An “exclusive” interview with economist Dr Brian Easton. Listener: 6 September, 2008. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Listener Economic Columnist (LEC): I thought Keynesianism didn’t work? Brian Easton: The theory is unfashionable among certain groups, but among professional economists, it has been the most important way economists have thought about the whole…
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From manic muddle to melancholic mess. Listener: 23 August, 2008. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Suppose a volcano erupted in Auckland, a tsunami drowned the Bay of Plenty, a major earthquake shook Wellington, or foot-and-mouth disease broke out in the South Island. Would you expect the Reserve Bank to tighten its monetary…
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What the electoral economic debate is really about. Listener: 9 August 2008. Keywords: Distributional Economics; Growth & Innovation; Although the rhetoric of economic debate is about accelerating economic growth, the reality of politics is mainly about redistributing income. Merrill Lynch told the Australian insurance industry it would make a $200 million…
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Be prepared — rises in the price of food and oil are here to stay. Listener: 26 July, 2008. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Long-time readers will not be surprised at the higher prices for food and oil. We can expect them to rise (relatively) as the terms of trade switch in favour…
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Revised version of the paper to 7X7 seminar, Wellington, 22 July, 2008 Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; What is the purpose of it all? For 200 years economists have assumed that the more material goods the better, and the purpose of the economy was to supply those goods. The notion that…
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Bill Phillips is Up There with the Greats. Listener: 12 July,2008 Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Macroeconomics & Money; Economists from all over the world are meeting in Wellington over the next couple of weeks to celebrate New Zealander Bill Phillips and the paper he published 50 years ago. This paper introduced what…
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The text of the display celebrating Bill Phillips, opened in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Museum on 7 July, 2008. The text is written around various images, but may be of some value without them. I should like to acknowledge the Phillips Family, the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, the Reserve Bank Knowledge Centre, 3D…
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Presentation to a Union Gathering: July 2, 2008 Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; Central to policy is that there are always new forces which are requiring to adapt policies to new circumstances – what may be called ‘ongoing modernisation’. There are three major sources of these forces. …
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Cutting ‘wasteful’ public spending will not be easy. Listener: 28 June, 2008. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Regulation & Taxation; The other side of taxation is government spending. Reducing tax levels means government outlays have to be reduced too, if not immediately then eventually when the borrowing is repaid. So when someone says, “We should cut…
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Aftershocks from the liquidity earthquake. Listener: 14 June, 2008. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Regulation & Taxation; It is usually assumed that light-handed regulation works where there is a competitive market, with backing legislation, such as the Commerce Act and the Fair Trading Act, and a judicial process that vigorously enforces the law. (A decade ago,…
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What does his biographer think? An elaborated version of the article published in “The New Zealand Herald”, 7 June 2008. Keywords: Political Economy & History; I had already seen the just-released security file Dr Sutch. Preparing the entry for William Ball Sutch in The New Zealand Dictionary of Biography I approached the NZ Security Intelligence…
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Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Political Economy & History; Biographical Essays (October 2000) Entry in The New Zealand Dictionary of Biography (November 2001) Entry in Chapter 7 – early life to 1950 and Chapter 10 – later life from 1951 of The Nationbuilders (September 1998) Trying to Understand Dr Sutch (December 2001) Sutch…
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Are journalists making the economic situation seem worse? Listener 31 May, 2008 Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Statistics; What is happening to journalism? You will recall that, last year, journalists campaigned for tax cuts based on a total misunderstanding of the Government accounts. They used the wrong measure of the Budget surplus, which…
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Presentation for the “ 3 Books, 3 Scholars” seminar in the J.C. Beaglehole room – 27th May Keywords: Literature and Culture; Political Economy & History; When it was first opened over forty years, this room was a part of the teaching rooms of the university. I guess I am confessing that I am a…
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Why we rate poorly in the OECD’s output-per-person stakes. Listener: 17 May, 2008 Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Suppose your car goes slower than anyone else’s. What would you think if your mechanic said, “Get a new driver”, or “It should be painted red”, or “It needs a better carburettor” without first putting his head under…
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Revised Paper for a Seminar, 15 May 2008 Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Statistics; I have been asked to make a few remarks on research into economic growth in New Zealand. Let me begin with some preliminaries. Policy I am going to avoid suggesting any policy conclusions which might follow from the…
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The liquidity drunks have taken over the economic asylum. Listener: 3 May, 2008 Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; The standard explanation of the ongoing world financial crisis is that the United States Government has been running a huge fiscal deficit, which has poured liquidity (cash and near-cash) into the world economy. This facilitated…
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23 April, 2008 Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Governance; Introduction The purpose of this note is to bring together various writings of mine about some analytic tools, which the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance may find helpful. There are no specific recommendations other than I commend the use of these tools were relevant….
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The state should share its windfall from the housing boom. Listener: 19 April, 2008. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Social Policy; We are not thinking clearly about the housing market. If higher interest rates could not restrain higher housing prices, why will lower ones solve the current problems? There are two major concerns, other…
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The Waikato Management School annually awards a prize in memory of Brendan Thompson to the to student in the international economics course. After I gave the 2008 prize to Nicole Gray on 8 April, 2008, I was invited to make a short speech: Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Brendan Thompson’s first…
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