Presentation to ‘Spirited Conversations’, Nelson, July 25, 2012. At a public meeting of the Tax Working Group, whose recommendations were the basis of the 2010 tax changes when GST was raised to the benefit of those on higher incomes, a member of the public raised the question of the role of fairness in their thinking….
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Listener: 7 July 7, 2012. I am appalled by the Prime Minister’s deferral of consideration of the age of entitlement for New Zealand Superannuation. Many think it should be raised from 65 years. Key said he was more focused on immediate issues than on longer-term ones. That is an appropriate attitude for a money-market dealer,…
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Global Alcohol Policy Conference: Thailand, 14-16 February as Honorary Research Fellow at SHORE, Massey University. Keywords: Health; Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy; The theme of this presentation is that alcohol is no ordinary commodity; economic policy has to think about it differently. The alcoholic beverages industry, of course, produces jobs and profits for investors, just like any…
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THE TOO HARD BASKET Listener: 19 January, 2012. Keywords: Environment & Resources; Distributional Economics; Macroeconomics & Money; Political Economy & History; Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy; Every government has issues it hopes will go away. They don’t. Here are some for our one. Our Emissions Trading Scheme is looking like a dog’s breakfast, and/or something…
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I was asked by the NZ Portrait Gallery to curate an exhibition of 60 New Zealanders who were influential in the making of New Zealand between 1930 and 1960. Here is the entry for Owen Woodhouse. 37. Rt HON SIR ARTHUR OWEN WOODHOUSE President of the Court of Appeal, Royal Commissioner 18 July 1916, Napier…
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Listener: 23 November, 2011. Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Social Policy; Economists always knew income was just one contributor to total well-being, but it was the only bit they could study. Later, as the databases became more comprehensive, new research enabled them to turn their minds to what else matters and to look…
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Listener: 28 October, 2011. Keywords: Social Policy; Is New Zealand the best place in the world to bring up children? A report from economist David Grimmond, The Effectiveness of Public Investment in New Zealand Children, suggests not. After combining 26 indicators of children’s welfare from 30 OECD countries – ranging from drunkenness, bullying and suicide…
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I wrote this note in October 2011, to sort out some of my ideas. I am putting it on the websirte, because it represents a step on the way to some important developments in my thinking on the role of tort law and social insurance. Keywords: Social Policy; My thinking on a number of issues…
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Paper to a Student Group from Carleton University, 10 February 2011. Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Political Economy & History; Social Policy; Europeans were greatly puzzled by the American debate over President Obama’s health reforms, for almost everyone there assumes the public sector should actively promote universal health care. Clearly that is not…
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For my evidence see http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=1393. Keywords: Health; Social Policy; One of the ways I earn my crust is as a consultant. Although it often involves very satisfying economics, I rarely use the experience directly in my public writings (and if I do I tell you). Another rule is dont get too involved in the case….
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New Zealand Home Health National Conference, 2 September, Auckland Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Social Policy; I have been asked to present an account of the economic context in which the home health services industry will function. I am not going to talk about the rising demand for its services because of population shifts taking that…
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Why are we faring so badly when it comes to the health of our children? Listener 21 August, 2010. Keywords: Social Policy; We used to think New Zealand was the best place in the world to bring up children. Alas, this is no longer true, as the statistics in the box below show. They come…
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Commissioned Report: April 2010 Keywords: Health; Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy; Executive Summary The following is not the usual executive summary. Rather it draws out the policy implications of the known costs and benefits of gambling, thereby summarising the main report, which consists of two parts. Appendix I is a general account about how economists…
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Concluding remarks for ‘The ACC Debate: How Do We Pay for ACC?’, sponsored by the ACC Group. 15 December 2009, Auckland. Keywords: Social Policy; I am honoured to be asked to attempt to make some concluding remarks to such an interesting conference, and privileged to follow Sir Owen Woodhouse. We are so fortunate that we…
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Sue Bradford’s departure leaves a huge gap in the Greens, and Parliament. Listener: 12 December, 2009. Keywords: Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy; To work properly, the market must be “complete” – that is, all possible transactions must be able to be carried out. For example, those who invested in finance firms such as Bridgecorp should…
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Speech to Launch the Report “New Insights into the Experienced Generation” for the Hope Foundation, 30 July 2009 Keywords: Social Policy; Statistics; This report represents a further step to our understanding of ourselves as a society. Only a few decades ago we treated all New Zealanders as the same, with the implicit assumption…
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Tax, Saving Welfare and Retirement: Have We Lost our Way? Symposium, Retirement Policy and Research Centre, University of Auckland, 16 July, 2009 Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Maynard Keynes Keywords: Distributional Economics; History of Ideas, Methodology &…
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Paper for Towards a Value Driven Public Sector Summit, 15 July, 2009. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Regulation & Taxation; Social Policy; Before talking about the fiscal imperatives in the narrow sense, I want to make a couple of general remarks about the rhetoric of policy. . The first is that the need…
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Paper to the summit “Reviewing New Zealand’s Accident Compensation System” Wellington, 29 June, 2009. Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money; Social Policy; The world is facing a global financial crisis with the international system malfunctioning, as many banks – which provide the means of payment and facilitate investment – having to limit their lending…
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I was unable to address the housing paper in my end of my seminar commentary at the RBNZ Professorial Workshop on the Current Financial Crisis (17 June 2009). This covers some of the things I wanted to say. By way of background Luci Ellis, whose paper this note covers, is Head of Financial Stability at…
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