Once upon a time, it was the role of parliaments to make laws, governments to execute them, and the role of courts to uphold them. Civil law jurisdictions, such as those in Europe, do not share the Anglosphere’s tradition of judge-made law (‘common law’). Read more
Adam Smith warned that meetings of people of the same trade quickly turn into conspiracies against the public or contrivances to raise prices. He neglected to mention the benefits of meetings of people from vastly different trades. Read more
Last week the Commerce Commission announced its concern with a proposed merger between Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island. Their concern is a decrease in competition in the market. Read more
New Zealand has an obsession with size. Maybe the inferiority complex of a small country makes politicians and policymakers assume bigger must be better. Read more
