The latest polling summary projects that the Conservatives could lose 310 of their 376 seats, leaving them just 66. Labour would win 485 and the Lib Dems 59. Most polls were before Nigel Farage announced he will resume the Reform Party leadership and the D Day disaster. Unclear how much impact this may have, but […]
Conservatives may come third
Conservatives may come third
11 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in politics Tags: British politics
Can Democracy Survive the “Defenders of Democracy”?
11 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2016 US presidential election, 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the latest calls to protect democracy with distinctly undemocratic measures. Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton insisted that the 2024 election was our D-Day, suggesting that voters would have to fight the GOP like the Nazis in World War II. Clinton previously called on Europe to censor American […]
Can Democracy Survive the “Defenders of Democracy”?
Where did the Government get the law right and wrong with the Covid-19 response?
10 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of natural disasters, economics of regulation, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
For those who are interested in public law, a very interesting paper by Dean Knight summarising the various court cases over the Covid-19 response. It details in which areas the Government won judicial reviews, and in which areas they lost. The TLDR version is: Hopefully we will not go through another pandemic anytime soon.
Where did the Government get the law right and wrong with the Covid-19 response?
Fauci Didn’t Test
09 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - USA Tags: economics of pandemics, The fatal conceit, unintended consequences
I am not a Fauci hater but I think this criticism of Facui from epidemiologist and oncologist Vinay Prasad hits the mark: Lockdown was specifically advocated for by Anthony Fauci (‘15 days to stop the spread’/ ‘hunker down’/ ‘shelter in place’), and Fauci would go on to make hundreds of other specific policy recommendations. Although he initially […]
Fauci Didn’t Test
Will Hunter Take the Stand? He May Want to Think Twice Before Checking That Box
09 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, economics of prohibition, gun control
This weekend, the Hunter Biden team is reportedly debating whether to have him take the stand on Monday, a move rife with risk. Most criminal defendants avoid such appearances given the potential damage of a withering cross examination. Those risks were evident in the recent testimony of Hunter’s daughter, Naomi, which backfired badly on key […]
Will Hunter Take the Stand? He May Want to Think Twice Before Checking That Box
Laptop Deniers in Delaware: The Media Shrugs as the Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court
08 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in Fox.com on the authentication of Hunter Biden laptop in the Delaware trial. The government has denounced the Russian disinformation claims as a “conspiracy theory” and put on evidence that there is no evidence of tampering with the laptop. The FBI declared the laptop to be “real” and “authentic” and the […]
Laptop Deniers in Delaware: The Media Shrugs as the Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court
Divisive rhetoric chips away at communities
07 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economics of education, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The following letter to the Gisborne Herald appears under the title above and the name of Eddie Tuhaka: Rawiri Waititi’s divisive comments and behaviour against the present Government, calling them a white/Pākehā Government, is racist and unacceptable. He and the rest of them did not complain when they all got their pay increase from the…
Divisive rhetoric chips away at communities
Just Ask Mookie: Hunter Biden Has No Defense Other Than Nullification
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the New York Post on the first day of testimony in the trial of Hunter Biden. Every claim of the defense seemed to collapse in the first two days of the trial. The defense argued that Hunter did not check the box on the gun form, so the prosecutors called […]
Just Ask Mookie: Hunter Biden Has No Defense Other Than Nullification
Comparing Treasury and Reserve Bank forecasts
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: monetary policy
I put a range of charts on Twitter late last week illustrating why, from a macroeconomic perspective, I found the government’s Budget deeply underwhelming. I won’t repeat them but will just show two here. The first is the Treasury’s estimate of how the bit of the operating deficit not explained just by swings in the […]
Comparing Treasury and Reserve Bank forecasts
Another weak free speech university policy
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Auckland University has a draft free speech policy. There are some good parts to it, but also parts that will allow significant censorship. We take our role of critic and conscience seriously and welcome and encourage dialogue and debate including on topics which may be contentious and controversial. It is inevitable that different perspectives will […]
Another weak free speech university policy
Caught out! The NZ Initiative’s Article in the Herald Blaming the RBNZ for our Rip-Off Big Banks is Contradicted by its Own Expert Witness. (Willis Beware).
06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, global financial crisis (GFC), great recession, industrial organisation, law and economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: competition law
When it comes to the question of how best to avoid a banking collapse and multi-billion dollar bailout that can drag a whole nation into depression, the best solution, according to Chicago-Stanford economist, John Cochrane, is to require banks to set aside a fraction of their own funds as reserves to cover losses they may…
Caught out! The NZ Initiative’s Article in the Herald Blaming the RBNZ for our Rip-Off Big Banks is Contradicted by its Own Expert Witness. (Willis Beware).
Is Hunter Biden Pursuing a Jury Nullification Strategy?
05 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in The Hill on the start of the Hunter Biden trial and the elements of a classic jury nullification strategy by the defense. It is not clear that it will work in an otherwise open-and-shut case, but it might. What is clear is that it may be all that Biden has […]
Is Hunter Biden Pursuing a Jury Nullification Strategy?
The 2024 Hayek Lecture: Phil Gramm & John Early on “The Myth of American…
04 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of education, entrepreneurship, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality
New Rule: Gender Apartheid | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
03 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, television, TV shows Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Gaza Strip, gender wage gap, Iran, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Dems Who Back Biden’s Crackdown on Fossil Fuels Suddenly Worried About High Gas Prices
02 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA
Numerous Democrats who have helped the Biden administration restrict fossil fuel development and production are now concerned about high gas prices as the 2024 elections loom.
Dems Who Back Biden’s Crackdown on Fossil Fuels Suddenly Worried About High Gas Prices
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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