Across the Western democracies, the political centre is under pressure. The populist right is rising, especially in Europe and the United States, while younger voters are showing renewed interest in socialism, or at least in much more interventionist economic policies. The result is not that the centre has vanished, but that it has lost much […]
The Hollowing of the Political Centre
The Hollowing of the Political Centre
27 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: voter demographics
The mighty hurdle facing The Opportunity Party
27 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
Since 1996 no new party has entered Parliament without either a sitting or former MP leading it. The Conservative Party in 2014 came close to doing so, scoring about 4% of the party vote, but ultimately failed and never attained that level of support again.
The mighty hurdle facing The Opportunity Party
The tobacco black market in NZ in 2025
24 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: black markets, economics of smoking
I’ve been sent a copy of a report by FTI Consulting on the tobacco black market in NZ. It is referenced here by Retail NZ. It is 63 pages long and full of data. It is produced for the three main tobacco companies in NZ (not surprisingly they are against their product being stolen). Some…
The tobacco black market in NZ in 2025
Inflation: the struggle for simplicity
20 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand
Why the Reserve Bank must distinguish monetary inflation from supply shocks
Inflation: the struggle for simplicity
150 laws to go
20 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights
Chris Bishop announced: More than 150 outdated and obsolete laws are likely to be repealed as part of the Government’s statutory spring clean, Attorney-General Chris Bishop says. The legislative cleanup is being run in stages led by the Parliamentary Counsel Office, alongside the Department of Internal Affairs for local Acts. To date, 152 outdated Acts…
150 laws to go
Thankfully the Govt did not panic
18 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, energy economics, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: Iran
There is a sort of peace deal between Iran and the US. If it holds, the fuel crisis is over. I’ll do a separate post on the merits of the peace deal, but for now want to focus on the response in NZ. The Government’s response was cool, calm and measured. They did not panic.…
Thankfully the Govt did not panic
Quarter of a million children are now dependent on welfare
18 Jun 2026 1 Comment
in labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, welfare reform
It’s appalling that a quarter of a million children now need an income from the state to feed, clothe and house them.Data released under the Official Information Act shows over a quarter of a million children were dependent on welfare at December 2025.At 31 December 2025 there were 255,300 children aged 0-17 reliant on a…
Quarter of a million children are now dependent on welfare
Labour and Te Pati Maori
16 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
Politik reports: But Labour may have got the jump on ACT with its leader announcing that it is highly unlikely to go into coalition with the Greens or Te Paati Maori, but instead will simply do confidence and supply agreements with the two parties. This will actually make any Government less stable, and actually make…
Labour and Te Pati Maori
The Hooton-in-chief
16 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
The Post announced: In a bombshell move, former National Party strategist-turned consultant Matthew Hooton has been chosen as the new editor of The Post, replacing outgoing Editor in Chief Tracy Watkins. He hopes NZ’s powerful institutions are ‘a little unsettled’ by his appointment, and has big plans to accelerate the brand to become Kiwis’ primary…
The Hooton-in-chief
Why the Left Keeps Misdiagnosing Populism
15 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: British politics
This article was first published by CapX, the online newspaper of London’s Centre for Policy Studies, on 3 June 2026. It was written for a British audience, but the diagnostic mistake it identifies is universal. * Roger Partridge writes – Andy Burnham has one prescription, and he means to fill it, whatever the patient walks in […]
Why the Left Keeps Misdiagnosing Populism
Callaghan failure
14 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: industry policy, picking losers
The Post reports: Nearly a third of the Callaghan Innovation’s $149 million Covid-era research and development loan book is in arrears, including $21.5m linked to 63 failed or insolvent businesses, as the agency enters its final months before disestablishment. Callaghan Innovation – a government entity set up to make businesses around the country more innovative…
Callaghan failure
Superannuation affordability options
09 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: ageing society, economics of immigration, population bust
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith at The Spinoff asked me what I thought the options might be for dealing with rising superannuation costs. Her story’s here, along with comment from Max Rashbrooke and Shamubeel Eaqub. My most-preferred option is ongoing increases in immigration rates, coupled with shifting to CPI-indexation of super benefits and indexing the age of eligibility to healthy…
Superannuation affordability options
Who gets in on Labour’s List?
08 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
Labour have released their party list. People want to know who is likely to get in as a List MP. First how many overall seats will they get? On the average of the public polls it is 39. Then it is how many electorates will they win? Well purely on applying the current party vote…
Who gets in on Labour’s List?
Let’s not celebrate copyright law extension
06 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in law and economics, Music, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: patents and copyrights
The Herald reports: The Government is introducing sweeping changes to copyright law, which will see songs like I See Red by Split Enz, Dragon’s April Sun in Cuba and Hello Sailor’s Gutter Black enjoy extended copyright protection. Copyright protection for these songs would expire in the next two years without the law change. As they should. It was released 48 years…
Let’s not celebrate copyright law extension
The Free Palestine party shows that political advertising for parliamentary parties should not be taxpayer funded
05 Jun 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: 2026 general election, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left
A new political party “Palestine Free from the River to the Sea” are explicitly saying that “Our purpose in creating a party is not to seek power, but to raise awareness. If we can reach 500 members quickly we will qualify for government funding to be used in campaign advertising. Every cent will go towards…
The Free Palestine party shows that political advertising for parliamentary parties should not be taxpayer funded
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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