Mark Carney announced last week that the King will open the Canadian Parliament in person later this month. It’s unusual for the Canadian Monarch to give the Speech from the Throne. The last time this happened was in 1977 when Queen Elizabeth II opened Parliament during her Silver Jubilee tour. Carney’s invitation is notable because […]
A new chapter in Canadian constitutional history? The King’s return to Parliament
A new chapter in Canadian constitutional history? The King’s return to Parliament
06 May 2025 1 Comment
in economic history, politics Tags: British politics, Canada, constitutional law
Democracy in danger
03 May 2025 1 Comment
in politics - USA Tags: constitutional law, France, Germany
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency on Friday designated the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, as an “extremist endeavor,” a move that lowers hurdles for the spy agency in conducting certain kinds of surveillance on the party, the second-largest in Germany’s parliament. In a statement, the intelligence agency said the designation was “due to the […]
Democracy in danger
The First 100 Days: The Method Behind the Madness in Court Challenges
02 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law, economics of immigration
Below is my column in the New York Post on the first 100 days of the Trump Administration in court. It is too early to handicap many of these lower courts decisions. I have been critical of some of these orders as either premature or unconstitutional. There is a reason for the hyperkinetic pace of […]
The First 100 Days: The Method Behind the Madness in Court Challenges
Take Thyself to Texas: The Supreme Court Rules For Trump on Stay and Jurisdiction Over Deportations
09 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law, economics of immigration
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court delivered a victory to the Trump Administration on the deportations under the 1798…
Take Thyself to Texas: The Supreme Court Rules For Trump on Stay and Jurisdiction Over Deportations
Prebs is Right – a 4 Year Parliamentary Term is no panacea to NZ’s stagnation. The problem is neither the Nats nor Labour have had a plan since 1993.
03 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic growth, economic history, law and economics, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law
In an excellent article in the Herald, Richard Prebble (or “Prebs” as we call him) argues the proposals presented by National-ACT for a…
Prebs is Right – a 4 Year Parliamentary Term is no panacea to NZ’s stagnation. The problem is neither the Nats nor Labour have had a plan since 1993.
Equality of suffrage seen as bad by Radio NZ
31 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, discrimination, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell has a simple proposed members’ bill to amend the Bill of Rights Act to have equal suffrage extend to local government. Equal suffrage is a fundamental human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will […]
Equality of suffrage seen as bad by Radio NZ
Did you know the Magna Carta was against tariffs?
13 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law, tariffs
One clause of the Magna Carta says: All merchants shall have safe and secure exit from England, and entry to England, with the right to tarry there and to move about as well by land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and right customs, quit from all evil tolls So tariffs […]
Did you know the Magna Carta was against tariffs?
Inability to understand te reo Māori does not prevent people from asking questions about race relations in New Zealand
12 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, income redistribution, International law, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Ananish Chaudhuri writes – Dame Anne Salmond recently wrote a column on Newsroom berating people for having views on the Treaty of Waitangi when they cannot even read the Māori version of the treaty. So, what she is saying is that even when customs, laws or treaties impinge on your daily life, you cannot hold any views […]
Inability to understand te reo Māori does not prevent people from asking questions about race relations in New Zealand
The WaPo describes (and distorts) a big “culture war” in New Zealand
10 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, media bias, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
ADDENDUM: See added comments and clarifications under “addendum” at bottom. ******************** I’ve written many times about the battle of the indigenous people in New Zealand (the Māori) to get their “way of knowing”—which includes a lot of superstition and unreliable word-of-mouth “knowledge,” as well as legends and morality—adopted as official policy or as a “way […]
The WaPo describes (and distorts) a big “culture war” in New Zealand
Down But Not Out: The Supreme Court Rules 5-4 Against the Freezing $2 Billion in USAID Funds
07 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law
In an interesting 5-4 split, the Supreme Court has denied the Trump Administration’s application for a stay of a district court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Administration’s effort to freeze $2 billion in funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Administration is down by one vote but hardly out in the fight […]
Down But Not Out: The Supreme Court Rules 5-4 Against the Freezing $2 Billion in USAID Funds
Spoiling for a Fight: Why the Administration’s Loss Last Night May Be Not Just Expected But Welcomed
07 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, constitutional law
Late Saturday, D.C. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that President Donald Trump violated federal law in firing Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel. Jackson’s decision is forceful, well-written, and challengeable under existing precedent. Indeed, it may have just set up an appeal that both presidents and professors have long waited for […]
Spoiling for a Fight: Why the Administration’s Loss Last Night May Be Not Just Expected But Welcomed
RICHARD PREBBLE: Letter of resignation from the Waitangi Tribunal
06 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, discrimination, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Hon Tama Potaka Minister of Maori Development 28 February 2025 Dear Minister, After careful consideration I must resign as a Member of the Waitangi Tribunal. The treaty is not just our founding document, it makes New Zealand unique. Two peoples peacefully agreeing to form a nation. Over the summer I have been reading Tribunal reports […]
RICHARD PREBBLE: Letter of resignation from the Waitangi Tribunal
GRAHAM ADAMS: John Tamihere and Te Pāti Māori are in a world of pain
05 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The government cutting Whānau Ora funding would be a crippling blow. For the longest time, it has been impossible to make Te Pāti Māori…
GRAHAM ADAMS: John Tamihere and Te Pāti Māori are in a world of pain
The sovereign reality and our path to nationhood
07 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Roger Partridge writes – Waitangi day debates about New Zealand’s sovereignty often fixate on a single moment: the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. This focus is understandable, given the Treaty’s significance to both Māori and the Crown. But is this the full story of how New Zealand’s sovereignty was established? And if […]
The sovereign reality and our path to nationhood
Nicholas Reed Langen: The Use and Abuse of Citizenship Deprivation: SSHD v Kolicaj
07 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: British politics, constitutional law, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Any British citizen that happens to hold citizenship for another country could find themselves in an invidious position. If the Home Secretary decides that it would be ‘conducive to the public good’, they can single-handedly strip a person of their citizenship, and with it, their right to remain in the country. So long as the deprivation […]
Nicholas Reed Langen: The Use and Abuse of Citizenship Deprivation: SSHD v Kolicaj
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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