Bob Edlin writes – Thailand’s Constitutional Court reminds us of how judges can be politically powerful. It has removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, ruling that she “lacks the qualifications and possesses prohibited characteristics” under the Thai constitution. As the ABC reported, her dismissal flings the country into political instability. It also highlights the […]
Kiwis don’t need a Constitutional Court to crimp our elected law-makers – we already have judges who do that
Kiwis don’t need a Constitutional Court to crimp our elected law-makers – we already have judges who do that
02 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, Thailand
Do rising house prices damage economic growth?
01 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, regulation, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability
Don Brash writes – In recent years, when addressing Rotary and other audiences, I often talk about the five big challenges facing New Zealand – persistently slow growth in productivity, and therefore in income levels; ridiculously unaffordable house prices; the increasing division of our society into those with a Maori ancestor and those without; the […]
Do rising house prices damage economic growth?
The gift of the Greens
30 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
Roger Partridge writes: The Greens’ coronation of Chlöe Swarbrick at last weekend’s AGM delivered a manifesto for economic transformation that would make Soviet economists nostalgic for their glory days. Swarbrick delivered a speech that was part meditation retreat, part political rally. She declared her party “leading the Opposition,” positioned herself as Finance Minister-in-waiting, and announced…
The gift of the Greens
By-election puts co-governance in spotlight
29 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
Graham Adams writes – In brief Labour’s Peeni Henare says the quiet parts of party policy out loud. He promises $1b in funding for Māori initiatives. He reminds voters Labour will revive the Māori Health Authority. Ardern’s black-armband compulsory “histories” to reappear in schools. A sense of unreality hangs over the contest between New Zealand’s […]
By-election puts co-governance in spotlight
Judge undermines government intent
28 Aug 2025 1 Comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand
The National coalition government banned the wearing of gang patches in public places in November 2024. The legislation states: If a person pleads guilty to, or is convicted of, an offence against subsection (1), the gang insignia concerned— (a) is forfeited to the Crown; and (b) may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the court,…
Judge undermines government intent
The smallest gender pay gap in history
28 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Stats NZ reports: The gender pay gap was 5.2 percent in the June 2025 quarter, down from 8.2 percent in the June 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. “The June 2025 quarter gender pay gap of 5.2 percent is the lowest since the series began in 1998,” labour market spokesperson Abby […]
The smallest gender pay gap in history
The greyhound racing ban
27 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: animal rights, Animal welfare
Winston Peters announced: Cabinet has formally agreed this week to the closure of the greyhound racing industry in New Zealand. A bill will be drafted to bring this decision into law. The move follows last December’s announcement of the Government’s in-principle decision to end greyhound racing as of 31 July 2026. The decision was made […]
The greyhound racing ban
Who is willing to sacrifice the poor at the Green Altar?
26 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
Why we must stand up to anti-human activists. Ani O’Brien writes – We need to stand up to the anti-human activists who treat ordinary people as collateral damage in their crusade. Their vision of “climate justice” is really just human misery dressed up as virtue. Every time New Zealanders open a power bill, they’re reminded […]
Who is willing to sacrifice the poor at the Green Altar?
If the election was scheduled for next week, Hipkins could win – but (luckily for Luxon) it’s next year
26 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: 2026 general election
Chris Trotter writes – “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune”. Those words, taken from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, are often quoted in the context of politicians facing the hard choice between doing it now, or not doing it at all.
If the election was scheduled for next week, Hipkins could win – but (luckily for Luxon) it’s next year
Some Links
25 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, international economics, politics - New Zealand
TweetJeff Jacoby eloquently argues that “the convictions that count are the ones that sometimes sting.” A slice: What makes this problem worse is the increasingly common belief that only those who agree with us are legitimate participants in American life. Too many on the right write off their opponents as anti-American, while too many on…
Some Links
Ten questions we would have asked of Ardern, Hipkins, Robertson and Verrall
25 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, health economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics
Ananish Chaudhuri and John Gibson write – It is a pity that the Ministers who were central to formulating our Covid response have refused to show up to public hearings. We understand that in the past, private interviews of Ministers may have been the norm. But according to this same group, Covid was a once […]
Ten questions we would have asked of Ardern, Hipkins, Robertson and Verrall
Reading Grant Robertson
25 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, fiscal policy, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: economics of pandemics, monetary policy
I got home from Papua New Guinea at 1:30 on Saturday morning and by 3:30 yesterday afternoon I’d finished Grant Robertson’s new book, Anything Could Happen, and in between I’d been to two film festival movies, a 60th birthday party, and church. It is that sort of book, a pretty easy read. In some respects, […]
Reading Grant Robertson
The very dodgy $12.9b figure
24 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, rentseeking
I blogged in early August on how MPs appear to have been scared into supporting a retrospective law change to protect ANZ and ASB Banks form a six year old law suit over their failure to make correct disclosures with some of their loans, on the basis that the banking system could be at risk […]
The very dodgy $12.9b figure
Diplomacy and political patronage
24 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
Peter Dunne writes – It is difficult not to see Sir Trevor Mallard’s sacking as New Zealand’s Ambassador to Ireland as anything other than an act of political vengeance by Foreign Minister Winston Peters. After all, there has been considerable antagonistic history between the pair, culminating in then-Speaker Mallard’s trespassing of Peters during the 2022 […]
Diplomacy and political patronage
It’s all about Chloe
23 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: regressive left
Audrey Young observes: Chlöe Swarbrick became a distraction from the debate on Palestine during a crucial week in which Israel stepped up bombardments of Gaza City and New Zealand began debating a huge issue. But outrageously, she made it about whether being asked twice to apologise was unprecedented. It wouldn’t be so ironic if she […]
It’s all about Chloe
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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