Roger Partridge writes – Revolutions conjure images of violent uprisings, the storming of institutions, and the forcible overthrow of existing orders. But constitutional foundations can be destroyed through more subtle means. When judges discard long-established constitutional principles and remake the law according to their preferences, they engage in a revolution that may be no less […]
Revolution by Judicial Decree: A Review of Professor Peter Watts KC’s “Ellis v R, A Revolution in Aotearoa New Zealand, Welcome or Not”
Revolution by Judicial Decree: A Review of Professor Peter Watts KC’s “Ellis v R, A Revolution in Aotearoa New Zealand, Welcome or Not”
24 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
Stop the corporate welfare
22 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking
The Herald reports: More than half of the $257 million loan book held by the Government entity formerly known as the Provincial Growth Fund is considered to be at risk of impairment or default. The surge in at-risk loan advances made by Crown Regional Holdings (CRH) – a vehicle used by the Government to warehouse […]
Stop the corporate welfare
The inherited power supply crisis
21 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in energy economics, politics - New Zealand
The Herald reports: An influential collection of business and consumer organisations are calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to fix the “broken” energy sector. In a letter published in today’s Sunday newspapers titled “Our energy market is broken”, Luxon was told the country was running out of gas, new electricity generation is taking an age, […]
The inherited power supply crisis
PETER WILLIAMS (on behalf of the Taxpayers’ Union): The Nats are considering keeping Te Mana o te Wai
21 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, resource economics Tags: constitutional law
Peter Williams writes – The Taxpayers’ Union has been alerting supporters about the “Te Mana o te Wai” (literally meaning the mana of the water) requirements, which are still applicable to local councils’ environmental planning/consenting. It is becoming clear that the Coalition Government is continuing down Labour’s path of undemocratic and costly co-governance due to pressure […]
PETER WILLIAMS (on behalf of the Taxpayers’ Union): The Nats are considering keeping Te Mana o te Wai
Making sense of the case for compensation in regulatory bill
21 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: takings
Eric Crampton writes – The Regulatory Standards Bill before Parliament provides no enforceable legal right to compensation for the cost of regulation. It only suggests that compensation can be warranted when regulation takes or impairs property. A sovereign Parliament remains free to ignore that advice, as is made abundantly clear in sections 24 through 26 […]
Making sense of the case for compensation in regulatory bill
America’s Armchair Revolutionaries: How the Left is Rediscovering Marxism as the Ultimate Virtue Signal
21 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: useful idiots
Below is my column in The Hill on the rise of American armchair revolutionaries, particularly among young, affluent college graduates. It is part of the “radical chic” fostered from higher education to Hollywood for citizens who have no memory of the failures of socialism and communism in the 20th Century. Here is the column:
America’s Armchair Revolutionaries: How the Left is Rediscovering Marxism as the Ultimate Virtue Signal
What Andrew Little must do to show he is worthy of winning the Wellington mayoralty
17 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
Peter Dunne writes – National Prime Ministers seem to have a thing about Wellington. In 2013 then Prime Minister John Key raised the ire of Wellington’s community and business leaders when he told an Auckland audience that the capital city was “dying” and that “we don’t know how to turn it around.” He subsequently offered […]
What Andrew Little must do to show he is worthy of winning the Wellington mayoralty
Disinformation from TPM
16 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: native title, racial discrimination, regressive left
Te Pati Maori in a burp of disinformation declared Eric Crampton as the policy mind between the Foreshore & Seabed law and Marine and Coastal Area law. Of course once again the media largely ignore the fact they just tell blatant lies. Three inconvenient facts:
Disinformation from TPM
Hipkins’ role as Covid czar thrust into spotlight
16 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: anti-vaccination movement, economics of pandemics
Labour leader can no longer pretend to be the Man Who Wasn’t There Graham Adams writes – When Chris Hipkins replaced Jacinda Ardern as Prime Minister in January 2023, the legacy media preposterously promoted him as a new broom. By promising a “policy bonfire” of some of the issues that had led to Labour’s plunging […]
Hipkins’ role as Covid czar thrust into spotlight
Is Progress Progressive?
14 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: pessimism bias, The Great Enrichment
We should not assume that all adopted innovations are progressive. Jonathon Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’ illustrates that sometimes they require social measures to enhance well being. Brian Easton writes – The Anxious Generation is a book which probably everyone engaging with adolescents should read. Haidt’s thesis is that smartphones replacing flip phones led to a marked […]
Is Progress Progressive?
Govt fiscal constraints are the elephant in the pay equity room
11 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, fiscal policy, gender, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: gender wage gap, pay equity, sex discrimination
Michael Johnston writes – The way the government went about rolling back 33 pay equity claims lodged under the last government’s Pay Equity legislation was clumsy at best. The changes were made under urgency and applied retrospectively. It was not a good look. Predictable howls of rage and furious accusations ensued. Critics say the government […]
Govt fiscal constraints are the elephant in the pay equity room
This is a Labour Justice Minister
09 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand
Two years after it happened, we finally have a summary of the Police notes about what happened when then Justice Minister Kiri Allan crashed her car under the influence of alcohol. Key aspects are: This is far far worse than what was known at the time. To have Labour’s Justice Minister demand that police make […]
This is a Labour Justice Minister
A story the media ignored
08 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking
David Farrar writes – The Taxpayers’ Union revealed: The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Te Wharekura o Tauranga Moana is set to take staff to Tahiti this Friday and refuses to answer basic questions to justify the spend.
A story the media ignored
Why do Māori have to rely on deceased kidney donors?
08 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand
Systemic racism or an inconveniently multifaceted set of problems requiring uncomfortable conversations Ani O’Brien writes – It is a fact that the life expectancy of Māori is lower than New Zealanders of European descent. It is also a fact that the life expectancy of New Zealanders of European descent is lower than that of Asian […]
Why do Māori have to rely on deceased kidney donors?
The pro shoplifting party
08 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order, regressive left
Paul Goldsmith released: Green MP Tamatha Paul is giving shoplifting the green light as she opposes the Government’s plan to strengthen penalties, National Party Spokesperson for Justice Paul Goldsmith says. “The Greens are singing from the same old song sheet, making excuses for anyone who attacks or steals from hard working New Zealanders.” Yesterday Ms […]
The pro shoplifting party
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments