Back in business

Hello internet!  If anyone is still following this site, which undoubtedly looks dead, I’d like to give you a shout that regular posts are on their way back.

First can I say, WTF has been happening in the world since I wandered away from the computer.  I stop keeping tabs on economic and political news for a couple of years and the world has completely changed … I just don’t even have the words.

I never meant to stop posting, hence why there was no farewell post.  However, my attempts at writing a PhD thesis got in the way of any other sort of reading or writing – and as a result I was both short of content and shorn of the capability to write even poor attempts at blog posts.  Similarly the other brave writers of TVHE found life getting in their way – our common group emails even became a rarity over this period something we all bemoaned!

However, now I’m back to adding some content on here – but I’ll have to give a few notes:

  1. The plan is to only post once per week until I find my feet a bit more – I still have a lot of balls in the air (the thesis isn’t submitted yet and I’m organising work) and don’t just want to provide single links with a one line comment when I do post.
  2. On that note I will be hoping that, if anyone is around, they will be comfortable adding comments.  I do this for the conversation about economics – not because I have any amazing insight.  If people are keen for us to bounce ideas off each other then this blog can get back rolling.
  3. I will be staying away from the TVHE twitter as I have for the last 3+ years (although these posts will be linked there automatically I hope – so keep following).  Twitter became toxic in 2014 and appears to have just become more of a cesspool since – I want to discuss economic ideas and arguments, not deal with traded insults.  If someone can convince me to come back then I may change my mind.
  4. I will NOT be blogging on my specialisation (analysis of income inequality) in detail until I’ve defended my thesis – that is months away still.  There will be outline posts, but I will steering away from to much detail at first.
  5. I have been lecturing entry level economics, and giving a few lectures on economic modelling, since I have been away.  Content related to this is likely to turn up.  Specifically, I would like to create content to share with my students – this semester is macroeconomics, so I may be going back to macro for a bit.
  6. After a few months I will be looking at running some ideas past anyone who turns up to read these posts – I would like some more interactive discussion of economic topics as related to New Zealand without the external pressure that exists to advocate.  Lets talk economic concepts and try to really understand the trade-offs that exist in New Zealand.
  7. If you have some excellent recommendations for books to review hit me up.

If you want to see some of the output from my thesis take a look here for working papers.  If this is an area you have done research and you want to critique my thesis that is cool, just give me a yell.  If you are reading this post that’s cool, leave a comment about a social issue you would like covered in New Zealand that fits within the 5 W and an H framework of economics.  I promise to do my best to describe as much as possible without reaching any conclusions.

If you’re looking for the best seo company that will help you boost your revenue through digital marketing efforts, visit indexsy.com.

10 replies
  1. David Heffernan
    David Heffernan says:

    Welcome back. I found out through the RSS BTW, not through blog stalking. And you’re right about Twitter – I’ve abandoned it for Reddit, although that is a poor substitute for c2011 Twitter 🙁

  2. Patrick Te Tau
    Patrick Te Tau says:

    Hey Matt, what can you tell us about modern recreation. It seems to me that we are getting more and more inactive, isolated, and bored.

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      Hey mate, will aim to get somethings in that space eventually – it is a very broad topic, but I’ll try my best to outline some ideas/trade-offs that may exist in the space.

  3. Isabella Cawthorn
    Isabella Cawthorn says:

    Brilliant! We’ve missed TVHE’s thoughtful insight 🙂
    Since you “left” Talk Wellington has arrived and we would *love* to crosspost and boost anything you want to say about transport and landuse that helps people understand how our towns are being shaped, and what that means for more equitable, sustainable cities in Welly. We have quite a network for social media outreach too! http://www.talkwellington.org.nz Drop us a line…

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      Cheers, will give it a look over the weekend. I doubt I will have much to add, but it is a topic that I’m sure will crop up in some form on the blog 🙂

  4. Kirdan Lees
    Kirdan Lees says:

    Nice to hear you are back up and running! Looking forward to the posts Matt!

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      Cheers, looking forward to some important contributions from commentators in terms of straightening out my wonky logic 😉

  5. Gael Price
    Gael Price says:

    Welcome back! I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on the book Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth. My dad read it last year and seemed to think it was all new, but it sounded very familiar to me (criticism of GDP as a measure of wellbeing, that sort of thing).

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      You’ve read my mind, that review will be here eventually! To be honest it reads more like an exercise in the person marketing something they are trying to sell than I’d like – and I’d agree with the statement that there is nothing new there. The critiques of “economics” in it really grate – but let’s leave something for the review.

Comments are closed.