Susan Hornsby-Geluk writes: Among the most controversial aspects of the recently enacted Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 is the introduction of a high-income threshold for personal grievance claims. Under the new provisions, employees earning $200,000 or more in annual remuneration will lose the right to bring a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal, or an unjustified…
A worthwhile trade off
A worthwhile trade off
25 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: employment law, offsetting behavior, unintended consequences
Energy Expert: Germany’s Nuclear Phaseout Was A “500 Billion Euro Mistake”
25 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: atomic energy, Germany, wind power
Professor Fritz Vahrenholt revisits Germany’s transition to green energies (Energiewende), calling the country’s exit from nuclear power a huge mistake, one that even the current government now acknowledges. Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt (photo) looks at the high costs of green energy subsidies in Germany. In 2025, wind and solar operators received approximately €16.5 billion in government…
Energy Expert: Germany’s Nuclear Phaseout Was A “500 Billion Euro Mistake”
Javier Milei Week, Part III: Good Economic Policies, Good Economic Results
25 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in Austrian economics, development economics, Public Choice, economics of regulation, applied price theory, economic history, growth disasters, economics of bureaucracy Tags: Argentina
Part I of this series reviewed the horrible economic conditions that plagued Argentina when Javier Milei took office. Part II looked at Milei’s spending restraint and some of the subsequent improvements in fiscal outcomes. For today’s column, let’s focus on what Milei has achieved in areas other than fiscal policy, and it will be based […]
Javier Milei Week, Part III: Good Economic Policies, Good Economic Results
Javier Milei Week, Part II: Good Fiscal Policies, Good Fiscal Results
24 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, budget deficits, development economics, economic history, fiscal policy, growth disasters, macroeconomics Tags: Argentina
Part I of this series focused on the horrible economic conditions that led to Javier Milei’s election in late 2023. For Part II, let’s start with this segment from an interview I did last week while in Slovenia. In less than two minutes, I tried to summarize Milei’s achievements. Let’s take a more detailed look, […]
Javier Milei Week, Part II: Good Fiscal Policies, Good Fiscal Results
Strategic overhangs and ways to prevent them in MMP systems
23 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, politics
In mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral systems, an “overhang” seat can result if a party wins more seats via the nominal tier (of, typically, single-seat districts) than it would be entitled to if a regular proportional-representation (PR) systems were used.
Strategic overhangs and ways to prevent them in MMP systems
Chi-Town Meltdown: Chicago Ramps Up Taxes and Debt in Familiar Death Spiral
23 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, public economics, urban economics
As a Chicago native, I have watched my home city unravel under the policies of Mayor Brandon Johnson and the…
Chi-Town Meltdown: Chicago Ramps Up Taxes and Debt in Familiar Death Spiral
Javier Milei Week, Part I: Inheriting an Economic Crisis
23 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, budget deficits, business cycles, development economics, economic growth, economic history, growth disasters, liberalism, libertarianism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics Tags: Argentina
Given my enthusiasm for Javier Milei and his libertarian reforms, I’m excited to be in Buenos Aires for a week-long program on “Understanding Argentina’s Transformations Under Milei.” This means a heavy does of Milei-ism this week. For today’s column, I’m going to share some slides from a presentation by Alejandro Rodriguez on the “Inheritance” Milei […]
Javier Milei Week, Part I: Inheriting an Economic Crisis
Electric Car Mandates Start To Bite
22 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmentalism, transport economics Tags: electric cars
By Paul Homewood Car manufacturers must ensure that electric cars make up at least 33% of their total registrations this year or face swingeing government fines of £12000 for every car they are short. So far, they are struggling at below 22%, which is even less than at the same stage last year. They […]
Electric Car Mandates Start To Bite
How much more will oil prices have to go up?
22 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, energy economics, war and peace Tags: Iran, Oil prices
[Robin] Brooks: So let me give you two ways of thinking about what’s going on, both of them are really about trying to think about what kind of risk premia need to be priced in oil, given all the massive uncertainty that we have. The first way that I’ve been thinking about this is—I spent […]
How much more will oil prices have to go up?
What power would allow Ministers to close down a community?
22 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of religion, law and economics, libertarianism, politics - New Zealand
The Herald reports: Senior Government minister Louise Upston visited Gloriavale in late January, months after refusing to rule out closing the religious community following allegations of child abuse in the community. Newstalk ZB has confirmed Upston visited the sect on January 30, alongside officials from the Ministry of Social Development. This story is puzzling. As…
What power would allow Ministers to close down a community?
The taboo idea you can’t discuss in academia
21 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, human capital, labour economics Tags: free speech, IQ, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
My friend the Belgian philosopher Maarten Boudry is writing about what he calls, correctly, “the most dangerous idea in academia”—an idea that can get you banned or even fired if you even suggest it. It is, of course, the notion that different “races” differ on average in IQ or intelligence. It’s such a hot potato…
The taboo idea you can’t discuss in academia
Corrupt pardons
21 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
Most US Presidents have done dubious pardons – Clinton re Marc Rich and Joe Biden re Hunter Biden etc. But as the libertarian Cato Institute point out, Trump’s pardons are in a different league: Biden’s pardons eliminated roughly $680,000 in financial penalties (fines, restitution, and forfeitures) owed to victims or the government. In contrast, Liz Oyer,…
Corrupt pardons
The True Story of the Great Escape
21 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, movies, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, World War II
During World War II, one of the most daring and ambitious prisoner-of-war (POW) escapes in history took place in the German POW camp Stalag Luft III. Known as “The Great Escape,” Allied airmen executed this remarkable event, which demonstrated extraordinary resilience, ingenuity, and bravery in their pursuit of freedom. While the escape itself was a […]
The True Story of the Great Escape
Some simple spatial analytics of Cape Town
21 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of regulation, growth disasters, transport economics, urban economics Tags: South Africa
Rio de Janeiro let its hillsides be filled in with lower-cost dwellings. The result was a significant increase in the crime rate. On the more positive side of the ledger, upward mobility increased too. If you live in a decent favela, you can get to a downtown job with not too much difficulty, albeit with…
Some simple spatial analytics of Cape Town
The Wealth of Nations: What’s It all About?
20 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in Adam Smith, history of economic thought
The US semiquincentennial (that is, half of 500 years) will be July 4 of this year, but economists celebrated a 250th anniversary of their own on March 9, marking the original publication date of Adam Smith’s An Inquity into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. It’s of course fundamentally impossible to sum up…
The Wealth of Nations: What’s It all About?
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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