This was a think-piece which underpins the Listener column of December 11, 2010.. Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; This note is a chain of reasoning, rather than an essay or chapter with a conclusion. Although it may shed light on some contemporary issues discussed in the final paragraphs, the paper arose out…
Continue reading this entry »
Cheese as a metaphor for the New Zealand economy. Listener: 11 December, 2010. Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; Our first cheese was probably made shortly after Samuel Marsden brought cows to New Zealand. For most of the 19th century, cheese was made on farms for local supply. Before export refrigeration, which began…
Continue reading this entry »
This is just some notes. The point of the trip was to study India and write five ‘Listener’ columns. They are drafted and will be published from January to May 2011. Keywords: Political Economy & History; Saturday 6 – Monday 8: Flew into Chennai (Madras) from Singapore. You cant fly direct from New Zealand, bother…
Continue reading this entry »
This series of “Listener” columns were an occasional series that arose out of a trip funded by the 2009 NZIER-NBR Economist of the Year Award. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; Engaging China: http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1220 (26 June 2010) Will China Rule the World? http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1247 (24 July, 2010) China or Bust: http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1257 (7 August, 2010)…
Continue reading this entry »
Lessons in how to use an economic surplus. Listener: 2 October, 2010. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; More than one tourist has asked how much it cost to build Beijing’s Forbidden City, a complex of 980 surviving buildings covering three-quarters of a hectare. Better to ignore the monetary cost and think about…
Continue reading this entry »
The crew worked extremely hard to keep the good ship New Zealand afloat. Listener: 18 September, 2010. Keywords: Governance; Macroeconomics & Money; Political Economy & History; When Alan Bollard transferred from the position of secretary of the Treasury to that of the governor of the Reserve Bank, a good friend announced it was “more pay…
Continue reading this entry »
I was asked to write something about my use of the A2Js which are being digitised on the web. Keywords: Political Economy & History; In 2008 I was the Robert Stout Fellow with a room at the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies. It was common for me to pop across to the university…
Continue reading this entry »
Spectacular Growth May Be Masking Unstable Foundations. Listener, 7 August, 2010. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; The question was asked aggressively, and came from the Australian-Chinese businessman as we sat down for lunch: “Is there a bubble?” I avoided a direct answer; I had only briefly visited China, but I knew what…
Continue reading this entry »
This is a draft extract from a chapter of “Not in Narrow Seas: A History of New Zealand from an economic perspective”. It has been circulated and hence is put here on the website. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Political Economy & History; New Zealand’s greatest banking crisis came at the end of the Long Depression….
Continue reading this entry »
This obituary was published in Foreign Control Watchdog 124 (August 2010) p.64-66. It is is based on Defender of the Vulnerable: Tributes to Hugh Price 1929-2009 (Steele Roberts, 2010), and complements Murray Horton’s obituary in the May 2010 issue which focused on the CAFCA and SIS dimensions of Hugh’s life. Keywords: Political Economy & History;…
Continue reading this entry »
Prelude to Arbitration in Three Movements: Ulster, South Australia, New Zealand: 1890-1894 by W. J. Gardner (2009) 174pp. (Available from W. J. Gardner, Box 5634, Papanui, Christchurch 8542, $NZ30) Published in Labour History Project, Newsletter 49 July 2010, p.25-27. Keywords: Labour Studies; Political Economy & History; The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, passed in 1894,…
Continue reading this entry »
SOME BLOG COMMENTS The Dim-Post blog, extracted a section from Does the Government Know What it is Doing? (http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1217). There was a vigorous and – usually intelligent – commentary, to which I – quite out of character – responded. Here are my replies. The full blog is at http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/does-the-government-know-what-its-doing/ Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Political Economy…
Continue reading this entry »
U3A; Christchurch, 6 July 2010 Keywords: Political Economy & History; The continent Zealandia, on which New Zealand sits, is the eroded soil from the Australian continent which, over hundreds of millions of years, was swept down the rivers to the sea along its eastern coast where it compacted and solidified. About 70 million years ago…
Continue reading this entry »
The Expo in Shanghai is more China looking outwards than showing off to the world. Listener: June 26, 2010. Keywords: Political Economy & History; Aside from artists, scholars and the peasants, few – Asians or Europeans – come out well in Chinese history. Perhaps %China’s geography does not allow it. I once wrote a column…
Continue reading this entry »
Spirited Conversations, 23 June, 2010, Nelson. Keywords: Political Economy & History; Being Able to Predict Government Policy The topic initially suggested for tonight’s Spirited Conversations was to talk about the 2010 budget. I knew that this event would be two months later, by which time things would have moved on. So I chose instead ‘Does…
Continue reading this entry »
Note to a foreign policy meeting under Chatham House rules, 21 June, 2010. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; The central thesis of my paper is that the balance of world economic power is changing dramatically. The shift reflects the world economy shifting back to the pattern of the eighteenth century and earlier…
Continue reading this entry »
This was an entry for a venture which did not proceed. (April 2010) Keywords: Political Economy & History; Introduction While New Zealand has about 0.1% of the world’s population, its economy produces about 0.3% of the world’s material output. Based on this material output (GDP per capita) the OECD places it in the middle to…
Continue reading this entry »
Asia-Pacific Economics and Business History Conference, 17-19 February 2010. Keywords: Political Economy & History; Introduction I originally said I would recycle the paper It’s the Same this Time? which I gave in November 2008 shortly after it became evident to everyone that the world economy was about to enter a severe recession – if it…
Continue reading this entry »
From the section ‘The Economy and the City’ released February 2010. Keywords: Political Economy & History; Te Ara is New Zealand’s On-line Encyclopaedia. The primary author of its section on New Zealand’s economic history ( http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/economic-history ) was Brian Easton. < For other of his contributions The Economy: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/economy Income and Wealth Distributions: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/income-and-wealth-distribution
With no real economic strategy, the Prime Minister is playing a dangerous game. Listener: 26 December, 2009. Keywords: Political Economy & History; The reason the Government is thought to have a secret agenda is that it has no agenda. It has instincts, and commitments to keep, including ones to those that helped elect it, such…
Continue reading this entry »