Isolation and PPE in 1918
I have been asked what my book, Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, out this month, says about the Covid Crisis. The short answer is nothing ... and everything.
Read MoreCovid19 and History
Economy
About the Economic Future: Good Questions – Uncertain Answers
An uncertain attempt to explain what is going on in the economy. If you confidently know the answers to any of these questions, you have not been following closely enough.
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How Much Unemployment?
While we cannot eliminate the impending unemployment; we have to flatten the curve.
Read MoreContra Damien: what libertarians get wrong about preserving freedom
A short, sharp curtailment of freedom might be better than a protracted, dull one.
Read MoreWhere is the New Zealand Economy Going?
The economy may not follow any of the just released Treasury scenarios, but they provide a basis for a discussion on our economic track. (The graph above is from the Treasury report.)
Read MoreLevel three and three-quarters: it’s not a holiday
This is going to suck
Read MoreThe five things to do for a radical recovery
To pull our society from the brink, we will need unprecedented economic change.
Read MoreA Child's Introduction to Quantitative Easing
This paper demonstrates the truism that for every financial liability is matched by an asset. A fiscal deficit creates a liability of the government. Somewhere outside government – somewhere in the private sector – there is a private asset matching this public liability.
Read MoreObituary for The New Zealand Listener (1939-2020)
The vast majority of tributes to the Listener hearken back to its glory days, with little reflection on the magazine as it was at its end.
Read MoreBackstage and Theatre
The swan politicians may be gliding on the water, occasionally snapping at one another. Meanwhile, as the Covid19 crisis illustrates, the officials are desperately paddling below providing the real locomotion.
Read MoreDealing with the Covid-19 Tsunami.
Not a grand coalition, but a government of national salvation
Loyal opposition is no longer possible, so national unity is now required.
Read MoreBlack April, May and June?
In November 1918 New Zealand was hit by the worldwide flu which killed around 9000 of us. Is there anything to learn from this and later experiences?
Read MoreNo half-measures: the risk to the economy is too serious
The government needs to go big or go home. Here are a few things Liam Hehir hopes it plans to announce.
Read MoreTomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.
As our record on gun control shows, too often we find it easier to put off addressing issues until it is too late.
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The Trustless Economy
Has economic productivity suffered from the lowering of public trust?
Read MoreConsultation and Generic Managers
I prepared this note for some friends who were arguing with a government agency over whether they were adequately consulted. (It does not matter which one; the disagreement about consultation standards is widespread.) For sometimes a public servant says that there has been consultation on a matter of public interest. Yet many stakeholders cannot recall that happening. The dispute may revolves around the meaning of ‘consultation’.
Read MoreIncome Inequality Is Rising
It would be easy to report my latest findings on the income distribution with grandiose hysteria. But I am a social statistician and readers deserve a sober assessment. The conclusion that high incomes are rising faster than the rest is powerful enough on its own.
Read MoreWho Pays for the Roads?
The proposed infrastructural spending on roads leaves open a whole range of issues such as who pays and who benefits.
Read MoreMuddled Thinking About RNZ.
Sometimes public policy in New Zealand is like the Red Queen who announced 'sentence first – verdict afterwards'.
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