Last week, the Government unveiled legislation to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords. It’s a fairly straightforward bill that seeks to repeal section 2 of the House of Lords Act 1999, thereby making the exclusion of hereditary peers absolute rather than qualified. It also abolishes the Upper House’s jurisdiction over peerage […]
Farewell, my (hereditary) lords?
Farewell, my (hereditary) lords?
12 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics, Public Choice Tags: British politics, constitutional law
The End of the ISS is Coming but Why and What Will Replace it?
12 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in transport economics Tags: space
Tonight’s debate and what Tom Friedman thinks Harris must do to win
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
As you know, there’s a Big Debate tonight between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It’ll be broadcast on television on ABC, a non-cable channel. ABC says this: (note that times are Eastern times): The ABC News debate, moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis, will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 9 p.m ET. […]
Tonight’s debate and what Tom Friedman thinks Harris must do to win
Please legalise new supermarkets
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, environmental economics, politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: land supply, zoning
Jaw-dropping bit from the Grocery Regulator, in interview at Interest.co.nz:“What we’ve been told by these players is when they come and they want to open up a large store in New Zealand, the cost to get a spade in the ground is double that of Australia,” he says in a new episode of the Of…
Please legalise new supermarkets
SHOWDOWN: Willie Jackson vs David Seymour on the Treaty Principles Bill
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
VP Harris hasn’t ‘moderated’ on climate issues – She doubles down on ‘climate crisis’ narrative, still supports net-zero policies that will harm grids, U.S. farming, and domestic energy
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, solar power, wind power
KamalaHarris hasn’t “moderated” on climate issues. She doubles down on “climate crisis” narrative, still supports net-zero energy policies that will harm grid stability, agriculture, and all energy-related sectors. Nor does she regret her IRA vote.
VP Harris hasn’t ‘moderated’ on climate issues – She doubles down on ‘climate crisis’ narrative, still supports net-zero policies that will harm grids, U.S. farming, and domestic energy
Failing Banks
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, financial economics, global financial crisis (GFC), great depression, great recession, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - USA Tags: bank panics, bank runs
From Sergio Correia, Stephan Luck, and Emil Verner: Why do banks fail? We create a panel covering most commercial banks from 1865 through 2023 to study the history of failing banks in the United States. Failing banks are characterized by rising asset losses, deteriorating solvency, and an increasing reliance on expensive non-core funding. Commonalities across…
Failing Banks
Uber messy
11 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law, Uber
Caught a fun phone call from an accountant after this week’s column over at the Dom Post (and Christchurch Press, etc) on the court’s decision in the Uber case.If Uber drivers are employees, rather than contractors, as the Court sees things, how will depreciation on their cars be handled? Contractors can count all those expenses…
Uber messy
Cheese on the offended
10 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in liberalism, movies, television Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Get Musk: Leading Investor Calls for the Prosecution of Elon Musk for “Undermining” the Federal Government
10 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Silicon Valley investor Roger McNamee this weekend went on MSNBC’s “Last Word” and called for the arrest of Elon Musk for “undermining” the federal government by sharing his opinions on X.
Get Musk: Leading Investor Calls for the Prosecution of Elon Musk for “Undermining” the Federal Government
The Ghost of Richard Daley: Democrats Aren’t Creating Disorder; They’re Preserving it
10 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Below is my column in the Hill on the effort of Democratic officials to keep Robert Kennedy on the ballot in swing states after seeking to block actual candidates from the same ballots. It is all in the name of democracy. Here is the column:
The Ghost of Richard Daley: Democrats Aren’t Creating Disorder; They’re Preserving it
Rent controls make many tenants worse off in the Netherlands
10 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of regulation, income redistribution, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: rent control
Rent controls have created shortages of housing, every time and in every place that they have been tried. In the latest futile attempt to create working rent controls, the Netherlands has worsened its housing shortage. As Bloomberg reported recently (paywalled, but try this alternative link):Two years ago, Nine Moraal and her two children moved into a…
Rent controls make many tenants worse off in the Netherlands
Uber ruling – driving in the wrong direction
09 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, occupational regulation, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, transport economics, urban economics Tags: employment law, Uber
Dr Oliver Hartwich writes – Last week, an Uber driver surprised me in a conversation about the recent Court of Appeal decision classifying four Uber drivers as employees rather than contractors. My driver was blunt. He has no desire to be an employee. He values his flexibility to take breaks and drive when and where […]
Uber ruling – driving in the wrong direction
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments