Statistical errors aren’t unusual – so it’s important to measure their effects. Listener: 13th March, 2014 Keywords: Distributional Economics; Statistics; There was a bit of flapdoodle recently when the Treasury and Statistics New Zealand owned up to having made an error in some household income statistics, which had a knock-on effect on…
Continue reading this entry »
Listener: 8 February, 2014. Keywords: Distributional Economics; Social Policy; I hope Brian Easton (Economy, January 25) is right that child poverty is at last accepted by the conventional wisdom. He made an early contribution to the debate. However, I fundamentally disagree with him that there has been a lack of quality research….
Continue reading this entry »
On 7 February 2014 I spoke to Kathryn Ryan on “Nine to noon” about the income distribution. Keywords: Distributional Economics; Social Policy; The 13′ 32″ interview is at http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2584904/brian-easton,-economist
Why it has taken so long for child poverty to become part of the conventional wisdom. Listener: 16th January, 2014 Keywords: Distributional Economics; History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Social Policy; Corso, the Council of Organisations for Relief Services Overseas, decided in 1979 that it was wrong to ignore poverty in New…
Continue reading this entry »
Extracted from the full report published in The New Zealand Journal of Sociology, Vol 28, Issue 3, 2013, pages 9-66. (http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/2013/12/economic-inequality-in-new-zealand-a-users-guide-summary/) Keywords: Distributional Economics; Statistics; Key Messages Section 1: Why is Economic Inequality Important? 1. The section identifies four main issues as to why inequality may be important – equity –…
Continue reading this entry »
Published in The New Zealand Journal of Sociology , Vol 28, Issue 3, 2013, pages 9-66. http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE18625730&dps_custom_att_1=ilsdb Keywords: Distributional Economics; Statistics; “When inequality is the common law of a society, the greatest inequalities do not call attention to themselves.” Democracy in America, A. de Tocqueville. B. Perry (2103) Household Incomes in New Zealand: Trends…
Continue reading this entry »
Keywords: Distributional Economics; Statistics; Introduction [1] One of the few useful sources of market income information is incomes declared for tax purposes. Even so it has limitations. It is administrative data and so is sensitive to changes in statute and administrative policy. Thus the definition of income is that set by…
Continue reading this entry »
I reviewed “Inequality: a New Zealand Crisis”, Max Rashbrooke (ed) in “The New Zealand Listener” of 10 October, 2013. (http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/2012/11/is-new-zealand-still-fair/). It elicited the following letter and my reply. Keywords: Distributional Economics; Statistics; We welcome Brian Easton’s review of Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis (“Books & Culture, October 19) and his acknowledgement that it…
Continue reading this entry »
The big issue concerning Labour’s grass roots is a bit of a surprise. Listener: 17 October, 2013 Keywords: Distributional Economics; Political Economy & History; The popular party vote that elected David Cunliffe leader of the Labour Party reveals much about what the party grass roots think. They gave a lower significance to…
Continue reading this entry »
Max Rashbrooke and his contributors have begun a valuable discussion about wealth distribution in New Zealand – but it is no more than a starting point, and one with huge gaps. Listener:10 October, 2013 Keywords: Distributional Economics; Social Policy; In recent years, debates about income inequality in rich countries have become prominent…
Continue reading this entry »
Keywords: Distributional Economics; Growth & Innovation; Statistics; I have just realised that we can calculate Amartya Sen’s ‘real income’ measure for New Zealand for a 30 year period, by combining our Statistics New Zealand estimates of national income with the Ministry of Social Development estimates of household gini coefficients. This note describes how this…
Continue reading this entry »
Nelson Spirited Conversations; 24 July, 2013. (Revised) Keywords: Distributional Economics; Political Economy & History; On a recent television program New Zealander Robert Wade, Professor of Development Studies at the London School of Economics, suggested that New Zealand might be ruled by 1 percent of the population, say 35,000 adults. The Deputy Prime Minister,…
Continue reading this entry »
A note prepared for discussion in September 2012. Keywords: Business & Finance; Distributional Economics; Globalisation & Trade; Growth & Innovation; Macroeconomics & Money; What is the Purpose of the Economy? * The purpose of the New Zealand economy is to maintain and increase the wellbeing of all New Zealanders. It is neither the…
Continue reading this entry »
In the course of an appeal to the Social Security Appeal Authority I was asked to prepare an estimate of the income that the appealing family would require. Here follows my affidavit. The aim has been to keep the text in full, including those necessary for a court document. However there are a few changes…
Continue reading this entry »
Presentation to ‘Spirited Conversations’, Nelson, July 25, 2012. At a public meeting of the Tax Working Group, whose recommendations were the basis of the 2010 tax changes when GST was raised to the benefit of those on higher incomes, a member of the public raised the question of the role of fairness in their thinking….
Continue reading this entry »
THE TOO HARD BASKET Listener: 19 January, 2012. Keywords: Environment & Resources; Distributional Economics; Macroeconomics & Money; Political Economy & History; Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy; Every government has issues it hopes will go away. They don’t. Here are some for our one. Our Emissions Trading Scheme is looking like a dog’s breakfast, and/or something…
Continue reading this entry »
PSA Journal, March 2010. Keywords: Distributional Economics; Regulation & Taxation; In my Commercialisation of New Zealand there is a chapter on ‘the abandoning of equity’, of how under Rogernomics social fairness went steadily down in the policy priorities. The report on tax reform by the Victoria University of Wellington Tax Working Group (TWG) confirms the…
Continue reading this entry »
From the section ‘The Economy and the City’ released February 2010. Keywords: Distributional Economics Te Ara is New Zealand’s On-line Encyclopaedia. The primary author of its section on the Income and Wealth Distributions ( www.teara.govt.nz/en/income-and-wealth-distribution ) was Brian Easton. For other of his contributions The Economy: www.teara.govt.nz/en/economy New Zealand’s economic history: www.teara.govt.nz/en/economic-history
Making the emissions trading scheme “affordable” may hit future generations hard. Listener: 10 October, 2009. Keywords: Environment & Resources; Distributional Economics; Global warming is a consequence of a market failure: polluters emit chemicals without having to pay the price of their emissions. Some sort of taxation regime would no doubt make the…
Continue reading this entry »
Societies with great inequality are more prone to poor health, social hostility and crime. Listener: 29 August, 2009. Keywords: Distributional Economics; History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; When I was working on the problems of inequality and poverty in the 1970s, my colleagues joked I was a social economist, even if they spent more time…
Continue reading this entry »