Entries by goonix

Bernanke on ‘too big to fail’ and incentives

Yesterday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech to the Council of Foreign Relations. I heard a few soundbytes on Radio NZ National on my way home last night and was particularly interested in his comments on the concept of ‘too big to fail’. Bernanke identifies that in a crisis, authorities have strong incentives to […]

Cheers! We’re (possibly) efficiently taxing ourselves – Alcohol in NZ

A few medical experts and lobbyists are calling for a “massive” hike in alcohol prices to solve a “national booze problem”. According to the article, alcohol costs $425 million in ACC payouts, $655 million in the public health sector, and $1.17 billion in lost productivity each year and is a contributing factor to 70 per […]

Metering and the market for water

The DomPost contained an article on the potential for metering Wellington’s water supply. The question is asked: should Wellingtonians pay for their water? This issue is a hot topic, having been discussed at Kiwiblog, Infometrics and TVHE earlier this year. Historically, water has been provided for by the various Wellington councils out of rates. Water is […]

Private prisons: National’s policy and “the proper scope of government”

Today National released their corrections policy, which would allow the private sector to tender for the management of prisons. Although not a completely ‘new’ concept for New Zealand (Auckland Central Remand Prison was privately run under the last National Government) it nonetheless raises the issue of when is it appropriate for such services to be […]