The power to say no is also the power to make the rules, or at least in part. Parliament legislates. Read more

Online shoppers beware: getting that cheap paperback from Book Depository could get a lot harder. But, it will depend on just how the government goes about taxing direct-to-consumer imports. Read more

You never really understand an issue until you can argue from the opposing view. Being able to make the best possible case for something you oppose helps you to avoid attacking strawmen and means that your own argument will be stronger for it. Read more

When the government moved to privatise Mount Eden prison, I was a sceptic. There can be very good arguments for outsourcing service provision or privatisation in all kinds of sectors, but prisons were about the last on my list. Read more

I’m not a fan of paternalism but in one area it has its place: education. Students should be able to choose from a range of disciplines to find the one that best suits their inclinations, interests and future career ambitions. Read more

I don't think there has ever been a better time to pull out Homer Simpson's term "crisitunity". As everyone knows, the Chinese character for crisis combines danger with opportunity - hence crisitunity. Read more

Australia National University’s Dr George Barker suggested this week that New Zealand could do well by strengthening its copyright legislation. He warned against the fair dealing exceptions that have crept into the law and asked, “Why not have copyright law like property law – i.e. Read more

It’s always a bit tough reporting on the New Zealand Economics Association annual conference. Not because the papers are filled with opaque mathematical theory, or because speakers were less than lucid – neither of those are true, for the most part. Read more

Everybody knows that inequality has been rising in New Zealand since the reforms of the 1980s. We know this because the media and politicians tell us so. Read more

For my sins in generally supporting consumer choice in food consumption, and in interests of fostering healthy debate, the Agencies for Nutrition Action invited me to argue with the Morgan Foundation’s Geoff Simmons on the merits of fat taxes and food regulation at his annual conference in Auckland a few weeks ago. The nutritionists put on an excellent conference. Read more

Chris Berg last week made a compelling case against the tyranny of experts. In large part, I sympathise with him. Read more