Category Archives: Regulation & Taxation

Weighing It Up: a Case for Government Intervention

This entry was posted in Business & Finance, Listener, Regulation & Taxation on by .

Listener 27 March 1999.

Keywords Business & Finance; Regulation & Taxation

Just suppose there was no government agency concerned with accurate weights and measures. How would you know that the `kilogram’ of the bananas you were buying weighed a thousand true grams? You could carry you own scales. Not trusting the draper when you want to buy two metres of cloth, better carry your own ruler. A few percent difference – the butcher’s thumb on the scales – may be the difference between profit and loss, between whether the customer gets a fair deal or is ripped off.

The Ownership, Management, and Regulation Of Water (and Wastewater)

This entry was posted in Environment & Resources, Regulation & Taxation on by .

Presentation to the Annual Conference of the Rural Sector of Local Government New Zealand: July 1, 1998, Dunedin.

Keywords: Regulation & Taxation;

My conclusion is a simple one. There is no simple answer to the question of the ownership, management, and regulation of water and wastewater supply and services: there is no one answer which suits every locality, circumstance, and system. It is easy for extremists to claim everything should be privatised, while other extremists as equally shrilly argue they should be kept in local government control. It soon becomes evident that the practicalities of the general circumstances rule out any extremist argument, while the choice between the middle options depends on the local circumstances. This presentation details the argument that leads to the conclusion.

Chapter 10: Entitlement and Taxation

This entry was posted in Regulation & Taxation, Social Policy on by .

A chapter of Globalisation and Welfare State

Keywords: Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy;

How should social security beneficiary who has some additional income be treated? There are numerous institutional arrangements but for economic purposes the crucial question is summarized in the `effective marginal tax rate’ (EMTR). Consider a beneficiary (or indeed any other person) who obtains an extra dollar of income, perhaps from working, perhaps a return from investments or a private pension. The additional dollar may be taxed, there may be a surcharge, the benefit may be abated or treated as taxable income, some other benefit may be reduced …. The possibilities are numerous. The economist focuses on how much additional income the beneficiary has in the hand (called `disposable’ income because that is what the individual has to spend), irrespective of the institutional arrangement to reduce it. Suppose the amount is X cents (say, 60 cents). Then the EMTR is 100-X percent (e.g. 40 percent). (1)

Globalization and a Welfare State

This entry was posted in Distributional Economics, Globalisation & Trade, Labour Studies, Regulation & Taxation, Social Policy on by .

Keywords: Distributional Economics; Globalisation & Trade; Labour Studies; Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy;

In 1997 I commenced writing a book Globalization and a Welfare State. I finished about three fifths of the first draft and stopped. This was partly because other matters were using my energies, but also because I felt that the book was too technical and would not find a commercial market in New Zealand. I am putting the book on the website for those people who might be interested in some aspects of its contents.

Fiscal Surplus: Social Deficit:

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Even If the Economy is Doing Well, the People May Not BeListener: 29 November, 1997.

Keywords: Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy;

The table below shows the government’s current spending on employees, goods and services. It does not include spending on transfers such as social security benefits or debt servicing. It includes spending by local government as well as central government. The most important items are health and education, but there is also spending on government administration and advice, on law and order, on the environment, on the arts and so on.

In Stormy Seas: The Post-war New Zealand Economy

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


Otago University Press, 1997. 343pp.

A detailed look at the New Zealand economy in the twentieth century, and in particular its course since World War II. This is not just a history but a narrative about a problem’, defining, and ‘hopefully contributing to an understanding that will aid to its solutions’.

In Stormy Seas asks pertinent questions about some of our favourite national myths. The intial chapters examine the ongoing debate about the New Zealand economy, looking at such factors as external impact and internal response, the business cycle and growth, and problems of financing investment. Structural transformation, the farm sector, industry and energy, efficiency and flexibility, and ‘the market’ are all explored before the book closes with a discussion of the aftermath of Rogernomics and the decade of greed. (Publisher’s blurb)

Baths, Hogwash and Taxes

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In the search for correlations, are economists forsaking rigorous standards for sloppiness?
Listener 12 July 1997

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Regulation & Taxation;

Nobel prizewinning physicist Steven Weinberg recently wrote “the existence of a common standard of judgement leads physicists, who are no more saintly than economists, to question their own best work.” He was referring to Alan Guth who, having discovered the universe went through an inflationary phase early in its creation, nevertheless tested his own work to see whether the hypothesis was wrong. As Karl Popper says, be your own sternest critic. Is it fair to imply economists are less rigorous?

The Efficacy Of the Market

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Extract from Chapter 2, The Commercialisation of New Zealand.

