Chris McVeigh writes – If you took a double at the TAB, with the Pope getting married as one leg and Radio New Zealand admitting to a smidgen of left wing partiality as the other, you could be forgiven for thinking that the smart money would be on the Vatican gig bringing home the bacon […]
Media bias in New Zealand yet again
Media bias in New Zealand yet again
08 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of information, economics of media and culture, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, survivor principle Tags: media bias
A good list of achievements
07 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
ACT have listed the achievements of the Coalition Government over the last two years that they played an important role in. It is a long list, reproduced below. Law & Order Economy & the Cost of Living Backing Rural New Zealand Defending Equal Rights & Democracy Health Building & Infrastructure Education A change of government…
A good list of achievements
Labour and Greens want unlimited rates increases
04 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics
Very pleased to see the Government commit to a law that will tie rates increases to a mixture of inflation and GDP. The era of local government being able to fund every pet project Councillors like is coming to an end. In future they will need to prioritise spending on core infrastructure and facilities. But…
Labour and Greens want unlimited rates increases
The taxing problem of zombie and phoenix companies
04 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, fiscal policy, law and economics, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: Germany
Eric Crampton writes – Damien Grant isn’t normally the one making the case that the government needs to take more in tax. The liquidator and libertarian-minded columnist at the Sunday Star Times more typically wants what libertarians generally want – a government that spends less and that can let each of us keep more of […]
The taxing problem of zombie and phoenix companies
The wagons are circling
02 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
1 News reports: Speaking in Māori, former party president Dame Naida Glavish said Te Pāti Māori was not established to belittle people, but rather for the betterment of all Māori. She said that had not been evident this year. Dame Naida, Sir Pita Sharples, Te Ururoa Flavell, Marama Fox, Hone Harawira, and Tukoroirangi Morgan were…
The wagons are circling
What should we sell?
02 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, privatisation
Newsroom has an article on the 10 SOEs that a Government could sell. I’ve done a matrix looking at which could be best to sell. Asset Competitive Value Sensitivity Prospects QV B $54m D Y Landcorp A $1.6b B Y AsureQuality B $100m C Y Kordia B $62m C Y Kiwibank B $2.6b A Y…
What should we sell?
The terrible Supreme Court decision on Uber
28 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law
The Supreme Court has ruled that four Uber drivers are employees of Uber, despite written agreements they are contractors, not employees. The practical effect of this decision is terrible. Uber has been great for passengers. Not only can we hold drivers to account through ratings, we save a lot of money. An Uber to the…
The terrible Supreme Court decision on Uber
Could Te Pāti Māori lose two more MPs?
28 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
The Tamihere faction of Te Pati Maori may end up the victors, but a pyrrhic victory. I understand that Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke is consulting her electorate over the next two weeks on whether she should remain with Te Pati Maori under its current leadership. Also new MP Oriini Kaipara is battling with TPM leadership over control…
Could Te Pāti Māori lose two more MPs?
Treasury on tax
27 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, public economics Tags: taxation and investment
I’ve never really been persuaded that it is a good idea for public servants to be giving speeches, unless perhaps they are simply and explicitly explaining or articulating government policy. If they are, instead, purporting to run their own views or those of their agency it is almost inevitable that we will be getting less […]
Treasury on tax
The explosive force of democratic expectations
26 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
Chris Trotter writes – Labour needs to defend itself. Winston Peters has made it very clear that he and his party are coming after Labour’s voters. Peters senses an avalanche of Labour support just waiting for a decent-sized detonator to set it sliding in NZ First’s direction. Labour’s leader, Chris Hipkins, should now brace himself […]
The explosive force of democratic expectations
Greens against the rule of law
25 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: rule of law
The Greens announced: Today, the Greens are announcing that a Green Government will commit to revoking any consents or permits handed out under the fast-track process for coal, Hardrock gold and seabed mining. This is the Greens saying that they will revoke consents and permits that were legally granted. This is the sort of behaviour…
Greens against the rule of law
The Flaw at the Core of the Supreme Court’s Uber Decision
25 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: creative destruction, employment law
Roger Partridge writes – The Supreme Court’s Uber judgment (Rasier Operations BV v E Tū Inc [2025] NZSC 162) has delivered clarity of a sort. The Court dismissed Uber’s appeal, upholding the finding that the drivers involved in the proceedings are employees when logged into the Uber app. Yet the decision is deeply flawed. The Court […]
The Flaw at the Core of the Supreme Court’s Uber Decision
Should We Privatise More Government Businesses?
24 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, financial economics, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, privatisation
Pragmatic analysis says maybe we should, but we should also consider nationalisation. We should certainly consider better regulation. Brian Easton writes – An earlier column argued that we should make the government’s net worth – the value of its assets less its liabilities – more prominent in fiscal policy. Net worth is also fundamental when we are […]
Should We Privatise More Government Businesses?
Guest Post: The Peasants are Revolting
23 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA
A guest post by Peter Lynn: Over the last 30 years, state sectors of Western democracies have expanded and senior level state employment, with its high pay, security and access to the levers of power became a magnet for the academically gifted, especially independence minded younger women. University educated they initially moved into ministries before…
Guest Post: The Peasants are Revolting
If this is employment law, the law needs to change
22 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, managerial economics, occupational choice, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law
Eric Crampton writes – Yesterday [November 17], the Supreme Court ruled that Uber did not merely facilitate connections between four drivers and their various passengers – as Uber has maintained. And that the four drivers were not contractors for Uber either. Instead, those drivers were Uber employees while logged into the app.
If this is employment law, the law needs to change
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments