Chaotic capitalist India v orderly communist China. Listener: 22 January, 2011 Keywords: Political Economy & History; Some 125 million years ago a huge chunk of land broke off from Gondwanaland, drifting away at a rate of 20 cms a year (roughly five times the speed the West Coast is drifting north). About 50 million years…
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I wrote this to set out my thinking. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; The economics of the world food system in the twenty-first century is likely to be dramatically different from that of the twentieth. In the past, food prices fell relative to manufacturing prices, as manufacturing concentrated in a few rich (mainly North Atlantic but…
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The Great Gatsby recognises the essential role of the economy in human experience. Listener: 8 January 2011 Keywords: Business & Finance; Literature and Culture; Political Economy & History; On occasions, Auckland has outbreaks of Great Gatsby parties. This name alludes to the classic F Scott Fitzgerald novel, narrated by Nick Carraway who lives on New…
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Keywords: Miscellaneous; A quick run down as 2010 turns into 2011; another long year which passed quickly. I used my NZIER award to spend a fortnight in China (a follow up on the globalisation project) which led to five Listener columns [1]. So I got a grant from the Asia NZ Foundation to spend a…
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This is an appendix for ‘Not in Narrow Seas: New Zealand History from an Economic Perspective’, a book I am writing. It is published here so that people can access the technical material. The data is available on request. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Political Economy & History; Statistics; Over the last sixty years we have…
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We should be so Lucky. Listener: 25 December, 2010. Keywords: Literature and Culture; Political Economy & History; A country road. A tree. Evening. JOHN: Charming spot. Inspiring prospects. Let’s go. BILL: We can’t. JOHN: Why not? BILL: We’re waiting for economic growth. JOHN: (despairingly). Ah! (Pause.) You’re sure it was these policies? BILL: Which? JOHN:…
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For my evidence see http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1393. Keywords: Health; Social Policy; One of the ways I earn my crust is as a consultant. Although it often involves very satisfying economics, I rarely use the experience directly in my public writings (and if I do I tell you). Another rule is dont get too involved in the case….
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I wrote this note to clarify some matters to myself; I shant be surprise if they become more prominent in 2011. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Statistics; I have been looking at the International Investment Position focusing on the equity to debt ratio, in effect thinking about New Zealand’s external balance sheet as if it were…
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Review of Crisis: One Central Bank Governor and the Global Financial Collapse Alan Bollard with Sarah Gaitanos (Auckland University Press, $29.99) in New Zealand Books: Summer 2010; p. 10. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; I examined carefully the Reserve Bank bill before parliament in 1988, to ensure that come a financial crisis the Reserve Bank would…
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This was a think-piece which underpins the Listener column of December 11, 2010.. Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; This note is a chain of reasoning, rather than an essay or chapter with a conclusion. Although it may shed light on some contemporary issues discussed in the final paragraphs, the paper arose out…
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Cheese as a metaphor for the New Zealand economy. Listener: 11 December, 2010. Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; Our first cheese was probably made shortly after Samuel Marsden brought cows to New Zealand. For most of the 19th century, cheese was made on farms for local supply. Before export refrigeration, which began…
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The Zombienomics policies of the past few decades have not been working. Listener: 27 November, 2010. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Economic theories are going through a major revision in the wake of the global financial crisis. I doubt that the foundations, built over the past 200 years, will markedly change but their superstructure (the bit…
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If we want to promote economic growth, we need a big rethink. Listener: 13 November, 2010. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; The global financial crisis is not over; it just keeps morphing into new phases, without leaving the old ones entirely behind – and so the risk of financial institutions falling over remains. The world struggles…
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This is just some notes. The point of the trip was to study India and write five ‘Listener’ columns. They are drafted and will be published from January to May 2011. Keywords: Political Economy & History; Saturday 6 – Monday 8: Flew into Chennai (Madras) from Singapore. You cant fly direct from New Zealand, bother…
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With the economy more sluggish than predicted, could we be in a long recession? Listener: 30 October, 2010. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; That another long recession started in 2007 can’t be ruled out. In more than a third of the past 150 years, our economy – measured as gross domestic product per person – has…
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The country is weighed down by a mountain of foreign debt and ownership. Listener: 16 October, 2010. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; In the decade to March 2009, about $340 billion was invested in New Zealand. Of that, about $205 billion was spent on replacing old assets, leaving $135 billion for new ones. Whether this was…
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Annual Conference of the Fair Trade Movement; 9 October 2010. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Economists have spent over two hundred years thinking about how markets work. They have concluded they are not fair but in general they are effective. You get a sense of this by looking at the growth of the world economy over…
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This series of “Listener” columns were an occasional series that arose out of a trip funded by the 2009 NZIER-NBR Economist of the Year Award. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; Engaging China: http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1220 (26 June 2010) Will China Rule the World? http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1247 (24 July, 2010) China or Bust: http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1257 (7 August, 2010)…
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Lessons in how to use an economic surplus. Listener: 2 October, 2010. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; More than one tourist has asked how much it cost to build Beijing’s Forbidden City, a complex of 980 surviving buildings covering three-quarters of a hectare. Better to ignore the monetary cost and think about…
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In early 2009 I published a summary of my writings on the Global Financial Crisis from August 2007 to March 2009: www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1351 (itself following an early note on what I called the Millennium Depression: www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=174). This index updates the earlier summary and its prologue remains relevant here. The summary is to trace my thinking on…
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