Roger Partridge writes: A new submission to the Committee from banking experts Andrew Body and Simon Jensen provides fresh evidence of these costs. Their analysis shows the Reserve Bank’s capital rules add between 0.25 and 0.375 percentage points to mortgage rates compared with Australia. For a million-dollar mortgage, that means between $2,500 and $3,750 in […]
The cost of Reserve Bank regulation
The cost of Reserve Bank regulation
02 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, business cycles, economics of bureaucracy, economics of natural disasters, economics of regulation, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: monetary policy
Upcoming talk and new book on ideology and science
02 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
I have two announcements this morning: a.) First, next Monday, Mar 3 at 12:30 Chicago time (1:30 Eastern time), I am having a 1-1½-hour discussion with DIAGdemocrats (“DIAG” stands for Democrats with an Informed Approach to Gender. And their slogan is “Liberals guiding our party back to reason and reality.” It’s tailor made for me!) […]
Upcoming talk and new book on ideology and science
BP Faces “Existential Crisis” After Ruinous Attempt to Go Green
02 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of climate change, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, environmentalism, financial economics, global warming, industrial organisation, politics - USA, survivor principle Tags: 2024 presidential election, climate activists, climate alarmism, efficient markets hypothesis, greenwashing
BP’s green pivot has backfired spectacularly, hammering profits and leaving the company vulnerable to a hedge fund siege, writes Jonathan Leake in the Telegraph.
BP Faces “Existential Crisis” After Ruinous Attempt to Go Green
DON BRASH: From the internet to medicines, nothing in New Zealand is safe from Treaty mania
01 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational regulation, politics - New Zealand Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The following is written in Don’s capacity as Hobson’s Pledge trustee. You may not have heard of InternetNZ or know exactly what they…
DON BRASH: From the internet to medicines, nothing in New Zealand is safe from Treaty mania
$50 million of taxpayer money on a ski field
01 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, fiscal policy, industrial organisation, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: corporate welfare
Newsroom has a summary of taxpayer money spent on Mt Ruapehu: How often have we been told this is the final assistance. We are now deep into the sunk cost fallacy.
$50 million of taxpayer money on a ski field
Paris Accord could determine election
28 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: carbon tax
The government’s commitment to the Paris Accord has garnered opposition from farmers and farming organisations. Federated Farmers is not supportive: The Government’s announcement today of a 2035 climate target of a 51-55% emissions reduction has signed New Zealand up for a decade more of planting pine on productive land, Federated Farmers meat and wool chair […]
Paris Accord could determine election
Industry veterans slam Pharmacy Council’s forced cultural competency rules as Health Minister demands explanation
28 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational regulation, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Chris Lynch Media reports – Health Minister Simeon Brown says he will demand an explanation from the Pharmacy Council over its competence standards for pharmacists, which have been described as “deeply disturbing.” It follows inquiries to his office by chrislynchmedia.com over the standards, published on 15 June 2023 and enforced from 1 April 2024, which require […]
Industry veterans slam Pharmacy Council’s forced cultural competency rules as Health Minister demands explanation
Harvard Polling: Majority Supports DOGE Measures to Reduce the Size of Government
27 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
As the courts hash out the legalities of the orders supporting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the public appears to support the effort despite the almost universal condemnations in the media. Despite the prediction from James Carville that the Trump Administration will collapse within 30 days, a recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll shows that most […]
Harvard Polling: Majority Supports DOGE Measures to Reduce the Size of Government
Mandated Board Diversity Reduces Firm Value
27 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economics of regulation, financial economics, gender, industrial organisation, labour economics, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: efficient markets hypothesis, sex discrimination
Jon Klick finds that when courts in CA surprisingly invalidated a set of DEI laws, the market value of firms subject to those laws increased: California mandated that firms headquartered in the state include women (SB 826) and underrepresented minorities (AB 979) on their corporate boards. These laws, passed in 2018 and 2020 respectively, were […]
Mandated Board Diversity Reduces Firm Value
The American Rōnin: How Displaced “Disinformation Experts” Are Seeking New Opportunities in Europe and Academia
27 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, entrepreneurship, financial economics, industrial organisation, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Below is my column in the Hill on the new American emigres: “disinformation experts” who are finding themselves unemployed with the restoration of free speech protections. Here is the column:
The American Rōnin: How Displaced “Disinformation Experts” Are Seeking New Opportunities in Europe and Academia
No, the GOP Should Not Impeach Federal Judges Over the Trump Challenges
27 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2024 presidential election
One of the greatest abuses of the Democratic party in the past eight years has been their use of impeachment investigations and charges against their political opponents. From President Donald Trump to conservative justices, liberal members have demanded impeachments over everything from opposing the NFL kneelers to hanging revolutionary-era flags. Now, some Republican members are […]
No, the GOP Should Not Impeach Federal Judges Over the Trump Challenges
Conspiracy theories and science denial
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, conspiracies theories, philosophy of science
Conspiracy theories and science denial are two phenomena that often intersect, influencing public discourse and societal trust in authoritative knowledge sources. This essay explores their connection, elucidates the psychological and social mechanisms underpinning them, and provides examples to demonstrate how these two manifestations of skepticism reinforce each other, often with deleterious consequences. The Connection At […]
Conspiracy theories and science denial
Does the Feldstein-Horioka Puzzle mean National’s Foreign Investment Ambitions Won’t Raise NZ Productivity?
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, financial economics, history of economic thought, international economics, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand Tags: foreign investment
The NZ Herald’s Editor has declared its journalists will be promoted or fired on the basis of factors like how many clicks they get on their articles. Yes, the Herald is now officially “click bait”. We’re trying to avoid the mistake of writing shallow nonsense at this Blog. So on that note, here’s a somewhat…
Does the Feldstein-Horioka Puzzle mean National’s Foreign Investment Ambitions Won’t Raise NZ Productivity?
Bill Maher vs. Jon Lovett on trans rights
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, health economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Jon Lovett is identified by Wikipedia as . . . . an American podcaster, comedian, journalist, and former speechwriter. Lovett is a co-founder of Crooked Media, along with Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor. All three formerly worked together as White House staffers during the Obama administration. Lovett is a regular host of the Crooked Media podcasts Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It. […]
Bill Maher vs. Jon Lovett on trans rights
More tacit recognition of two sexes in humans
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, economics of media and culture, gender, health economics, human capital, labour economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, life expectancies, political correctness, regressive left
This article was mentioned in a comment by reader Ted Gold, but I thought I would highlight it just to show that when the rubber meets the road, people recognize that, yes, there are just two sexes. This is from the NYT on Feb. 25th. Click headline to read, or find the article archived here. […]
More tacit recognition of two sexes in humans
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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