Author Archives: Brian Easton

Eliminating the Tobacco Epidemic the New Zealand Experience

This entry was posted in Health, Regulation & Taxation on 15th March 2000 by Brian Easton.

Paper to a Seminar at the Department of Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, on Tuesday 10 Dhu Al Qadah (15 February 2000).

Keywords Health, Regulation

Introduction (1)

There is a huge body of evidence that the smoking of tobacco shortens life expectancy and damages health before that. Many western nations, including New Zealand, have therefore taken measures to reduce and eliminate smoking. They have been largely successfully both in terms of reducing the quantity of tobacco consumed and tobacco induced morbidity and mortality, although there is a considerable lag between the reduction in consumption and the reduction in disease. In another group of countries, typically the poorer ones, tobacco consumption levels are low in most social groups. However there are fears that with increases in discretionary incomes and more persuasive marketing by the international tobacco companies smoking will increase to levels as high as the peaks that occurred recently in Western nations a generation ago. Between these two groups of nations are those whose smoking has already reached peak Western levels, but have not yet taken measures to reduce them. They are, in effect, a generation behind the Western nations in terms of when they began smoking and also when the smoking induced disease becomes evident. The best documented is Japan, but some Middle East countries may belong to this category.

Bookmarking the Century

This entry was posted in Political Economy & History on 14th March 2000 by Brian Easton.

Landfall, No 199, March 2000, p.54-55.

Keywords: Political Economy & History;

The editor of Landfall invited submissions of 500 words to identify the most important event to influence (in this case) the New Zealand economy in the twentieth century.

The twentieth century New Zealand economy was shaped by its ability to ship refrigerated products to Britain. Its beginnings might be symbolised by the Dunedin leaving Port Chalmers on 15 February 1882 with the first cargo of frozen meat for London. Barriers to trading at a distance were significantly reduced. New Zealand was no longer confined to a low-density population on extensive sheep stations – a Falklands of the South Pacific – as the depletables which sustained the nineteenth century economy seals, whales, native timber, gold, other minerals -were exhausted. Now there was the possibility of a sustainable settlement based on family-owned farms of crossbred sheep or dairy cattle, supporting towns and, later, cities.

Funding Public Health Care: How and How Much?

This entry was posted in Health, Listener on 13th March 2000 by Brian Easton.

Health Issues, No 62, March 2000, p.27-30.

Keywords: Health;

We may be approaching a time in which we can have an honest discussion on how to fund the health system. The public discussion has been rarely so in the last decade, because too often there is a hidden ideological agenda advocating private funding – of privatisation.

Science and Anti-science

This entry was posted in Education, History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener on 4th March 2000 by Brian Easton.

Listener 4 March, 2000

Keywords: Education; History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;

Last year, some of the media gave extensive coverage to claims that Lyprinol would cure cancer, even though the drug had never been tested on humans. How could some journalists, trained to be sceptical of outrageous claims and miracles, have let themselves be so mislead? Perhaps it reflects that far too many New Zealanders are fundamentally anti-science. As the post-election briefing of the Ministry of Research Science and Technology reported, we are interested in scientific discoveries and new technologies (of which our uptake seems to be among the world’s fastest). But we have no understanding of the scientific method, of how science comes to its conclusions.

The Cult Of the Manager: Those Who Can, Do; Those Who Cant, Become Managers.

This entry was posted in Governance, Listener on 26th February 2000 by Brian Easton.

Listener: 26 February, 2000.

Keywords: Governance;

In the past the Victoria of University of Wellington produced a useful one cardboard page calender, which set out clearly by colour coding the year’s teaching and nonteaching days, which is at the heart of the university year. The 2000 calendar is larger – so it does not fit over the archaeological layers of old calendars on the pinboard above the desk. Yet it contains less useful information. In particular the teaching/non-teaching split is not evident. Someone in management decided the old calendar was not sufficiently attractive, and got in a designer to revise it. One assumes they did not consult any academics, and isolated there in management they had no sense of what is important in a university. (The fashion for non-functional calendars seems widespread. Even Creative New Zealand succumbed.)

Review Of The Pound: A Biography David Sinclair (century 1999).

