Matt Nolan

List of Kiwi’s who think they know better

/10 Comments/in /by

Well, they are pretty certain they are better at making your life choices than you are.

The list from the Hearld is:

  • Sir Paul Reeves, former Governor-General (convenor).
  • Dame Silvia Cartwright, former Governor-General.
  • Archbishop John Dew, Catholic primate.
  • Professor Sir Mason Durie, Maori health expert.
  • Georgina Earl (Evers-Swindell), rowing gold medallist.
  • Jeanette Fitzsimons, former Green Party co-leader.
  • Sir Lloyd Geering, theologian.
  • Dame Te Muranga Batley-Jackson, Manukau Urban Maori Authority founder.
  • Michael Jones, ex-All Black.
  • Dr Semisi Maia’i, Pacific Medical Association co-founder.
  • Caroline Meyer (Evers-Swindell), rowing gold medallist.
  • Archbishop David Moxon, Anglican leader.
  • Inga Tuigamala, ex-All Black.
  • Archbishop Brown Turei, Anglican leader.

Hey guys, if you think there is a problem with New Zealand’s culture of drinking, why don’t you try to understand why the problem exists and then come up with solutions to those problems – rather than just saying we should turn around and introduce prohibition.  I’m tempted to say it’s because these “high powered Kiwis” don’t understand how us common people think and feel – but I better not.

On that note, economics transmission will return next week – once I again have hours in the day to do real posting.

Matt Nolan

All Whites

/1 Comment/in /by

Sorry I haven’t been posting – been extremely busy, and although I have some ideas I won’t have time to write until next week.

On that note though – New Zealand has managed draws against Slovakia and Italy.  We beat Paraguay we are, regardless of other results, through to the last 16.  Wow – good stuff All Whites 😀

Matt Nolan

RBNZ lifts rates for first time in three years

/1 Comment/in , /by

So the OCR went up 25 basis points.  Cool, that is nice.

It was almost entirely in line with expectations so there isn’t much to say, except:

  1. They more explicitly discussed Eric’s concerns regarding the impact of ETS increases into inflation expectations.
  2. They put table 5.2 in which talked about “who got what” from tax cuts.  OMG, seriously – this table was unnecessary.
  3. The continued to state that there is no real reason for our TOT to hold up – so a lot of the issues I’ve viewed as “structural” (rising commodity demand from China’s middle classes, Biofuels, falling subsidies on agriculture around the world) are being viewed as temporary by the Bank methinks.  This is why I will always disagree with their medium term forecasts …
Matt Nolan

The taxing issue of burden

/18 Comments/in , , /by

One thing I have noticed of late is that many people want to talk about tax cuts in terms of “who gets what”.  We see someone with an income of $XXX and say they will get $Y a week from the tax cut.  I find this perplexing as I have never seen tax this way.

The reason why I find this way of looking at tax changes strange is that it ignores how prices change in response to the structure of the tax system.  I fear that, to many people, this seems like a benign (possibly even esoteric) issue – when actually it is one of the most essential issues to keep in mind when thinking about the design of a tax system.

Read more

Matt Nolan

Solving the prisoner’s dilemma

/1 Comment/in , /by

Saturday morning breakfast ceral has an excellent comic regarding the prisoner’s dilemma.  Of course, I was bound to appreciate it given my view that Jesus was an early applied economist.

Matt Nolan

A note on moral vice

/5 Comments/in , /by

Apologises in advance for this heavily value ladden post.  I am touching on infinitely busy (again), I’m very tired, and I’ve been listening to “too much” Irish music.  As a result, I’m posting what is in my head rather than proactively trying to find an economic issue to write “objectively” about – as this is easier, and it still involves getting a post done 😀

When forming my value judgments regarding “moral vices”, I like to listen to the Dubliners.  Having a proud Irish heritage helps in this regard, and I feel that they raise a number of important points regarding addiction to common commodities I can relate to (alcohol, women, cigarettes, roving).

Listening to their songs recently, two underlying points suck out – points I felt would be useful in informing part of the debate on alcohol regulation.

Read more