Things are generally looking better for New Zealand. Consumer, business, and forecaster expectations of growth have improved, our trading partners are stabilising, and financial markets are functioning. Yay. But one piece of data that leaves me a little cautious is the money stock data. The broadest measure of the money stock (M3) declined 2% on …
Monthly Archive: January 2010
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2010/01/08/a-note-of-caution-for-nz/
Jan
07
2010
Economists and opportunity cost
The Wall Street Journal has an article that discusses how economists are “cheapskates”. I probably wouldn’t use that term, I would say that economists understand the opportunity cost of different choices and so can pick more objectively between alternatives. Anyway, what struck me was this passage: Economist Robert Gordon, of Northwestern University, says he drives …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2010/01/07/economists-and-opportunity-cost/
Jan
07
2010
Weak Warehouse result, disappointing Christmas retail?
That is what is implied by this article in the Herald. The Warehouse is a huge retailer in New Zealand, and with their Christmas retail sales disappointing this is bound to cause some concern. However, this does not necessarily imply that the New Zealand retail sector struggled during Christmas. Why? Well, many people believe (rightly …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2010/01/07/weak-warehouse-result-disappointing-christmas-retail/
Jan
06
2010
Karl du Fresne’s review of Avatar
Is spot on (ht Offsetting Behaviour). I can’t remember the last time I got as genuinely bored in a movie as I did with Avatar. The scenery and graphics were beautiful, but the acting and story were both atrocious. I tried to enjoy it, hell I even did enjoy it for the first 30 mins. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2010/01/06/karl-du-fresnes-review-of-avatar/
Jan
06
2010
Pop lyrics and cognitive biases
There is an excellent post from Stumbling and Mumbling on this issue, it can be found here. I love the conclusion: Now, I don’t want to claim that all of this year’s most popular songs contain howling irrationalities. The mighty Lady Gaga passes muster. But could it be that such irrationalities – as distinct from …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2010/01/06/pop-lyrics-and-cognitive-biases/
Jan
05
2010
Evolving blog focus
I was recently accused (by co-author Goonix) of becoming more libertarian over the past 2 1/2 years. Now I don’t agree, I think I am where I was in July 2007. However, it is evident that the particular focus of the blog has evolved since then.
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2010/01/05/evolving-blog-focus/
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