That is the topic of my latest Free Press column, here is one excerpt: What else are currency values telling us today? The Japanese yen continues a very weak run, now coming in at about 158 to the U.S. dollar. I can recall when it was common for the yen to stand at about 100…
The economics of currency values
The economics of currency values
25 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, financial economics, international economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics Tags: Japan
AI and Jobs: Interview with David Autor
25 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply Tags: creative destruction
Sara Frueh interviews David Autor on the subject: “How Is AI Shaping the Future of Work?” (Issues in Science and Technology, January 6, 2026). Here are some snippets that caught my eye, but it’s worth reading the essay and even clicking on some of the suggested additional readings: How broadly are AI tools already being…
AI and Jobs: Interview with David Autor
Waking up to the reality of tobacco’s black market
25 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, health economics, politics - Australia Tags: economics of smoking
There’s a website called Tobacco in Australia: Facts and Issues which is written by a few anti-smoking activist-academics. It provides lots of tobacco-related statistics and a bit of editorialising. The website has a whole section devoted to criticising “industry estimates of the extent of illicit trade in tobacco”. It is an article of faith in tobakko…
Waking up to the reality of tobacco’s black market
Climate Change Economics, Skip the Hysteria (Lomborg)
25 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, resource economics Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism, pessimism bias
For those who prefer reading, below is an excerpted transcript lightly edited from the interview, including my bolds and added images. Hey everyone, it’s Andrew Klavan with this week’s interview with Bjorn Lomborg. I met Bjorn, he probably doesn’t remember this, but I met him many, many years ago at Andrew Breitbart’s house. Andrew brought […]
Climate Change Economics, Skip the Hysteria (Lomborg)
Poor whites used to vote for Democratic presidential candidates while rich whites voted Repulican. This has now reversed
24 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential elections, voter demographics
See Entertainment got too good by Eric Levitz of Vox. The article has some interesting ideas on why this happened along with some useful graphics. I have links to several related posts on the attitudes of Democrats & Repulicans, what shapes their views, how they differ, how they affect their daily lives and why they change…
Poor whites used to vote for Democratic presidential candidates while rich whites voted Repulican. This has now reversed
How the Labour Party will campaign in 2026
24 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: 2026 general election
This week Chris Hipkins gave us the clearest picture yet of how Labour plans to fight the 2026 election. His speech at the party’s caucus retreat in West Auckland, and then a rally-style address to party activists, revealed a strategy that combines class-based attack lines, relentless positivity, and a narrowed focus on kitchen-table concerns. But […]
How the Labour Party will campaign in 2026
Americans Are Getting Richer, Part IV
24 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, income redistribution, labour economics, macroeconomics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality
In 2016, here’s some of what I wrote about the economic outlook in Illinois. And I shared the same observation when writing about California in 2018. There’s a somewhat famous quote from Adam Smith (“there is a great deal of ruin in a nation“) about the ability of a country to survive and withstand lots of […]
Americans Are Getting Richer, Part IV
When the Left and the Right start behaving in the same way, there’s nothing left of the Left
23 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of education, gender, International law, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, war and peace Tags: regressive left
I HAVE BEEN RESISTING the conclusion that New Zealand no longer possesses a “left-wing” movement. What the news media persists in referring to as “the Left” or “progressives” are no such thing. By any reasonable definition, the movements identified – or identifying themselves – as left-wing fail to measure up. What they truly are we […]
When the Left and the Right start behaving in the same way, there’s nothing left of the Left
The rise of NZ First
23 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
I write at Patreon: NZ First scored 11.9% in the January 2026 Taxpayers’ Union – Curia poll. This is a very high level of support for NZ First generally, but especially for them in Government. The last time NZ First polled this high was in the lead up to the 2017 election. They also spiked…
The rise of NZ First
Why did Austria-Hungary do so poorly in World War One? (Short Animated D…
23 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War I
Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms
23 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics Tags: British constitutional law, British politics
On 2 December 2025, the Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy announced significant reforms to criminal trials in England and Wales. Defending his proposals on the BBC Sunday programme on 4 January 2026, Lammy justified restricting jury trial on the basis of his strong sense of justice, explicitly pointing to the fact he had a photograph […]
Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms
My polling predictions at Newsroom
22 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
Newsroom asked some pollsters for their predictions for 2026. Mine are below: Every poll (or almost every poll) will show that both National and Labour will need two partner parties to govern, not just one – that is: only National/Act/New Zealand First and Labour/Greens/Te Pāti Māori will have enough seats to make 61. All 71…
My polling predictions at Newsroom
“It’s Going to Get Really Serious”: Liberal Influencers Discuss Public Trials and Court Expansion After Democratic Takeover
22 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: constitutional law
Former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta spoke with popular podcaster Jennifer Welch, discussing the plans for radical changes after a Democratic…
“It’s Going to Get Really Serious”: Liberal Influencers Discuss Public Trials and Court Expansion After Democratic Takeover
Britain to extend life of ageing nuclear plants to keep the lights on
21 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: British politics, nuclear energy
By Paul Homewood h/t Ian Cunningham From the Telegraph: Two of Britain’s oldest nuclear power plants could be kept running for an extra two years because of an acute electricity shortage in the UK.
Britain to extend life of ageing nuclear plants to keep the lights on
Yes Islamist terrorism is religiously inspired
21 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of religion, law and economics, liberalism, war and peace Tags: regressive left, war against terror
A crazy article by Halim Rane at the ABC: In the aftermath of violent attacks, public commentary quickly reaches for a familiar label like “religiously motivated terrorism”. The term sounds intuitive but it is analytically flawed, socially harmful and counter-productive to both national security and social cohesion. I would argue that a more accurate and useful…
Yes Islamist terrorism is religiously inspired
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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