I hope NZ doesn’t resume funding UNRWA. Here’s some numbers (from Israel but not rebutted) on them: We should fund other UN agencies like the World Food Programme and good NGOs providing relief. But it is clear that funding UNRWA is akin to indirectly funding Hamas.
Some UNRWA data
Some UNRWA data
31 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
MICHAEL BASSETT: LABOUR’S CRIME LEGACY OF THE LAST THREE YEARS
31 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, labour economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The Labour Government lost the 2023 election when its support halved from 2020. It deserved to lose on economic grounds alone. Covid lockdowns that went beyond the prudent and wrecked livelihoods in the name of saving lives; an orgy of careless spending of borrowed money; and a failure to ensure that the 16,000 extra bureaucrats…
MICHAEL BASSETT: LABOUR’S CRIME LEGACY OF THE LAST THREE YEARS
Cheat sheet
29 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, income redistribution, liberalism, Marxist economics, Public Choice, Rawls and Nozick, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left

The UK shows why it is one of the most tolerant countries there is
27 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination Tags: British politics, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Vaughan Gething has just been elected as First Minister of Wales. He is black (his mother is Zambian) and this makes him the first black leader of a country in Europe. It also means that none of the four leaders of the UK are white men. And I (especially) have nothing against white men, but […]
The UK shows why it is one of the most tolerant countries there is
Times are a changing
27 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of love and marriage, law and economics Tags: marriage and divorce, political correctness, regressive left
“As A True Marxist…”
26 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in income redistribution, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: regressive left, Watermelons

So said the Green MP Ricardo Menendez March about himself in Parliament the other day when rising to speak about a bill. As DPF archly noted on his Kiwiblog, you can bet your bottom dollar that the MSM will refuse to term him as “Far Left” in the way they term ACT or even Winston as […]
“As A True Marxist…”
DON BRASH: Terminated for saying “no” to cultural training – what’s next? (UPDATED)
26 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The following is written by Don Brash in his capacity as Hobson’s Pledge Trustee. As I shared with you previously, the Real Estate Authority (REA) said they were going to cancel real estate agent Janet Dickson’s licence for five years because she would not take a compulsory Māori culture course. Then, the real estate company…
DON BRASH: Terminated for saying “no” to cultural training – what’s next? (UPDATED)
*Who’s Afraid of Gender?*
26 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, gender, law and economics, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
That is the title of the new Judith Butler book, focusing mostly on trans issues. To be clear, on most practical issues concerning trans, I side with the social conservatives. For instance, I don’t think trans women have a right to compete in women’s weightlifting contests. And I have not been happy with how many […]
*Who’s Afraid of Gender?*
“Blatantly Misogynistic”: UC Berkeley Students Declare That They Feel Unsafe After Professor Shares Dating Advice
24 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, economics of media and culture, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left

This week, parents of students at the University of California at Berkeley took the extreme step of hiring private security to protect their children at the school after years of complaints over rising crime and anti-police policies. The university, however, is focused this week on another threat that has led students to object that they […]
“Blatantly Misogynistic”: UC Berkeley Students Declare That They Feel Unsafe After Professor Shares Dating Advice
Hamas, not Israel, is the party refusing a ceasefire
23 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Slate reports: Amid all the calls for an Israeli cease-fire in the war with Gaza, a few key facts are getting short shrift. Israel has put forth a cease-fire plan. It was negotiated along with U.S., Egyptian, Qatari, and Saudi diplomats. Its terms are quite favorable to Hamas. And Hamas is the party that’s rejecting […]
Hamas, not Israel, is the party refusing a ceasefire
Nikole Hannah-Jones on reparations for descendants of slaves
21 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left

As you know, I go back and forth on the question of affirmative action for college and professional-school admissions, and even after I thought I’d settled on a view (i.e., give some preference to minorities among those equally qualified for admission), it still keeps changing. After I read the long New York Times piece below […]
Nikole Hannah-Jones on reparations for descendants of slaves
Does Hamas want to cease fire?
19 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Politics is Ugly
18 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror, World War II

My Dad once told about how the famous British General Bernard Montgomery was asked after WWII whether he might like to go into politics and he declined, saying: War is a dirty business, but politics, by gum! I’ve never looked into the story to see if it’s apocryphal but given that politics appears at the […]
Politics is Ugly
Marriage Fundamentalism: Professor Criticizes Marriage as an Institution Built on “White Heteropatriarchal Supremacy”
17 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of love and marriage, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left

George Mason Professor Bethany Letiecq is at the center of a firestorm of controversy over his article in the Journal of Marriage and Family declaring that the institution of marriage plays a key role in white supremacy. In considering what she labels “marriage fundamentalism,” Letiecq lashes out at the “two-parent married family” model. It is the […]
Marriage Fundamentalism: Professor Criticizes Marriage as an Institution Built on “White Heteropatriarchal Supremacy”
Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
16 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: regressive left
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to first suspend Darleen Tana from her small business […]
Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana

Recent Comments