https://www.facebook.com/share/p/z3GnnaEhfFYGSbB7/?mibextid=xfxF2i
The woke to a tee
30 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, liberalism, Marxist economics, movies, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, television Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Bernie Sanders prepares resolutions to punish Israel
28 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, law and economics, laws of war, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, useful idiots, war against terror
Forgive me if I put up two pieces on Israel’s wars today (i’m not sure what I’ll write about next), but it’s not only on my mind, it’s the main news besides the American election. (See the daily “Nooz” for this other stuff). I don’t like to use the words “self-hating Jew,” for I don’t […]
Bernie Sanders prepares resolutions to punish Israel
All the King’s Upgrades: There May Be Less Than Meets the Eye in the Adams Indictment
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
Below is my column in the New York Post on the indictment of Mayor Eric Adams. The most serious charges may be the foreign campaign contributions. However, the indictment is not nearly as overwhelming as suggested by the government. That may be why they are openly threatening Adams associates to cooperate or face ruin. Here […]
All the King’s Upgrades: There May Be Less Than Meets the Eye in the Adams Indictment
Proof that NZ’s Reserve Bank has Inflicted Unnecessary Pain up and down the Nation.
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic growth, fiscal policy, labour economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, unemployment Tags: economics of pandemics, monetary policy
In the past few hours, it has been stated that the US economy grew at a solid 3% rate last quarter, as given in the American government’s final estimate. New Zealand’s economy, on the other hand, shrank at a rate of -0.2%. The US Federal Funds rate (the equivalent of NZ’s Official Cash Rate, OCR)…
Proof that NZ’s Reserve Bank has Inflicted Unnecessary Pain up and down the Nation.
Debunking Hate-and-Envy Tax Policy
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, financial economics, fiscal policy, health and safety, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, macroeconomics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: envy, regressive left, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment
On tax policy, our friends on the left are motivated by envy and hatred. As shown in this Stossel video, Robert Reich is a sad example of this mindset. John Stossel understates his argument. It’s not that Reich is wrong. He’s wildly wrong. There are four points in the video that deserve attention. It is […]
Debunking Hate-and-Envy Tax Policy
After 30 years, there is hope
27 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, environmentalism, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, land supply, zoning
Chris Bishop and Simon Court announced: Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in […]
After 30 years, there is hope
The high cost of free insurance
24 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of information, economics of regulation, environmental economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics Tags: unintended consequences
Eric Crampton writes – Government sometimes cannot stop itself from providing bailouts when risk-taking goes wrong. This kind of ‘free’ insurance policy leads to no end of bad outcomes.
The high cost of free insurance
The Supreme Crisis of Chief Justice John Roberts
23 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA
Below is my column in The Hill on growing crisis at the Supreme Court for Chief Justice John Roberts. A new breach of confidentiality shows cultural crisis at the Court. While the earlier leaking of the Dobbs decision could have come from a clerk, much of the recent information could only have originated with a […]
The Supreme Crisis of Chief Justice John Roberts
Bill Maher: comedy on comity
23 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Earlier today I criticized Angel Eduardo for making a useful but un-original plea for comity between people of conflicting ideologies. (Try that with Jewish students and pro-Palestinian demonstrators!) Apparently a false rumor started that J.D. Vance (whom he calls a “giant asshole”) was copulating with his couch, leading to Maher’s claim that we’re all willing […]
Bill Maher: comedy on comity
Treaty of Waitangi legal “experts” have misunderstood its economic rationale – and endangered national prosperity
20 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, liberalism, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Rob MacCulloch writes – The underlying aim of the Treaty of Waitangi, at least in economic terms, was to promote a higher standard of living for Māori and non-Māori alike. This article’s purpose is to argue how its words were unambiguously designed to achieve that purpose, but have since been hijacked by political operatives and NZ’s legal […]
Treaty of Waitangi legal “experts” have misunderstood its economic rationale – and endangered national prosperity
Pierson on Wellington cycleways
20 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: celebrity technologies, cycleways
Lukje Pierson writes: A few weeks back, Wellington City Council published a story summarising what thousands of us think of its priorities for the next decade. Buried on page 40, you’ll find what Wellingtonians really think of the council’s controversial new cycleways. It turns out just 30% of us are happy, while 60% want to […]
Pierson on Wellington cycleways
“A Symbol of Imperial Violence and Colonialism”: Activists at UPenn Deface Statue of Benjamin Franklin
19 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: age of empires, economics of colonialism, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Benjamin Franklin once wrote “Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.” Yet, Franklin might be a bit confused by his critics at the University of Pennsylvania. Anti-Israel activists vandalized his statue as a symbol of colonialism. The man who was instrumental in the Declaration of Independence against the British Empire is being denounced […]
“A Symbol of Imperial Violence and Colonialism”: Activists at UPenn Deface Statue of Benjamin Franklin
“A Better Deterrence”: Hillary Clinton Calls for the Arrest of Americans Spreading Disinformation
18 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economics of information, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, television Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Hillary Clinton has long been one of the most anti-free speech figures in American politics, including calling upon European officials to force Elon Musk to censor American citizens under the infamous Digital Services Act (DSA). She is now suggesting the arrest of Americans who spread what she considers disinformation. It is a crushingly ironic moment…
“A Better Deterrence”: Hillary Clinton Calls for the Arrest of Americans Spreading Disinformation
Tax-Motivated Domestic Migration
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, entrepreneurship, Federalism, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: capital gains tax, taxation and investment taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and labour supply
I’m a big fan of tax competition. I cheer when jobs, investment, and people (or even booze) move from high-tax jurisdictions to low-tax jurisdictions. This increases the rewards for good policy and also increases the punishment for bad policy. Given my interest in the topic, I obviously can’t resist sharing this chart, which shows the […]
Tax-Motivated Domestic Migration
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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