Outstanding questions
13 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, financial economics, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice

A couple of nights ago, shortly after the Minister and Treasury finally released the suite of texts between Willis and Rennie, ZB featured interviewer Heather du Plessis-Allan talking to Herald journalist Jenee Tibshraeny (who has been over the Orr/Quigley/Willis saga issue from day one). There wasn’t anything concrete that was new in the conversation but […]
Outstanding questions
BBC report on ‘pro-Palestine activists’ omits link to proscribed group
12 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: British politics, free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror

A report published on the BBC News website’s ‘England’ and ‘Bradford’ pages on September 6th purports to inform readers about a legal case. Titled “Pro-Palestine activists sentenced over protest”, that uncredited article tells BBC audiences that: [emphasis added] “A group of pro-Palestine activists who staged a seven-hour protest on the roof of an aerospace and […]
BBC report on ‘pro-Palestine activists’ omits link to proscribed group
Could China Have Gone Christian?
12 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of religion Tags: China
The Taiping Rebellion is arguably the most important event in modern history that even educated Westerners know very little about. It’s also known as the Taiping Civil War and it was one of the largest conflicts in human history (1850–1864), with death toll estimates ranging from 20 to 30 million, far exceeding deaths in the […]
Could China Have Gone Christian?
Why Fossil Fuels Still Rule
12 Sep 2025 1 Comment

Kite & Key explain in their video, transcript in italics with my bolds and added images. Tech executives. Heads of state. Brilliant scientists and engineers. They’re some of the most talented and respected individuals in the world — and, in recent years, they’ve all come together behind a common purpose. They’ve marshaled their talents — […]
Why Fossil Fuels Still Rule
Why did Te Pati Maori sack their whip?
12 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: Mariameno Kapa-Kingi says Te Pāti Māori’s leadership has removed her from the role of party whip despite her enjoying the work.
Why did Te Pati Maori sack their whip?
Mises, Bastiat, Public Opinion, and Public Choice
12 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, Public Choice

20th anniversary of my prize-winning paper with Ed Stringham
Mises, Bastiat, Public Opinion, and Public Choice
💰 Inflation, Debt & The Future of the Economy | A Conversation with John Cochrane
12 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, currency unions, fiscal policy, history of economic thought, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, monetarism, monetary economics Tags: monetary policy
Coleman Hughes interviews Ben Shapiro
11 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
This is a new video interview from the “Conversations with Coleman” series at the Free Press, but I found it posted just this morning on YouTube. Before you go running to the hills when you hear and see “Ben Shapiro”, let me remind you of the salubrious effect of listening to those whose views differ […]
Coleman Hughes interviews Ben Shapiro
Vernon Smith on Donald Trump’s Protectionism
11 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: free trade, tariffs

TweetMy emeritus Nobel-laureate colleague, Vernon Smith, sent the following email to me in response to this post. I share Vernon’s note with his kind permission. Don, Trump, like all businesspersons turned political, wants government favors, that is Mercantilism which is as bad today as when Adam Smith railed against such cozy relationships. Same for labor…
Vernon Smith on Donald Trump’s Protectionism
270 Deception and Psychopathy Robert Trivers EP 270
11 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, population economics Tags: evolutionary biology
Greens say taxing supermarkets more will lower food prices!
10 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: competition law
Radio NZ reports: But the Greens’ commerce and consumer affairs spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March told RNZ that was only “one part of the puzzle” and the government needed to explore all its options – including breaking up the supermarket duopoly. “While we support having new players in the market, Nicola Willis is banking on big […]
Greens say taxing supermarkets more will lower food prices!
10 great questions the Royal Commission should ask
10 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: economics of pandemics
Two professors of economics have 10 questions they would have out to former Ministers about Covid-19. Hopefully these have been put by the Royal Commission. They are: I will be very disappointed if questions like these were not put to the former Ministers.
10 great questions the Royal Commission should ask
Why Do Americans Work So Many Hours?
10 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in health economics, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA

Compared to workers in most other high-income countries, Americans tend to work more hours per year. Here’s a figure from the OECD, which is based on taking the total number of hours worked in an economy and dividing it by the number of workers for the most recent year available. Because different countries will measure…
Why Do Americans Work So Many Hours?
45 words the left should avoid
10 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The left wing Third Way organisation has published a list of 45 words other than says Democrats (the left) should avoid using as they alienate people. Sadly for the, I doubt the right people will listen. Some of the words are: Someone who is bored should monitor for a few weeks how many of the […]
45 words the left should avoid
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