Category Archives: History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy

Economic and Other Ideas Behind the New Zealand Reforms

This entry was posted in Growth & Innovation, History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Macroeconomics & Money on by .

Oxford Review of Economic Policy, vol 10, no 3. pp.78-94 ( This article benefited from comments by Keith Jackson and John Martin, and from the symposium editor Gerry Holtham,)

Keywords: Growth & Innovation; History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Macroeconomics & Money;

I. Introduction

From 1984 to the early 1990s New Zealand undertook a major reform of the mechanisms used to govern the economy and the public administration. These reforms are often called ‘rogernomics’, after Roger Douglas, the Minister of Finance who instigated them, and the reformers are known as ‘rogernomes’. The reforms might be called the application of “economic rationalism”, which Michael Pusey defines as the “doctrine that says that markets and prices are the only reliable means of setting a value [for public purposes] on anything, and … that markets and money can always, at least in principle, deliver better outcomes than states and bureaucracies” (Pussey 1993:14, original’s italics).

THE CHURCH, THE WELFARE STATE, AND THE NEW CHALLENGES

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy on by .

Presentation to the Seminar on “Social Services: Church-State Relationships” sponsored by the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services, at Connelly Hall, Guildford Terrace, Wellington, July 28, 1994.   Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;   While the origins of the Christian Church are humble – itinerant preachers living on the hospitality of those…
Continue reading this entry »

Contract, Covenant, Compact: the Social Foundations Of New Zealand Governance

This entry was posted in Governance, History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Maori on by .

WHAKAPAPA: This is an April 1994 revision of an address to the Spring Lecture Series on Political Integrity, for the St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society, Thursday 4th of October, 1990. It contains material from a presentation to Forum North, a celebration of the Treaty of Waitangi, held at Whangarei, 10 November, 1990. The original address is available on Replay Radio, following its broadcast on National Radio, October 23, 1990. The almost full text of the original address was published in Socialist Politics 90/3,4, and an extract was published in The Dominion, 15 October,1990.)

Keywords: Governance; History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Maori;

The moral authority of governance in New Zealand is based on a social contract, perhaps moreso than any other country. The “Social Contract” rests on the proposition that mankind is both an individual and a social animal. This creates a tension, for living in a society involves some alienation of one’s individuality. Yet to live outside society involves a loss of one’s full potential. There is no perfect solution to the tension, although many have been proffered.

Alan Danks: Economics Teacher

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy on by .

Prepared in March 1994 shortly after Alan’s death in December 1993. He was 79.

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;

I last met Alan Danks in the Wellington Public Library, standing there among the book stacks, with an enormous pile of novels for the week’s reading. He talked of how he never considered himself an economist, but only an economics teacher, for when he was young there was not an economics profession in the public service and business. This exceptionally tall man always looked down on me, seemingly ending his sentences with an unspoken “boy”. Yet it was a modest remark. “Only” an economics teacher: he was a great economics teacher, the best I had.

Curiouser and Curiouser

This entry was posted in Growth & Innovation, History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener on by .

Listener 29 January 1994.

Keywords: Growth & Innovation; History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;

Economics is a profession where 40-year-olds usually give up serious research,proclaiming platitudes instead. But Bryan Philpott is still an active researcher, six years after retirement, His greatest love, which goes back to the 1950s when he worked for the Meat and Wool Economic Service, is the determinants of economic growth. The farm accounts series from the 1920s, which he and associates derived in the 1920s, which he and associates derived in the 1960s, is still definitive. Even more valuable is the economy-wide comprehensive database from the 1950s, filling in gaps in the official series. More recently, students under Philpott’s supervision have been extending his unique capital series back to the last century.

A Wolf in Lion’s Clothing

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy on by .

Listener 15 January 1994.

Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Macroeconomics & Money;

I knew Wolfgang Rosenberg before I wanted to enter economics. I sort of blame him for my becoming an economist. At a student camp, he talked on .’The Dangers of Being an Economist’. Such camps are notorious for long nights and late mornings. My concentration slipped during the lecture. It sounded fun, .For Wolf, it has been dangerous. He came here as a 22-year-old German refugee, arriving on a day he now celebrates as if it was a birthday. Perhaps because of the dreadful events of Nazi Germany, Wolf cares passionately about economic issues, which is dangerous, and has been outspoken on them, which is even more dangerous. He has been publicly abused in Parliament and, no doubt, on many less formal occasions.

