Eric Crampton • Nov 27, 2014 •
Yesterday's column over at Interest.co.nz hit on some of the ridiculous self-imposed fixed costs of government policy in New Zealand. A taste:We could argue about the ridiculousness of the implementation of the New Zealand regime, or we could ask the more important question: why does this office [Office of Film and Literature Classification] exist at all? Why does a … Read More
Eric Crampton • Sep 26, 2013 •
My usual explanation for Netflix's absence from the New Zealand market has been rights and licensing issues. The fixed costs of getting things sorted out for a small market mean that the game's not worth the candle for Netflix, so they're not here. As... Read More
Eric Crampton • Sep 13, 2013 •
Another for the "New Zealand's Fixed Costs Matter" file: Aaron Schiff posts on the relative lack of competition in New Zealand. Where inefficient firms are driven from the market in other places, New Zealand has a long tail of pretty unproductive outfits. Roger Procter has dug into the stats a bit deeper and found that some New Zealand firms have … Read More
Eric Crampton • Sep 11, 2013 •
Small jurisdictions have a hard time covering all the bases. Developing regulations is expensive. If you're determined to have "My Jurisdiction" versions of each and every regulation that could be out there, you're either going to have a ridiculously e... Read More
Eric Crampton • Oct 26, 2012 •
David Farrar asks why we shouldn't mandate nutritional labelling on alcoholic beverages. People may well forget that alcohol has caloric content; providing information has value. Here's the case against them. First, it is fairly easy for large produc... Read More
Eric Crampton • Oct 23, 2012 •
Tyler Cowen warned me that New Zealand would teach me about fixed costs. Today's lessons: pens. Consequent to the new environment of heightened fiscal restraint at Canterbury, I have found that the Uniball Signo 207 pens I've preferred are $5 each via... Read More