Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was elected president, that stalwart of…
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The deed is done, the doers undone Had I been a Brit, I would have voted ‘Remain’ rather than Brexit (or ‘Leave’). Instead, I have been bemused by the comic theatre of British politics, fascinated by what the Brits actual think and professionally interested by the revelations of the complexity of the interactions between Britain…
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This was submitted to a British news publication in late December, but was not published. Brexit is a great puzzle to New Zealanders. Britain and New Zealand are affectionate cousins with common ancestors back in the nineteenth century. We have gone our own ways; even so we have views of the other’s ways. New Zealand’s…
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Paper to Wellington South Rotary; 22 March, 2017 Thankyou for the invitation to talk about contemporary world economy. I am not going to give a blow-by-blow account of the challenges New Zealand currently faces; instead I am going to place them in a broad context. What I am arguing – I am uncertain, of course…
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Paper to the Fabian Society, 12 October, 2016 While we continue to chew over the carcass of the Fourth Labour Government – the Lange-Douglas one – we pay little attention to the subsequent Fifth Labour Government. Yet the Clark-Cullen one is greatly shaping the current Labour Opposition and the current National Government. It will,…
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The US senate has given trade promotion authority to the President. What next? Will the TPP agreement be acceptable, and to whom? Unfortunately trade negotiations are riddled with acronyms. I have listed the ones used here at the end of the article. The US Senate has finally passed the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). This is…
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New Zealand International Review, May/June 2015, Vol 40, No 3. There is a bit of a construction shambles around the buildings that house the European Union in Brussels with new buildings, buildings retrofitted for energy efficiency and improvements to the subway and public surrounds. It is not that the activities of the EU are…
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Perhaps New Zealand’s acceptance of the TPPA will depend upon the outcome of the Northland by-election Prime Minister John Key shortened his trip to Japan and Korea in order to spend more time campaigning in the Northland by-election. Domestic affairs trumped international ones – for a short time anyway. He said he was going north…
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As Borders Fall Are Europeans Losing Their Cultural Identity Pundit: 29 December 2014 Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Aside from the English Channel, Europe has hardly any significant internal natural borders. Seventy years ago the border between Germany and Poland was settled at the Oder River. At its main crossing point it is no wider than…
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The EU remains central to New Zealand’s destiny Pundit: 23 December, 2014. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; Suppose Britain exited the European Union of 28 countries. I am not recommending it; they would probably be worse off economically. Nor am I predicting it, although sometimes politics produces odd outcomes….
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The EU approach in trade deals is likely to protect the right of states to make public policy Pundit: 19 October, 2014. Keywords: Business & Finance; Globalisation & Trade; How can foreign investors in New Zealand be sure that we will treat them fairly? If they are not sure perhaps they…
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Conquest was the old way for countries to acquire resources, but trading is much cheaper. Listener: 12 July, 2014. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Political Economy & History; Over the next few years, as we think back to the Great War a century ago, we will be reminded of politics and bungling, heroism…
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Free trade is a fine ideal but comes at the cost of compromised sovereignty. Listener: 13 February, 2014. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Once free trade agreements (FTAs) were about reducing tariffs on imports. But it wasn’t long before it became necessary to deal with other means of favouring domestic production: import controls,…
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Asia-Pacific Integration: The Economic and Security Dimensions for New Zealand NZIIA Seminar: Wednesday, 13 November 2013 [1] Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; My theme today is on the impact of economic integration on global security. The thesis may be illustrated by the French political economist and diplomat, Jean Monnet who should have been awarded…
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Modern trade is seldom as simple as importing or exporting from A to B. Listener: 31 October, 2013. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Your jacket label may say “made in China” but as likely as not the garment is only assembled there. Half the value of a typical Chinese export is imported. The…
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We must remember the lesson of the 1960s and ensure the diversity of our exports and markets. Listener: 22 August, 2013. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Growth & Innovation; Political Economy & History; We learnt from the Great Depression of the 1930s that New Zealand was over-dependent on a few exports – wool,…
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In the new partnerships New Zealand is joining, we need to maintain strong bottom lines. Listener: 25 July, 2013 Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Southeast Asia was not a stable region in the 1960s, not least because of the conflict in Vietnam. In 1967, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand came…
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This paper was presented to the Curtin Sarawak Research Institute at Curtin University, Sarawak (Miri campus), 22 March, 2013. (And earlier version was presented to a politics class at Victoria University of Wellington). The Power Points are available on request. Keywords: Globalisation & Trade I am going to talk about globalisation. I am not using…
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Listener: 29 September, 2012. The world economy remains fragile. There may be another major economic crisis, but if not, things will continue to drift – or possibly sink. Here are some of the major known unknowns facing the world – and us. It’s hard to say much about the United States economy. The country is…
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A note prepared for discussion in September 2012. Keywords: Business & Finance; Distributional Economics; Globalisation & Trade; Growth & Innovation; Macroeconomics & Money; What is the Purpose of the Economy? * The purpose of the New Zealand economy is to maintain and increase the wellbeing of all New Zealanders. It is neither the…
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