Of Pigs and People

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy on by .

Listener 9 January, 1993.

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy

This is about pigs. It could be in honour of Charles Lamb’s ‘A Dissertation on Roast Pig’ from which I learnt of the art of the essay, but I am not going to write about that. Nor am I going to write about Animal Farm where all animals were equal, but pigs were more equal than others. And, while I am: tempted to write about how pigs might fly and the health reforms might work, I leave that to Minister of Health Simon Upton, who also writes essays. As for ‘to market, to market’ the fate of the pigs involved is too painful to write about.

The Challenge of Religion to Economics

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy on by .

St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion & Society, 23 July, 1992. (There was a companion lecture in which Richard Randerson looked at the challenge of economics to religion.)   Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;   Adam Smith, often described as the founder of economics, never held a position in economics. He…
Continue reading this entry »

Centesimus Annus: a Theological Challenge to Economists.

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener on by .

Listener 17 June, 1991.

Keywords History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy

Roman Catholic theology is much more interesting than Protestant. It is not that Protestants are boring, but Protestantism developed with the rise of the modern industrial economy; expecting an economic theology from it is a bit like asking a fish to give an account of water . Catholicism was thrown in at the deep end; its church and theology evolved before the modern market economy. Slowly and painfully they had to come to terms with it.

The Personal Responsibility Of an Economist

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy on by .

Towards a Just Economy edited by Raymond Pelly, published by the Combined Chaplaincies, VUW, 1991. p.11-20. (Revised version of a lecture given April 1991)

Keywords History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy

Just over a year ago, on my birthday, I visited Majdanek, near the Polish City of Lublin, 160 kilometres south east of Warsaw and 80 kilometres from the Soviet border. Majdanek was a concentration camp. Its dead from starvation, infection, and execution – included 150,000 Poles, 125,000 jews, 70,000 Russians, plus those of other nationalities, a total of 360,000 souls – the population of today’s Christchurch or greater Wellington. The main memorial at the camp is a giant urn containing 7.5 tonnes of human ashes. The inscription reads “Los Nasz Dla Was Przesthorga” – our fate is a warning to you.

Marks Of Change

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener on by .

Listener 28 May 1990.

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;

The University of Sussex in Brighton, England, where I first taught, was deeply committed to the whole of the social sciences. In teaching, research and policy applications the staff believed in the importance of social sciences to social and personal understanding, and their contribution to building a better society. They partly summed this up in the phrase, “We are all marxists now.”

For Whom the Treaty Tolls

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener, Maori, Political Economy & History on by .

Listener 5 February, 1990.

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Maori; Political Economy & History;< Across the bay from the great Waitangi Marae is the picturesque town of Russell. A hundred and fIfty years ago Kororareka, as it was then, housed “the scum of the Pacific”: ruffians, rogues, and ratbags from Europe, prone to drunkenness, violence and turmoil. If Thomas Hobbes had been at the .signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, he would have looked at the unrest across the water and given a knowing smile.

Economic Liberalisation: Where Do People Fit In?

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Social Policy on by .

Responding to the Revolution: Careers, culture and Casualties ed. A. von Tunzelmann & J. Johnston, (NZIPA, 1987), being the proceedings of the NZIPA 1987 conference. (pp.85-93)

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Social Policy;

Keynes remarked that practical men (he meant politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen) are but the slaves of some defunct economist, a sentiment that will have been all too apparent over the last few years. Today I want to focus upon some of these defunct economists, to show how economic analysis which is too narrowly directed results in policies for economic change which generate social costs far in excess of any ‘economic’ benefits.

A Degree Of Choice

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener on by .

Listener 7 November, 1981.   Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;   With the examination season in full swing, there must be a few younger readers – plus their concerned parents and other relatives – who are contemplating a career in economics. No certification is needed to become a professional economist, but most economists…
Continue reading this entry »