Prominent leftwing commentator Matt Yglesias posted a nine point vision for how the Democrats can return to “common sense”. They resonate with many and are below. None of these are radical. I thought it would be interesting to assess NZ Labour and Greens against the nine points.
How would NZ Labour do using this vision
How would NZ Labour do using this vision
14 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Trump’s victory: Golden age or fiscal reckoning?
14 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic growth, fiscal policy, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, law and economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - USA, property rights, public economics Tags: 2024 presidential election
Oliver Hartwich writes – In his victory speech, Donald Trump promised Americans a new “golden age”. While he had the numbers to win the election, the economic realities he faces will make delivering on his promise challenging. Trump’s victory reflects many Americans’ frustrations with living standards and inflation during the Biden-Harris administration. Vice President Kamala […]
Trump’s victory: Golden age or fiscal reckoning?
Two senior minister firings: Germany and Israel
14 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics Tags: Germany, Israel
The past week saw the heads of government in both Israel and Germany dismissing a senior member of their coalition cabinet. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired the Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Both Scholz and Netanyahu head coalition governments. The result of the dismissal in […]
Two senior minister firings: Germany and Israel
How an Archbishop of Canterbury is appointed
13 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of religion Tags: British politics
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has decided to resign after an independent report into the Church of England’s handling of abuse allegations against John Smyth found that Welby “could and should” have referred the matter to the police back in 2013. This post looks at the complex process for choosing Welby’s successor. Declaring the […]
How an Archbishop of Canterbury is appointed
Hikoi organiser will walk in the name of the Treaty – but not talk about it (at least, not to people who lack “expertise”)
13 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law

Source: TheFacts Bob Edlin writes- An editorial in The Press – reproduced in The Post – acknowledged that it should be possible to have a respectful, informed national conversation about the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi and its application in present-day New Zealand. This would include such fundamental questions as whether an ongoing partnership […]
Hikoi organiser will walk in the name of the Treaty – but not talk about it (at least, not to people who lack “expertise”)
Shell wins appeal in landmark Dutch emissions case
13 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, property rights Tags: nuisance suits

The ruling was handed down as the COP29 climate summit is staged in Azerbaijan, says Sky News. The absurd lawfare campaigns by climate alarm supporters, who like everyone else rely on oil and related products every day for fuel, heating and much more, won’t end here though. – – – Shell has won its appeal […]
Shell wins appeal in landmark Dutch emissions case
Climate Litigation: The Dutch Case and a Pattern of Vexatious Lawsuits
13 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, property rights Tags: nuisance suits
Climate lawsuits like the Dutch case reveal the folly of allowing ideologues to dictate policy through legal harassment. If left unchecked, this trend will do far more harm than good—eroding institutions, stifling progress, and undermining trust in the very systems that activists claim to protect.
Climate Litigation: The Dutch Case and a Pattern of Vexatious Lawsuits
Move over, modern medicine: it’s time to collaborate with Rongoā Māori
13 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: cranks

Rongoā Māori is the “indigenous way of healing”: a combination of herbal and spiritual medicine used by the Māori of New Zealand. As The Encyclopedia of New Zealand notes, there were both supernatural and human illnesses, with the former treated through spiritual means (e.g., prayers, dunking in water, and other treatments described below), and the […]
Move over, modern medicine: it’s time to collaborate with Rongoā Māori
PNAS publishes an opinion piece arguing that the politicization of science is bad (contradicting the NAS President’s views)
13 Nov 2024 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: affirmative action, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left

I’m actually surprised that the article below was published in The Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS), one of the more high-quality science journals, just a tad below Science and Nature in prestige. It has had a reputation for being “progressive” (e.g., woke), one that I discussed last year when Steve Pinker had […]
PNAS publishes an opinion piece arguing that the politicization of science is bad (contradicting the NAS President’s views)
1814
12 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture Tags: economics of borders, maps
Green Blues…As Fog Persists For Days In Germany, Green Energy Output Falls To Near Zero!
12 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: celebrity technologies, Germany, wind power
At 5 p.m. last Wednesday, Germany’s 1602 offshore wind turbines in the North and Baltic Seas stood still…solar output was also near zero. Germany had to scramble to keep supply going. The enemy of green energy: the high pressure system By KlimaNachrichten In the words of Professor Claudia Kemfert: It is a myth to believe…
Green Blues…As Fog Persists For Days In Germany, Green Energy Output Falls To Near Zero!
The Second Resistance Movement: Why the Campaign Against Trump This Time is Different
12 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, regressive left

Below is my column in The Hill on the growing calls for an organized resistance to the Trump Administration by Democratic governors and prosecutors. They may find, however, that the resistance movement this time around will be facing significant legal and political headwinds. Here is the column:
The Second Resistance Movement: Why the Campaign Against Trump This Time is Different
Curtain Pull: How Trump’s Election Produced a Moment of Unintended Honesty
11 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election

Below is my column in Fox.com on the response of media figures to the Trump victory on election night. The meltdown was a moment of honesty for some in revealing the bias harbored by many in the industry. That curtain pull offered a glimpse of the Great Oz that some will be difficult to unsee. […]
Curtain Pull: How Trump’s Election Produced a Moment of Unintended Honesty
Ananish Chaudhuri: The sheer lunacy of contemporary progressive politics or How I became a right-wing extremist
11 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: Age of Enlightenment, economics of pandemics, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
With Kemi Badenoch taking over the leadership of Tories in the UK, newspapers have been replete with how this represents a radical turn to the right. Similar headlines appeared when Labour was booted from power in New Zealand. There was a time when I would have thought: “Shame. Why can’t these people not be more…
Ananish Chaudhuri: The sheer lunacy of contemporary progressive politics or How I became a right-wing extremist

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