Published in 1991, “Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1908-1960” is the first volume in a two-volume series on LBJ written by Robert Dallek. Dallek is a retired professor of history and the author of nearly two dozen books including a bestselling biography of JFK (which I recently read and liked) and a […]
Review of “Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1908-1960 (Vol 1)” by Robert Dallek
Review of “Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1908-1960 (Vol 1)” by Robert Dallek
18 May 2026 Leave a comment
The Regulator has confirmed the NZ economy is rigged
18 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand Tags: competition law
The Commerce Commission’s “State of Competition in New Zealand” report landed on Tuesday. It is arguably the most important economic document of the political year. It names four sectors as the country’s least competitive: electricity, gas, water and waste services; financial and insurance services; information media and telecommunications; and mining. The night before the report […]
The Regulator has confirmed the NZ economy is rigged
UCLA Medical School Accused of Racial Discrimination in Defiance of the Supreme Court
18 May 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, politics - New Zealand Tags: affirmative action, racial discrimination
We previously discussed a disturbing account of how medical students at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University…
UCLA Medical School Accused of Racial Discrimination in Defiance of the Supreme Court
They Don’t Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt
17 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA Tags: free trade, tarrifs
TweetHere’s a letter to a new correspondent. Mr. H__: Thanks for your email. You write, in response to this post of mine, that I am “too quick at second guessing the president and his administration on its determination of the trade behaviors of other countries.” You say that I “owe the administration the benefit of…
They Don’t Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt
Reform’s trolling policy
17 May 2026 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply, politics Tags: British politics, economics of immigration
The Guardian reports: A Reform government will not put any migrant detention facilities in any constituency with a Reform MP. Nor will we put them where Reform controls the council. And of the remaining areas, we will prioritise Green controlled parliamentary constituencies and Green controlled councils to locate the detention centres. Put simply, if you…
Reform’s trolling policy
Review of “Reagan: His Life and Legend” by Max Boot
17 May 2026 Leave a comment
Max Boot’s long-awaited “Reagan: His Life and Legend” was released two weeks ago. Boot is an author, historian and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His 2018 “The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography. For a modern president who […]
Review of “Reagan: His Life and Legend” by Max Boot
Iceland’s Superb Private Retirement System
17 May 2026 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, labour economics, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: Iceland
Over the years, I’ve written about the successful private retirement systems in jurisdictions such as Australia, Chile, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Netherlands, the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Israel, and Sweden. Today’s column will add to the collection because we’re going to look at Iceland’s remarkable system of personal retirement accounts. We’ll start with two charts. Here’s a […]
Iceland’s Superb Private Retirement System
Celebrating 250 Years of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations
16 May 2026 Leave a comment
in Adam Smith, applied price theory, economic history, history of economic thought
March 9 was the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. I wanted to celebrate that occasion yesterday, but decided acknowledging Argentina’s rapid improvement in the Index of Economic Freedom was more timely. So let’s pay tribute today to Smith, starting with this video from the Fraser Institute (part of a […]
Celebrating 250 Years of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations
UK Green candidate endorses murder of Jews
16 May 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: British politics, regressive left
The Spectator reports: A terror attack on a synagogue was “not anti-semitism” but was “revenge” for Israel “murdering people,” according to a video promoted by a Green Party council candidate. Sabine Mairey, a Green candidate for Clapham Town ward in Lambeth, south London, posted the video, by David Spevak, an American Jewish anti-Zionist, on her Facebook page last month.…
UK Green candidate endorses murder of Jews
Bigger than Ben Hur
16 May 2026 1 Comment
in Austrian economics, economics of regulation, health economics, industrial organisation, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand Tags: black markets, economics of smoking
Radio NZ reports: Deakin University associate criminology professor Dr James Martin told RNZ the Australian approach had relied on enforcement to suppress the black market. “This has been really ineffective,” he said. “We’ve got between 50-60 percent of all tobacco and nearly all vaping products in Australia now come from criminal suppliers, and it’s generated…
Bigger than Ben Hur
The Sting in the India Trade Deal
16 May 2026 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of regulation, international economic law, international economics, International law, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: India, preferential trading agreements
A Constitutional Trojan Horse: advancing change through political stealth Trade Minister Hon Todd McClay has announced that the New Zealand-India free trade agreement has been signed and that the formal parliamentary treaty scrutiny process is now under way. The full text of the agreement is now public and has been referred to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee […]
The Sting in the India Trade Deal
An affront to democracy?
16 May 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: climate activists, constitutional law
Mike Smith, the climate activist suing six of New Zealand’s largest companies over greenhouse gas emissions, is unhappy. On Tuesday, the Government announced it will amend the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to stop cases like his and others like it. Smith calls the move “an affront to democracy.” He has the wrong end of the […]
An affront to democracy?
Disaster? NYT Op-Ed on Demoting the Climate Pitch
15 May 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: climate alarmism
This essay is capitulation to catastrophe…. Don’t talk about it, then the public won’t know about it, then you can’t run for office on it and the country won’t act on the emergency. The post Disaster? NYT Op-Ed on Demoting the Climate Pitch appeared first on Watts Up With That?.
Disaster? NYT Op-Ed on Demoting the Climate Pitch
Strategic overhangs and ways to prevent them in MMP systems
15 May 2026 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, politics - New Zealand
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
Review of “Ted Kennedy: A Life” by John A. Farrell
15 May 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, economics of media and culture, politics - USA
Ted Kennedy: A Life by John A. Farrell 752 pages Penguin Press Published: Oct 2022 “Ted Kennedy: A Life” is John Farrell’s just-released biography of the youngest son of Joseph P. Kennedy. Farrell is a former correspondent for The Boston Globe who has written biographies of Tip O’Neill and Richard Nixon (a Pulitzer Prize finalist […]
Review of “Ted Kennedy: A Life” by John A. Farrell
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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