This entry was posted in Macroeconomics & Money, Political Economy & History on 15th February 2000 by Brian Easton.

New Zealand Herald February 2000.

Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Political Economy & History;

I wanted this to be a good book. It was a super idea to have a “biography” of the British pound which has been around for a thousand years and was once the world’s most important currency. There is so much mystery about money, that a good book would improve public understanding and reduce the mysticism.

Growth Rings: New Zealander Of the Millennium: Tane Mahuta

This entry was posted in Environment & Resources, Listener, Political Economy & History on 29th January 2000 by Brian Easton.

Listener 29 January, 2000

Keywords: Environment; Political Economy & History;

Perhaps our best image of a millennium is the polished cross-segment of one of those great kauri trees in many of our museums. At its centre is some date over a thousand years ago. The various growth rings around it are marked – the arrival of the Maori, the arrival of Tasman, and so on. The last ring is the year the tree was cut down, typically in the time of my grandfather.

The Centre Swings: Policies to Win 2002

This entry was posted in Listener, Political Economy & History on 15th January 2000 by Brian Easton.

Listener 15 January, 2000.

Keywords: Political Economy & History;

While there appeared to be a big swing to the left in the 1999 election, the actual swing was only a little more than 2 percentage points. But the parties in the political centre between Labour and National, which won about 19 percent of the vote in 1996, won only 9 percent in 1999. The change of government reflects a massive shift of votes from these centre parties, notably New Zealand First, to Labour. The voters have got their desire 1996 election outcome, thwarted by the New Zealand First-National coalition, of a Labour-led government. But instead of it being pulled towards the centre by New Zealand First, the 1999 government is more pulled to the left by its Alliance and Green wings.

Shakespeare As Economist

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener, Literature and Culture on 1st January 2000 by Brian Easton.

The Merchant of Venice is About the Meaning of Value as Well as Justice.

Listener: 1 January 2000

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Literature and Culture;

Just as a successful television series for in one channel will generate an emulation series by a competing one, Elizabethan playwrights would take up another’s theme. Thus Christopher Marlowe’s popular The Jew of Malta elicited Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. But the master transcended Marlowe, as a barbaric tale becomes a meditation on the meaning of economic and social value. The reflection appears in all sorts of places: the lead casket, Bassino’s choice which gives him Portia’s hand, requires a commitment of a considerable investment: “who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath,” (not to mention Shylock’s ducats and Antonio’s bond). Their courting includes playful allusions to commerce (Bassino courts “by note”, a bill of exchange), as do other dialogues. The contrast in the trial scene between law and mercy might usefully be explored by those into the new subject of the relationship between economics and law. In the title role, Antonio the merchant, is contrasted with Shylock, the money-lender. Antonio makes his income from advances for risky merchant trading voyages where he gains a share of the profits or loses the advance. Shylock’s income derives from interest on loans.

Fin De Siecle?: Is the Economy at the End Of an Era?

This entry was posted in Listener, Macroeconomics & Money on 19th December 1999 by Brian Easton.

Listener 19 December 1998.

Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money;

There will be frequent reference next year, to repeating the “fin de siecle”, a movement of decadence at the end of the nineteenth century. However the economic end of an era may be this year. If so, it will be identified with the Russian financial crisis of August 1998. This is not because of the size of the economy, but rather numerous financial institutions were heavily exposed to Russian debt. Some were highly “leveraged”, with a high debt to equity ratio, and are very vulnerable. One hedge fund had a liquidity crisis, others have taken a terrible financial pounding.

Orthodoxy Rules: OK

This entry was posted in Listener, Political Economy & History on 18th December 1999 by Brian Easton.

Cullen, Anderton, English and Bradford Would Make A Great Team

Listener18 December, 1999.

Keywords: Political Economy & History;

Right to the last day before the election, business commentators presented their own self-interest disguised as ideology disguised as analysis, in a vain attempt to affect political outcomes. They symbolised the end of an era: out of touch with the polity, out of touch with the economy, arguing a case that was known to have failed, as if it is impossible to learn from experience.

Has New Zealand an Economic History?

This entry was posted in Listener, Political Economy & History on 7th December 1999 by Brian Easton.

