Here are the net approval ratings for UK Prime Ministers three months after each election: Starmer has become incredibly unpopular so quickly.
UK PM ratings
UK PM ratings
14 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics Tags: British politics
Cleese on ‘woke’
13 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, movies, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, television Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
John Cleese says woke people want to be right even if they don’t know why:
Cleese on ‘woke’
Colorado Supreme Court Dismisses Another Lawsuit Against Masterpiece Cakeshop
13 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
In prior columns, academic articles, and my book, “The Indispensable Right, I discuss the never-ending litigation targeting Jack Phillips, the Christian baker who declined to make cakes that violated his religious beliefs. Phillips continues to be the subject of continuing lawsuits despite the Supreme Court upholding his right to decline to make expressive products […]
Colorado Supreme Court Dismisses Another Lawsuit Against Masterpiece Cakeshop
Zero remorse
12 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, gender, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, free speech, law and order, political correctness, regressive left
The Herald reports: A pharmacist and transgender refugee who was convicted last month for pouring tomato juice over the head of anti-transgender rights activist Posie Parker – prompting the controversial British speaker to promptly leave New Zealand over safety fears – returned to a courtroom today as her lawyer asked to have the conviction rescinded. … He acknowledged there was a degree of […]
Zero remorse
DON BRASH: WAS SOVEREIGNTY CEDED IN 1840?
11 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
I watched Tuesday night’s debate between David Seymour, Leader of the ACT Party, and Helmut Modlik, an iwi leader, with dismay. On the one hand, David Seymour argued with compelling logic the need to resolve once and for all whether New Zealanders enjoy equal political rights or whether, as Helmut Modlik argued, those with…
DON BRASH: WAS SOVEREIGNTY CEDED IN 1840?
America’s Ambitious Climate Plan Is Faltering
10 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, industrial organisation, politics - USA, survivor principle Tags: solar power, wind power
Global emissions are at records, while shift away from fossil fuels slows amid high costs, surging power demandSee By Ed Ballard and Amrith Ramkumar of The WSJ.Keeping the air clean is laudable goal, but the benefit of actions in this area need to outweigh the costs.Excerpts from the article:”Renewable energy is growing faster than expected.…
America’s Ambitious Climate Plan Is Faltering
A tactical blunder
10 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in politics Tags: British politics
A big upset in voting for the UK Conservative leadership. James Cleverly who won the second to last round of MP voting, got knocked out in the final round, and won’t proceed to the members vote. Here’s how each round has gone: Round 1 Round 2 This is as expected. Patel’s votes go to three […]
A tactical blunder
Addressing the Housing Crisis
10 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: affordable housing, land supply, regressive left
Japan’s population is roughly equal to the five most-populous states of the U.S. — California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas — concentrated in a nation that has approximately the land area of Montana, which is only about a fourth as large as those five most-populous states. Moreover, well over … Continue reading →
Addressing the Housing Crisis
The Foodstuffs merger is rejected, so the wholesale market remains an oligopsony
10 Oct 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand Tags: competition law
Yesterday we learned the Commerce Commission’s decision on the merger application by Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island (which I posted about last month). As NBR reported yesterday (paywalled, but you can read this briefer New Zealand Herald story instead, or the Commerce Commission’s decision here):Foodstuffs wanted to see the co-ops merged within and…
The Foodstuffs merger is rejected, so the wholesale market remains an oligopsony
What planet are they on?
09 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of media and culture, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction, legacy media
New Zealand’s newspaper chiefs’ views on how the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill works is somewhat at odds with the text of the Bill. Google today, admirably, said they’ll stop linking to New Zealand news outlets in search if the Bill goes ahead. News Publishers’ Association’s Andrew Holden and Stuff’s Sinead Boucher aren’t happy about that. But…
What planet are they on?
What’s going on with Biden and Israel? (and a coda about Trump’s possible mental problems)
06 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: 2024 presidential election, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Although Biden (and now Harris) have proclaimed an ironclad commitment to Israel’s well-being, they’re acting very wonky about Israel’s behavior. First they withheld 2000-pound bombs from Israel (you know, the kind that were used on the targeted strike that killed the leader of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah), though the U.S. rations some of […]
What’s going on with Biden and Israel? (and a coda about Trump’s possible mental problems)
“Schencking” Free Speech: Walz Makes the Case for the Most Anti-Free Speech Ticket in History
06 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Below is my column in USA Today on the most chilling moment from the Vance-Walz debate when the Democratic nominee showed why he is part of the dream ticket for the anti-free speech movement. Here is the column: In the vice presidential debate Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pulled the fire alarm. His opponent, Sen.…
“Schencking” Free Speech: Walz Makes the Case for the Most Anti-Free Speech Ticket in History
Māori academics finally admit that their way of knowing is not science, but asserts that it is better than science because the truth is “both factual and ethically value-laden”
05 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
The “Listener letter” appeared in 2021, signed by 7 professors at the University of Auckland (see it here) in New Zealand. It was a response to the drive (still going on) to teach indigenous “ways of knowing”, Mātauranga Māori (MM), as coequal with science in science classes. The letter argued that while MM was of […]
Māori academics finally admit that their way of knowing is not science, but asserts that it is better than science because the truth is “both factual and ethically value-laden”
“Curbing” Free Speech: John Kerry Denounces the First Amendment as “a Major Block” for Censorship
04 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Below is my column in the New York Post on the recent remarks of former Secretary of State John Kerry to the World Economic Forum, the latest in an array of powerful American politicians warning about the dangers of free speech and calling for government controls. He joins his fellow former Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary…
“Curbing” Free Speech: John Kerry Denounces the First Amendment as “a Major Block” for Censorship
Enhancing democracy – the case for a second chamber in New Zealand’s Parliament
04 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics
New Zealand did once have an upper house known as the Legislative Council. Is there are argument that it should be re-introduced? Philip Crump writes – New Zealand’s parliamentary system has long been admired for its democratic principles and progressive governance although it has increasingly come under strain and criticism over recent years. In […]
Enhancing democracy – the case for a second chamber in New Zealand’s Parliament
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