Eric Crampton

I argued at Newsroom for a fast-track setup for enabling large-scale supermarket entry. Simultaneous plan change, consents, and overseas investment approval for a set of sites.

I'd noted Kaufland's exit from Australia due to zoning issues there.

On that:
plannedchaos.substack.com/p/its-the-pl...

Canadians are really mad at the United States, up to the point that they’re ready to accept harmful measures *for themselves* (76%!) so that they can retaliate

I’m wondering how long it will take to repair the relationship between Canada and the United States

A long time, I assume

Hard trade-offs with social media age limits.

www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-...

Motherfucking wind farms…

I'd riffed on similar themes over at Offsetting, last week.

I love easing barriers to make it easier to open a new supermarket chain. But I doubt it'll do much for the price of butter.

offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...

Roger Partridge on problems with the NZ government's populist turn.
His column, over in the Herald ($), will show up ungated on our site in due course.
www.nzherald.co.nz/business/whe...

We were criticised for being behind the ban on credit card surcharges.
I noted our submission, which noted a lot of the benefits of surcharges, as evidence against that claim.

Newgrounds' approach to verifying age is interesting and transparent.

What I love about Bluesky. The charm. The intellect. The grace.

There are probably a few policies you hate that you can blame my shop for having supported. But the surcharge ban isn't one of them.

You could try reading the submission we'd provided on the retail payments consultation. It's publicly available, including on our website.
We've seen surcharges as valuable.
www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-...

LeGuin wrote about the desire for 'unassailable safety' as one of the deep roots of evil, and I think about that a lot.

NZ's Prime Minister wants to make social media platforms liable if they allow under-16s.
Maybe we should pay attention to how online child protection's playing out in the UK. It's a cautionary tale.

Eva Vivalt on X: "🚨 New NBER working paper: "The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Parenting and Children" This paper estimates the effects of receiving a $1,000/month guaranteed income for 3 years, compared to a control group receiving $50/month, on children and parents in the US. 1/ https://t.co/kz1JwsBUUI" / X 🚨 New NBER working paper

Oh neat. There are two unconditional cash grant studies going on where they're testing effects on kids. This one with a lot better author-comms!

x.com/evavivalt/st...

I generally just check here, having had it bookmarked for some time.

esr-cri.shinyapps.io/wastewater/#...

It's weird to damn NZ for failing to take up alcohol guidelines produced in Canada that even the Canadian govt hasn't seen fit to adopt.
My piece in today's Post.
www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3607...

Espiner says it's hard to tell what the Canadian guidelines are, while citing an anti alcohol lobby group's preferred guidelines.

Canada's actual low-risk alcohol consumption guidelines are real easy to find, and are comparable to NZ's.

www.canada.ca/en/health-ca...

A pathway to indigenous autonomy The Ch'íyáqtel First Nation near Chilliwack, British Columbia, is tiny. The Band counts 731 members, some 58% of which live on Ch'íyáqtel lands. Their Reserve lands, adjacent to the city, are not larg...

Suppose it depends what you mean by this. I've written a half-dozen variants on this column.

www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-...

FWIW I can't see an organics collection system ever stacking up. I think it's a bad idea. But it can be argued about on its own merits.

It is *absolutely defensible* for councils to be building the kit that people are going to want as carbon prices rise!
It's then council *responding* to changes in how people are going to want to live, given carbon prices and tech change.

Given how the ETS works, none of those measures would be likely to affect net national emissions unless the ETS cap were reduced at the same time. And it would be the reduction in the cap that did the work, not the other policies.

Govt to explore sharing GST with councils next year

David Seymour says giving local authorities a portion of tax collected on new residential builds would provide an enduring and predictable solution for infrastructure funding. Jonathan Milne reports. - Newsroom Pro - $

I am pretty sure that all of those are covered by the ETS.
Emissions from landfill are covered.
Transport is covered.
Emissions from housing are covered.
Each of those policies could be argued about on their own merits (and I prefer housing density!). But it won't affect climate.

Cautionary Tales – Steel and Kindness: The Clash of the Skyscrapers Paul Starrett has just won a major building contract. If everything goes according to plan, this will be the tallest building in the world. But will everything go according to plan? This …

Maybe try catching some of the history on that building. It's a bit different than you seem to think.

timharford.com/2024/09/caut...

WOW—look what arrived at Wild Hornets HQ from our dear friends in the 105th Border Guards Detachment😎

TWO signed flags for our next raffle🐝

One has around 84 signatures—the most I think I've ever seen, and some of the most touching

"For the Heroes who protect us!"

"We love you!💗"

/1

This hearing is absolutely bonkers. Can't reiterate enough how dangerous it is that one of the two major political parties has been fully subsumed by vaccine trutherism.

ACT's version seems to be following the blueprint Benno at our shop put together.

We suggested that any rezoning for fast-tracked supermarkets enable apartment towers above, overriding plan conditions that would otherwise block. Enabling more housing while helping make entry pencil for a grocer.

I like that both National and ACT seem to be looking at fast-tracking zoning and resource consents for any new supermarket entrant.
It is a very real, and very stupid, barrier to entry.
Sorting it would help us see whether any entrant figures there are profits worth grabbing here.

Liam Hehir on X: "Who has more responsibility for the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004? Option One: Eric Crampton, then a random Canadian economist just arrived. Option Two: John Tamihere, who was an MP at the time, who voted for the law, and who defended it against the opposition of the https://t.co/tePjkEBNLu" / X Who has more responsibility for the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004? Option One: Eric Crampton, then a random Canadian economist just arrived. Option Two: John Tamihere, who was an MP at the time, who voted for the law, and who defended it against the opposition of the https://t.co/tePjkEBNLu

It has since been pointed out to me that John Tamihere was Labour MP when Foreshore and Seabed was passed.

And, well, this is just way too funny.

x.com/PronouncedHa...

That's what my kids call it. Sorry. Yes. Instagram.