The Ethnic Future for New Zealand Is Unknown. But It Will Be Diverse and Different The promise of increased future ethnic diversity is undoubtedly true, but often the statistical projections are both misleading and obscure the real issues. Each Population Census asks the respondents’ ethnicity. That is not their race, which is a genetic notion….
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‘Iwi leaders and the Government have agreed on a deadline to sort out Maori interests in fresh water by Waitangi Day 2016.’ (News: 5 February 2015) Law and economics recognises three distinct aspects of property rights. There is the ability to use the property, the ability to transform it into something else, and the ability…
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Research Report Funded by PPTA. Completed in April 2103 and Launched 9 July, 2013. A short summary is at http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/2013/07/how-good-is-our-schooling/ This column was rejected by The Listener. It was published in Pundit on 8 September, 2014. Keywords: Education; Maori Executive Summary (Conclusion) The average PISA scores on the three dimensions of reading,…
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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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This is an earlier version of a paper published in New Zealand Population Review, which was a festschrift to D. Ian Pool (Vol 7, 2011 p.178-182) Introduction In the course of writing Not in Narrow Seas: New Zealand History from an Economic Perspective I was found myself not only reporting demographic history, but using demography…
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National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis, University of Waikato Seminar: 23 August, 2012 ( am grateful to Joan Metge and Ian Pool for assistance with various aspects of this paper; the errors remain mine.) This paper is based on Chapter 34 the book I am writing: Not in Narrow Seas, which is a history…
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Listener: 4 August, 2012. This column has previously advocated making greater use of market mechanisms to allocate the use of water. New Zealand has a comparative abundance of water, but we benefit if it is allotted as efficiently as possible. Those familiar with the issue acknowledge the argument, but many point out that the “P”…
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VALUE IN GOODS EXCHANGE Listener: 7 January, 2012. Keywords: Maori; Political Economy & History; My marginal contribution to maritime historian Joan Druett’s book Tupaia: Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator was to comment at a dinner table that the Tahitian chief’s considerable part in the development of New Zealand was hardly acknowledged. The observation was made as…
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Human “rights” are often riddled with ambiguity – which is why they can be such a worry. Listener: 29 May, 2010. Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Maori; How is it possible to say New Zealand’s signing of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is of no great consequence (the Prime…
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Recent devastation in the Pacific has a parallel in the great New Zealand tsunami. Listener: 7 November, 2009. Keywords: Maori; Political Economy & History; The sea grew dark and troubled and angry, and presently a great wave, which gathered strength as it came, swept towards the shore. It advanced over the beach, sweeping Titipa and…
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Report prepared for Te Maru o Ngati Rangiwewehi (June 2009) Keywords: Environment & Resources; Maori; Introduction My name is Brian Henry Easton. I am an independent scholar with particular expertise in economics, social statistics and public policy analysis. I hold a D.Sc. from the University of Canterbury and am an adjunct professor at the Institute…
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The 2008 Michael King Memorial Lecture, University of Otago, 9 October 2008. [1] Keywords: Maori; Political Economy & History; Michael King and I were students together. It would not be true to say we were close friends afterwards – for we lived in different parts of New Zealand and worked in different areas….
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Speech to the Tribal Economies Forum of the First Nations Futures Program, Christchurch: 23 February 2008 (Revised) Keywords: Governance; Maori; Tena kotou, katoa. Thankyou for the invitation to speak to you on tribal economies. It would not, however, be appropriate for me to tell this audience how to run their tribes. What…
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This was a draft an affidavit I prepared for the Environment Court. in November 2007. It was rules out as not relevant to the proceedings. It is included here because it shows an ingenious method for valuing physical resources in some instances. Keywords: Environment & Resources; Maori; Introduction My name is Brian…
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Maori incomes are catching up, but there’s a long way to go. Listener: 7 April, 2007. Keywords: Distributional Economics; Maori; Sometimes I am proud of New Zealand’s achievements in race relations. Not that they are perfect; far from it. But we try, we acknowledge our past failures (sometimes reluctantly) and we can…
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Keywords: Distributional Economics; Maori; Statistics; The following summarises the income statistics used in the Listener economics columns of the March 11 & 25, and April 7. The data is derived directly from the official Population Census for the relevant years. As the column details, it is reported income including social security benefits, before tax and…
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Studies of race relations are sometimes used to bolster prejudice, not reveal the truth. Listener: 10 February, 2007. Keywords: Health; Maori; Social Policy; Don Brash’s January 2004 Orewa speech may have been a key event in New Zealand race relations. The earlier foreshore and seabed decisions had stirred a restlessness about…
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Listener: 25 February, 2006
Keywords: Literature and Culture; Statistics;
March 7 is Census Day, the day on which Statistics New Zealand (like Foreskin) asks “Whaddarya?” The Census may not cover all the questions you think important, but a good quality Census response makes the surveys that ask such questions cheaper and you are surveyed less often.
Listener: 11 February, 2006.
Keywords: Maori;
I was appalled by the proposal that the government should ban the teaching of the Treaty of Waitangi. Repressing bits of disapproved history is the practice of despotic regimes, not of liberal democracies.
For Kapiti U3A, August 11, 2005
Keywords: Maori; Political Economy & History;
This paper begins with a little about my experience of growing up a Pakeha New Zealander. Although I dont think there is much of interest in me, it is perhaps worth noting that most of us have similarly conventional histories. I will then talk about my relationship with the Maori, and try to draw a few useful conclusions. I will finish with a discussion on nationalism and being a New Zealander, which is the topic I am currently working on in the context of my Marsden Research Grant on globalisation.