediatrics reversing its position on getting […]
A New Rule from Bill Maher
MPs suspended
18 May 2025 Leave a comment
The Privileges Committee has recommended the following consequences for the MPs who disrupted the House, being These are all sensible recommendations, fitting the circumstances for each MP. The most important thing to understand is this is not punishing MPs for doing a haka. Hakas are often done in the House. I have been there for […]
MPs suspended
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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