A letter signed by more than 170 legal “experts” has been circulated around the media in the last few days and quoted extensively. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate the letter in its entirety but have gathered some quotes. The letter claims to fact check Hobson’s Pledge’s ad which was published on…
DON BRASH: WHO IS MISLEADING THE PUBLIC?
DON BRASH: WHO IS MISLEADING THE PUBLIC?
16 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, resource economics Tags: constitutional law, native title
A Most Insignificant Office: A History of the US Vice Presidency
14 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA Tags: constitutional law
Jurisdiction Stripping or Court Killing? The “No Kings Act” is a Decapitation of the Constitution
08 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) has introduced the “No Kings Act” with great fanfare and the support of most of his Democratic colleagues. Liberal groups have heralded the measure to legislatively reverse the ruling in Trump v. United States. It is obviously popular with the press and pundits. It is also entirely unconstitutional in […]
Jurisdiction Stripping or Court Killing? The “No Kings Act” is a Decapitation of the Constitution
DON BRASH: John Key’s Call for “Caution” in Race Relations
06 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
He doesn’t want to have difficult conversations. Former National Party leader Sir John Key has urged people to “take the temperature down a wee bit” in the debate surrounding race issues. He believes this is an area where any government needs to “tread carefully.” He also mentioned recent issues such as ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill, the…
DON BRASH: John Key’s Call for “Caution” in Race Relations
The Chameleon Party
05 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Oliver Hartwich writes – As Marx once said, “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” Of course, this quote was from Groucho, not Karl. However, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s interest in utilising the waka-jumping law against former colleague Darleen Tana certainly has something Marxist about it.
The Chameleon Party
Biden Abandons the Court . . . and His Last Inviolate Principle
31 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law
Below is my column in the New York Post on President Joe Biden’s call to reform the Supreme Court by ending lifetime tenure for Supreme Court justices. Here is the column:
Biden Abandons the Court . . . and His Last Inviolate Principle
Tikanga, law and information asymmetry
27 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Justice Joe Williams in his 2013 paper Lex Aoteoroa made a case for Māori tikanga being recognized as New Zealand’s “first law”. Tikanga existed prior to New Zealand’s development of a legal system based on the British model. Without written language pre-European Māori tikanga is not well documented. However, its customs and norms governed, for […]
Tikanga, law and information asymmetry
Māori Party political leader curses and rants on video, calling for overthrow of New Zealand’s government
24 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, free speech, Maori economic development, political correctness, regressive left
This video, professionally made and showing Kiri Tamihere-Waititi doing what can only be called ranting about her oppression and that of the Māori people, and then winding up by calling for the overthrow of the New Zealand, has caused a stir in that country. I am told that Tamihere-Waititi is a powerful member of Te […]
Māori Party political leader curses and rants on video, calling for overthrow of New Zealand’s government
Supreme Folly: The Lingering and Ironic Legacy of President Biden on Court “Limits”
22 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law
Below is my Hill column on President Joe Biden shifting his position on the Supreme Court and agreeing to “limits” on the Supreme Court. This ran before President Biden finally consented to withdraw from the race. It makes this last ditch effort even more tragic for his legacy. As I mentioned in the column, the […]
Supreme Folly: The Lingering and Ironic Legacy of President Biden on Court “Limits”
MICHAEL BASSETT: DEALING WITH TODAY’S SMALL, RAUCOUS, CRAZY MAORI FRINGE
22 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economic history, income redistribution, International law, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law, Maori economic development
Anyone watching and trying to understand last Sunday’s Q&A where Jack Tame interviewed Debbie Ngarewa-Packer will realise that she seems to be beyond reason. Tame tried to examine bits of her blather and her obvious misuse of words, but she immediately slithered like an eel under a rock and made louder assertions about how Maori “korero”…
MICHAEL BASSETT: DEALING WITH TODAY’S SMALL, RAUCOUS, CRAZY MAORI FRINGE
Energy, Business Groups Ask Supreme Court To Stop California From Forcing EVs On the Rest of America
09 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: constitutional law, federalism
Numerous trade associations are asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that effectively allowed California to push electric vehicles (EVs) on the rest of the U.S.
Energy, Business Groups Ask Supreme Court To Stop California From Forcing EVs On the Rest of America
Does Parliament also need to define taonga?
14 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Piers Seed writes about the current definition of taonga: According to the Waitangi Tribunal the definition of taonga is: “Treasures’: ‘taonga’. As submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal concerning the Māori language have made clear, ‘taonga’ refers to all dimensions of a tribal group’s estate, material and non-material – heirlooms and wahi tapu (sacred places), ancestral lore…
Does Parliament also need to define taonga?
Leftists Against Growth: Honest, but Wrong
10 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, macroeconomics Tags: constitutional law
Just as trend lines are important for fiscal policy, they are perhaps even more important when looking at economic performance. Even small difference in annual growth rates, for instance, can lead to big changes in prosperity within a couple of decades. And enormous changes over longer periods of time. All of which explains why I’m […]
Leftists Against Growth: Honest, but Wrong
“Democracy is on the Ballot”: California Democrats Seek to Prevent Voters from Approving New Taxes
01 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, income redistribution, law and economics, Public Choice, public economics Tags: constitutional law
“Democracy is on the ballot.” That mantra of President Joe Biden and other democrats has suggested that “this may be our last election” if the Republicans win in 2024. A few of us have noted that the Democrats seem more keen on claiming the mantle of the defenders of democracy than actually practicing. Democrats have […]
“Democracy is on the Ballot”: California Democrats Seek to Prevent Voters from Approving New Taxes
The Waitangi Tribunal Summons; or the more things stay the same
23 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than by them. Chhour is challenging a decision […]
The Waitangi Tribunal Summons; or the more things stay the same
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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