What are the economic and political implications if the New Zealand economy stagnates for five and more years? Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Morning Report that ‘We’ve got the worst recession* we have had in 30 years’. (Observe, he could have said ‘since the Rogernomics Stagnation which finished 30 years ago’, but some things may…
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A physician’s memoir describing a successful research program leads to pondering about research funding strategies. A few years back, I was, in effect, commissioned to review the development possibilities of a local biotech industry, especially one for creating new pharmaceuticals. At the time, it was fashionable in every regional plan – anywhere in the world…
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What can Econ101 tell us about Trump’s tariffs? Before reviewing the economics of tariffs as indirect taxes, here is a brief account of their constitutional role. In particular, in some jurisdictions, including New Zealand, taxes and therefore tariffs are the preserve of Parliament, not that of the executive or kings. England’s civil war is complicated…
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This was submitted to The Guardian for a regular column they were running. They never replied. This is about many small kindnesses to the elderly, rather than a single big one. For the record I am 82, suffer joint stiffness, walk slowly, have trouble with steps and use a stick. I first noticed the kindnesses…
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The Government’s Growth Strategy Seems to Have Little Analytic Content. In 1990, the Prime Minister, Geoffrey Palmer, announced that he would halve unemployment – its rate was then more than 7 percent of the labour force. An OIA request turned up no technical papers. Apparently, the PM’s political advisers – jock wankers/politicos – thought the…
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Angus Deaton’s Economics in America challenges the direction that economics has taken. In 2015 Angus Deaton was the sole awardee of the Bank of Sweden’s Prize in Honour of Alfred Nobel, for his contributions in the study of ‘consumption, poverty and welfare’. (It has been relatively rare for this Nobel to recognise poverty or welfare;…
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