In our textbook, Modern Principles, Tyler and I emphasize that Congress and the President are subject to a higher law, the law of supply and demand. In an excellent column, Jason Furman gives a clear example of how difficult it is to fight the law of inelastic demand: …Today a given number of autoworkers can…
The President(s) Fought the Law and the Law Won
The President(s) Fought the Law and the Law Won
18 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction, free trade, tarrifs
‘Market Power in Antitrust: Economic Analysis after Kodak,’ by Benjamin Klein
17 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: competition law
In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services that a firm without market power in photocopiers might still possess market power in photocopier parts and service. The Court’s logic turned on opportunistic hold-up: Kodak could profit by trading short-run exploitation of locked-in customers for long-run losses in equipment…
‘Market Power in Antitrust: Economic Analysis after Kodak,’ by Benjamin Klein
US Constitution provides for replacing an impaired President – but what happens in NZ?
17 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Donald Trump’s erratic behaviour has led to increasing speculation that United States legislators may invoke the 25th Amendment to the United States’ Constitution to remove him from office. Respected media outlets like the New York Times have been openly raising questions about the President’s sanity and therefore his capability to remain in office.
US Constitution provides for replacing an impaired President – but what happens in NZ?
The Paramount Question Isn’t Paramount
17 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, law and economics, managerial economics, market efficiency, movies, organisational economics, politics - USA, television Tags: competition law, creative destruction, merger law enforcement
Big mergers make headlines. They don’t always make antitrust problems. In a previous commentary, I explored the antitrust implications of a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). That uncertainty is now resolved. On Feb. 27, Paramount Skydance Corp. agreed to acquire WBD for roughly $110 billion in enterprise value—$31 per share, all cash. The…
The Paramount Question Isn’t Paramount
Guest Post: IOC Restores Common Sense to Women’s Sport – Now It’s Time for New Zealand to Follow Suit
16 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, politics - New Zealand, sports economics Tags: sex discrimination
A guest post by Ro Edge, New Zealand Spokesperson, Save Women’s Sport Australasia (SWSA): The decision by the International Olympic Committee to restore the core purpose of women’s sport: providing biological females with a fair and safe arena to compete, is long-overdue. For years, many sporting bodies adopted the IOC’s earlier open-door policy, leading to…
Guest Post: IOC Restores Common Sense to Women’s Sport – Now It’s Time for New Zealand to Follow Suit
La Marxista: Mamdani Pledges to Open First City-Run Store with Projected $30 Million Initial Cost
15 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle, urban economics Tags: New York City, state ownership
Mayor Zohran Mamdani used his “First 100 Days” speech this week to announce that he has kept his promise to…
La Marxista: Mamdani Pledges to Open First City-Run Store with Projected $30 Million Initial Cost
The superpower that could unlock billions for KiwiRail – or another railway company
15 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, transport economics, urban economics Tags: land supply, zoning
Imagine waking up and discovering that, overnight, you had been granted superpowers. With a touch of your finger, you could cause new housing to emerge in places with housing shortages. It would cost you next to nothing. You could just do it.
The superpower that could unlock billions for KiwiRail – or another railway company
“Evictions are an Act of Policy Violence”: Pressley and Democrats Introduce Eviction Reform Legislation
15 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: regressive left, rent control
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) joined fellow Democrats last week in calling for the passage of the Housing Emergencies Lifeline Program…
“Evictions are an Act of Policy Violence”: Pressley and Democrats Introduce Eviction Reform Legislation
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
12 Apr 2026 1 Comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science, regressive left
As always, an Aussie who wishes to remain anonymous sent me this link, and noted that New Zealand isn’t the only country in the Antipodes that tries to make science (again “Western science”) coequal with indigenous knowledge. Clicking on the screenshot below will take you to the strategy developed by the Aussie government: the “Australian…
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, Karl Popper, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, Freedom of religion, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
In 1633, the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo for heresy. His offence was to argue that the Earth moves around the Sun. The Church was not acting out of malice. It was protecting a politically approved consensus against what was considered to be dangerous nonsense. The theologians and philosophers who condemned Galileo were not fools. They […]
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
A good corporate welfare expose
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, Music, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
The Spinoff becomes an unlikely fiscal conservative: Tourism minister Louise Upston was excited when she announced that Robbie Williams will play two shows in Auckland and Christchurch later this year. “It’s fantastic to welcome a showstopper act like Robbie, giving fans the chance to see him entertaining us,” she said in a press release. The…
A good corporate welfare expose
Oil and monetary policy
10 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, energy economics, financial economics, history of economic thought, labour economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, unemployment, war and peace Tags: 1973 oil crisis, monetary policy, oil shocks
I didn’t have too much problem with either the Reserve Bank Governor’s speech a couple of weeks ago on a framework for how monetary policy might deal with the oil shock, or with this week’s OCR review release from the Monetary Policy Committee. It was really all very orthodox stuff, much as any of the […]
Oil and monetary policy
Francesca Jackson: King Charles, President Trump and the State Visit: Some Constitutional Considerations
08 Apr 2026 1 Comment
in constitutional political economy, economic history, politics - Australia Tags: British constitutional law, British politics
Buckingham Palace has finally announced that the King and Queen’s planned visit to the US will indeed go ahead at the end of April 2026. After US President Donald Trump launched a string of verbal attacks on the UK Prime Minister, there had been growing calls for Keir Starmer to cancel the King’s visit, which […]
Francesca Jackson: King Charles, President Trump and the State Visit: Some Constitutional Considerations
The Fatal Conceit of Cheap Drugs
07 Apr 2026 1 Comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, economics of information, economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: intellectual property, copyrights and patents
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Hikma v. Amarin to answer a narrow question. It may end up saying far more about how policymakers misunderstand pharmaceutical markets. On its face, the case is narrow. It asks whether a generic drug manufacturer can face liability for inducing patent infringement based on how it markets a…
The Fatal Conceit of Cheap Drugs
Is there something about manufacturing that requires special policies to help it that other industries don’t get?
07 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, politics - USA, survivor principle
I have excerpts from posts or articles by three different economists. The answer seems to be no. Two are older and one is very recent by Harvard prof Jason Furman, who was once the chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under Obama. Then two older sources. One is from Tyler Cowen (2023), professor at…
Is there something about manufacturing that requires special policies to help it that other industries don’t get?
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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