12 June 2025
Power, Profit, and Washington’s Paradox
The Trump administration has been accused of corruptly placing private financial benefit above the public interest, most recently in President Trump’s acceptance of the gift of a Boeing 747 from Qatar for his use as Air Force 1, and invitations to dinner at a private club and to a private White House tour, offered as perks for those who invested substantial sums in his Stablecoin. Although, here, the President’s self-enrichment is blatant, more troubling are his policies aimed at dismantling safeguards against corruption at home and abroad. These reveal a deep contradiction in the warring goals of those currently governing in Washington; a contradiction that may eventually burst into the open. Continue reading >>
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19 December 2024
New Zealand’s Constitution of Liberty
The New Zealand government has launched a consultation on a Regulatory Standards Bill that could shape both existing and future regulation. In addition to laying down principles to which regulation will be expected to conform, the bill would set up an institutional mechanism for implementing them. It is an ambitious undertaking which deserves attention beyond New Zealand’s shores for three reasons: first, its remarkably libertarian content; second, the unusual way in which it would be implemented; and third, what it can tell us about the ways in which an “unwritten” constitution changes―or doesn’t. Continue reading >>
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01 November 2024
The Messiah and His Oligarchs
On Power, Personalities and Populism. Continue reading >>
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01 September 2020