Paper to the Annual Conference of the New Zealand Historical Association, Hamilton, 7 December 1999.

Keywords: Political Economy & History;

The question of whether New Zealand has an economic history could be thought of as rhetorical, with an obvious answer of yes. But if we take it as a question about the state of current New Zealand historiography – asking whether historians include the economy in the stories which they tell about New Zealand – the answer is less obvious. If we look at many of the accounts of our history, be it the grand overview or a monograph or essay, we find them bereft of any conscious portrayal of the economy interacting with society and having some influence on the path which New Zealand takes. This is a very sweeping statement and there are exceptions – notably some of the work of John Gould, Brad Patterson and Russell Stone. Nevertheless this paper could take some standard histories and illustrate the broad proposition, including suggesting various insights the writers missed because they ignored an economic context.

Road to Damascus: What Is the Third Way? And What Were the First Two?

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener, Political Economy & History on 4th December 1999 by Brian Easton.

Listener 4 December, 1999.

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Political Economy & History;

At the University of Sussex, where I taught in the 1960s, we talked about “the social control of industry, rather than social ownership.” This was a response to an ongoing debate in the British Labour Party, which had nationalised various industries in the 1940s, was nationalising more in the 1960s, and still had Clause Four in its objectives: “the social ownership of the means of production, distribution, and finance.” The point of the Sussex phrase was that ownership is a means to an end, and that there are other ways of pursuing it. In many industries, market competition will give society the outcomes it wants, far better than nationalisation and monopoly.

Metrology and the Economy (Report)

This entry was posted in Business & Finance on 2nd December 1999 by Brian Easton.

Paper commissioned by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and available on their website. (December 1999)

Keywords Business & Finance

Beyond the Utilitarian University

This entry was posted in Education on 17th November 1999 by Brian Easton.

Paper to Forum on the Future of Universities, University of Canterbury, 17 November 1999.

Keywords: Education;

“They measure knowledge by bulk, as it lies in a rude block, without symmetry, without design.”(1)

The Idea of a University(2)

If this independent scholar may begin with a quotation from another independent scholar, albeit a much more eminent one. John Stuart Mill wrote in his Utilitarianism:

“It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparisons knows both sides.”(3)

Desperate for Funds: Are We Spending Enough on Health?

This entry was posted in Health, Listener on 6th November 1999 by Brian Easton.

Listener 6 November 1999.

Keywords Health

Most of us are aware of Multiple Sclerosis victims in wheelchairs or with walking sticks. In fact the disease may have affected the sufferer up to two decades earlier, initially with a loss of muscular coordination – perhaps at first vision, then isolated numbness, to a progressing weakness in the legs. It does not much affect life expectation, nor does it affect intellect. The sufferers know that they will experience an increasing loss of muscular control.

The State in New Zealand 1840-1984: Socialism Without Doctrines? (review)

This entry was posted in Political Economy & History on 27th October 1999 by Brian Easton.

by Michael Bassett Archifacts, Oct 1999, p.60-65.

Keywords: Political Economy & History;

According to the author “[t]his book originated in a chance conversation I had in 1993 with Roger Kerr, Executive Director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. In response to a question about my writing, I told him that I intended to recount the story of the Fourth Labour Government after 1984, but that I first had to understand how it was that New Zealand had come to the stage where drastic restructuring had become a matter of urgency. Roger Kerr suggested that I might undertake that initial study; the Business Roundtable would pay some of the expenses involved in the researching such a big project.”

Data Doldrums: The State Of the Economy Won’t Do National Any Favours in The Poll

This entry was posted in Listener, Macroeconomics & Money on 23rd October 1999 by Brian Easton.

Listener: 23 October, 1999

Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money;

Two major economic indicators for the June quarter were released a couple of days before the Prime Minister announced the election date. Both were depressing: the current account deficit – how much New Zealand has to borrow overseas – was at near record levels; while GDP – how much New Zealand produces – declined. There will be no further major official statistics released before November 27th, although the importance of each minor one will be over-played. (Both the Treasury and the Reserve Bank macro-economic forecasts published during the election campaign are likely to be more subdued in comparison to their last ones.)