The Truth Behind the Free Market by Bryan Gould (Macmillan, $54.95) This review was commissioned by ‘The Listener’ but not used Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Political Economy & History; The dominant public narrative has a vision of business and the market as progressive forces, held back by unnecessary interventions from politicians and…
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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…
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Modern trade is seldom as simple as importing or exporting from A to B. Listener: 31 October, 2013. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Your jacket label may say “made in China” but as likely as not the garment is only assembled there. Half the value of a typical Chinese export is imported. The…
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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…
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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…
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Wellington’s disdain for local councils makes the present elections almost meaningless. Listener: 3 October, 2013. Keywords: Governance; The abolition of the provinces in 1876 made New Zealand one of the most centralised states in the world. Not completely, however – a second level of regional, city and district councils exists that we…
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It’s time to stop subsidising speculation on housing. Listener: 19 September, 2013. Keywords: Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy; Scared by finance company failure, you decide to invest some of your savings in a rental property. You borrow just enough so the tenant’s payments cover the interest, rates and other outgoings. The return…
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CLEANING UP CORRUPTION Becoming a democratic country is not as simple as just holding free elections. Listener: 5 September, 2013. Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; Indonesians think of their country as a democracy following the introduction of relatively fair and free elections after the collapse of the Suharto dictatorship…
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We must remember the lesson of the 1960s and ensure the diversity of our exports and markets. Listener: 22 August, 2013. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; We learnt from the Great Depression of the 1930s that New Zealand was over-dependent on a few exports – wool,…
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How to live with the Treasury’s Long Term Financial Projections. Listener: 11 August, 2013. Keywords: Regulation & Taxation; Retirement Policy; Social Policy; I was on the external panel advising the team from the Treasury that put together its Long Term Fiscal Projections, required every four years and looking half a century forward. A…
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In the new partnerships New Zealand is joining, we need to maintain strong bottom lines. Listener: 25 July, 2013 Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Southeast Asia was not a stable region in the 1960s, not least because of the conflict in Vietnam. In 1967, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand came…
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No Listener column was published on 11 July, 2013.
Presentation at Launch of ‘Ethnicity, Gender, Socioeconomic Status and Educational Achievement: An Exploration”, 9 July, 2013. The full report is here. Keywords: Education; Maori While there is much grumbling about our education system, the evidence suggests it is doing very well. Every three years the OECD surveys a sample of 15 year old students. The…
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The new wave of “sharia-compliant” banks go to a lot of trouble to neither charge nor pay interest. Listener: 27 June, 2013 Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; ‘No risk, no return” is a summary of Islamic financial principles. So their system has to work without interest. Muslims are not opposed to…
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The Austerian Economists’ Error In the battle of opinions for managing sluggish economies, rhetoric often misrepresents the research. Listener: 13 June, 2013 Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Macroeconomics & Money; The right response to high unemployment and lethargic economic activity is to cut back government spending, according to “Austerians”, whose…
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Indonesian Muslims don’t necessarily support the opinions and actions of Middle Eastern Muslims. Listener: 8 June, 2013 Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Literature and Culture; Political Economy & History; I once flew from Dublin to Vienna – both Catholic but with very different atmospheres. The distance from Mecca to Jakarta…
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Carefully designed changes to the electricity-generation industry could make it work better. Listener: 25 May, 2013 Keywords: Business & Finance; Regulation & Taxation; Discussions on what to do about electricity have been so political and self-interested that almost all the public economic analysis has been puerile. So let’s begin with some basics….
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Our national airline no longer stops over there but New Zealanders should. Listener: 11 May, 2013 Keywords: Political Economy & History; The fall of Singapore in February 1942 signalled the end of the British Empire. It was not just that an Asian power had conquered one of its key outposts. Japan’s success…
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In the unlikely event of a bank collapse, a proposed new measure would help safeguard our savings. Listener: 27 April, 2013 Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Banks can fail. That is not the same as a run on a bank, in which depositors withdraw funds faster than the bank can liquidate its investments, even though it…
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Driving the state asset share floats is a government that is happy to subsidise business. Listener: 13 April, 2013 Keywords: Business & Finance; Why has the Government not made a case for its partial privatisation programme? The failure is a contrast to the privatisations of the late 1980s and early 1990s, although…
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