Keywords: Health; Regulation & Taxation;

This is not an economics textbook, so we simply report a substantial body of economic theory as follows. The market may be thought of as a signalling system which coordinates the decisions of the various actors in an economy. It has two key features. First under certain circumstances (key features to be outlined shortly), the price signals reflect the social value of the resources being used or traded. Second the signalling system is self-enforcing, in that the actors have a practical selfinterest in obeying the signals.

The Commercialisation Of New Zealand

This entry was posted in Governance, History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Political Economy & History, Regulation & Taxation, Social Policy on by .


Auckland University Press, 1997. 288pp.

Well-known economist and commentator Brian Easton describes the origins, theory, history and politics of the dramatic change in economic policy in New Zealand from Robert Muldoon’s interventionism to Roger Douglas’s commercialisation and beyond. It is graphically illustrated with case studies including health, education, broadcasting, environment and heritage, government administration, the labour market, cultural policy and science. Lively broad ranging and controversial, this is a valuable commentary on the ‘more-market’ prevalent in New Zealand from the mid 1980s. (Publisher’s blurb)

It’s Only Natural

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From stockyards to communications, natural monopolies need to be watched closely.

Listener: 25 November, 1995.

Keywords: Regulation & Taxation;

A decade ago the Australian stock and station agents, Elders Pastoral, decided to enter New Zealand. A key activity is selling livestock, commonly done through stockyards. It is expensive to build one’s own yards, and most yards are under-utilized, with just one per region. So the firm wrote to each stockyard in the country, and asked if they might lease it for their sales on commercial terms.

Working on It?

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What Use is Part-time Work If Your Benefit is Cut and You Earn Little More?

Listener: 16 September, 1995.

Mike was finishing his university degree when he was offered a part time job with one of the biggest employers in the city. He took the job, did it well, and the employer eventually gave Mike a full time job. Three years later he is still working there. Mike’s experience is not unusual. Once the young worker walked into a full time job. Today’s young start off with bits and pieces of part-time work, obtain work skills and a reputation for good work disciplines, which eventually leads on to full time work.

Righting a Wrong

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Listener: 21 January, 1995.

Keywords: Regulation & Taxation;

Roger Douglas’ tax policies have come in for unfair criticism from the Business Roundtable. The attack first appeared in a letter by Roundtable member Alan Gibbs, which accompanied a report the BRT had commissioned, on the burden of taxation. Gibbs wrote that the “estimates are high. The bucket transferring wealth (sic) via government is certainly a very leaky one – at least at the margin!”

Taxing Alcohol

This entry was posted in Health, Regulation & Taxation, Social Policy on by .

Presentation to “Perspectives for Change”, a conference convened by the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand at Ohinemutu Marae, Rotorua, 20-23 February, 1994.

Keywords: Health; Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy

Given the brevity of the time available, this paper simply states a series of propositions about using taxation as a means of regulating alcohol use. The presenter has long been an advocate of an appropriate level of tax on alcohol to limit abuse and to pay the social costs of the abuse. While reaffirming this position, the paper is directed to the thesis that taxation for this purpose is a limited policy instrument, and that other instruments will have to be increasingly used if we want to obtain the socially optimal level of alcohol consumption. This presentation summarizes a series of papers on the economic regulation of licit drugs, which are listed in the appendix. This work draws on the parallel literature on the use and abuse of tobacco, where the similarities and differences are instructive.

Asymmetrical Sex

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Listener 23 January 1993.

Keywords: Regulation & Taxation;

As with many service industries, there is not a lot written on the economics of prostitution. Yet the activity has a peculiarity well worth reflecting upon in a column precipitated by the official committee inquiring into its relation to Aids.

Economic Instruments for the Regulation Of Licit Drugs

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Paper for the Perspectives for Change Conference, sponsored by the New Zealand Drug Foundation and the Alcohol Liquor Advisory Council, 25-27 November, 1991.

Keywords Health, Taxation & Regualtion

This paper does not pursue the ‘why’ or ‘whether’ policy issues of the additional regulation of licit drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, except insofar as that is relevant to the ‘how’ of regulation. The paper focuses on only one aspect of the how, the use of ‘economic instruments’ of regulation.

How Fair Is a Flat Tax?

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Listener: 23 January, 1988 (Edited for length) Keywords: Distributional Economics; Regulation & Taxation; What is a flat tax on incomes? Income taxes are imposed on different categories of incomes at different rates. For instance, under the regime introduced in October 1986, at the same time the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced, the first…
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Valuing a Good Time, Dearie

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Listener 30 May 1987.

Keywords: Regulation & Taxation;

I imagine that somewhere in the megaliths near the Beehive there is a memorandum advocating the decriminalisation of prostitution. It probably starts with the “general principle” that there should be no artificial barriers to the entry or exit of firms to the industry in New Zealand.