Chris Lynch reports: The Sensible Sentencing Trust has launched a blistering attack on The Opportunity Party’s policy to raise the age of Youth Court jurisdiction, describing it as one of the craziest ideas it has seen in years. Opportunity’s “Smart on Crime” policy promised until recently to “raise the age of the youth court jurisdiction…
SST lashes crazy TOP policy
SST lashes crazy TOP policy
11 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, health economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
The limits Una Jagose KC cannot name
11 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
When former Solicitor-General Una Jagose KC told a Law Association breakfast on 2 July 2026 that New Zealand risks “sleepwalking” towards a collapse of the separation of powers, she framed herself as the constitution’s anxious guardian. The framing deserves scrutiny.
The limits Una Jagose KC cannot name
Yet more “pretty (il)legal” stuff from the Reserve Bank
05 Aug 2026 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: monetary policy
A month or so ago the Reserve Bank announced the appointment of a new Assistant Governor (a deputy chief executive) responsible for its financial stability functions. That must have prompted a Bloomberg journalist to ask what was happening to the vacant position on the Monetary Policy Committee (given that, previously, Geoff Bascand and then Christian […]
Yet more “pretty (il)legal” stuff from the Reserve Bank
Is America ruled by an oligarchy?
31 Jul 2026 1 Comment
in fiscal policy, income redistribution, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking
Any time you hear claims about American government, a sanity-inducing response is to ask whether they also are true of state and local governments. Here is an excerpt from my latest piece at The Free Press: First, in people’s daily lives, they typically interact with their state and local governments more than with the feds.…
Is America ruled by an oligarchy?
Radio NZ at it again
30 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of religion, law and economics, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: Germany, media bias, war against terror
Simon O’Connor points out: So Radio NZ ran a story from Reuters about the terrible hate crime attack in Berlin which saw 1 killed and 29 wounded at a pride festival. However they removed a key detail from the story. That the attacker was an Islamist. Reuters had this in their story, yet Radio NZ…
Radio NZ at it again
Will MBIE be held on contempt?
29 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
The Herald reports: Ministry officials are denying they deliberately misled a Parliament select committee by not revealing an immigration IT project had been terminated while being questioned about its progress. Appearing before Parliament’s Privileges Committee today, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) chief executive Nic Blakeley and former Immigration New Zealand (INZ) head Alison…
Will MBIE be held on contempt?
A populist ACT
27 Jul 2026 1 Comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
There is insufficient support for neoliberal economic policies so political parties of the hard right are adopting populist causes. To succeed the neoliberal revolution of Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson had to change the culture of New Zealanders from their belief that the government was usually the solution to a problem to a society which […]
A populist ACT
NZ First and the oil and gas ban
26 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, politics - New Zealand
Audrey Young writes: The ban was not in the NZF coalition agreement with Labour. They could have simply refused to back it, and there would not have been the votes for it. But they decided to back it. That is a fact. The post NZ First and the oil and gas ban first appeared on…
NZ First and the oil and gas ban
Hipkins hypocrisy
25 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
Stuff reports: Labour leader Chris Hipkins wasn’t happy when new ACT Party candidate Paul Henry said he’d need to “shoot” Hipkins, during a game of “shoot, shag, marry”. His other options were Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and NZ First leader Winston Peters, who, given the options, he’d “shag”. Hipkins said Henry wasn’t a serious candidate. “New…
Hipkins hypocrisy
Just fix industrial allocations
25 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - New Zealand Tags: carbon tax, carbon trading
New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme includes industrial allocations of carbon credits aimed at avoiding inefficient carbon leakage.But the formula is wrong. Imagine that you’re a domestic firm producing stuff that generates CO2 emissions. You correctly have to surrender NZU – one for each tonne of emissions. But if competitors in foreign markets do not face a…
Just fix industrial allocations
Let them build: electricity and datacentres edition
24 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, politics - New Zealand
New Zealand’s electricity companies know how to stick a pipe into the ground in the Taupo Volcanic Zone and generate electricity. They’ve been doing it for decades, and there is enormous untapped potential. America’s hyperscalers are currently willing to pay a large premium for immediacy. They are sticking expensive off-grid generators beside datacentres that would have…
Let them build: electricity and datacentres edition
The Case Against a Universal Basic Income
23 Jul 2026 1 Comment
in applied price theory, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, welfare reform
A Universal Basic Income, or UBI, is a superficially attractive idea. Under such a scheme, every adult would receive a regular payment from the government, regardless of income, employment or need. Supporters argue that it would reduce poverty, simplify welfare, provide security in an uncertain labour market and give people greater freedom to choose how […]
The Case Against a Universal Basic Income
Goldsmith on consent laws
21 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, gender, law and economics, politics - New Zealand
Paul Goldsmith announced: A re-elected National Government will modernise sexual consent laws to specify there must always be a “yes,” rather than an absence of a “no,” National’s Justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. “National is focused on fixing the basics in law and order, and modernising our consent laws is an important part of that.…
Goldsmith on consent laws
Occupational Licensing Around the World
18 Jul 2026 1 Comment
in economics of regulation, labour economics, labour supply, occupational regulation, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA
Hartley and Kleiner have a new Fed Minneapolis working paper surveying workers around the world to measure occupational licensing by country. In the United States, occupational licensing has increased substantially over time, so one might expect licensing to rise with income. Their headline result is the opposite: occupational licensing is negatively correlated with GDP per…
Occupational Licensing Around the World
ACT’s High Hopes for Henry
16 Jul 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
One of the rapidly emerging features of the 2026 election is the announcement of candidates carrying a profile from another sphere of activity. New Zealand First started the trend in April with former All Black captain Taine Randell announced as the candidate for Tukituki. He won’t win the seat but will surely be in the […]
ACT’s High Hopes for Henry
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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