Recently the two main political parties in New Zealand have announced schemes that aim to, in some ways, help up-skill 16 and 17 years olds. At the same time, National has come out stating that it will leave student loans interest free, but provide a reward for repayments (leading to much debate). Although these may …
Category Archive: Labour economics
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/02/01/interest-free-student-loans-and-compulsory-schooling-is-there-a-better-way/
Jan 11 2008
Rational repression
Perhaps it is apropos to start the new year’s blogging with a look back at history. A working paper reported at Vox examines Stalin’s gulags from an economic, rather than political, viewpoint. In Western capitalist economies it is the threat of losing one’s job that motivates effort in employment. If you shirk and are caught …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/01/11/rational-repression/
Dec 17 2007
Higher minimum wage – higher employment?
Over at Not Sneaky they are discussing how a higher minimum wage may lead to higher employment when we have a firm that has market power in the labour market (hat-tip CPW). The argument is a very interesting one as economists often view a minimum wage as a way of placing a price floor, which …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2007/12/17/higher-minimum-wage-higher-employment/
Nov 23 2007
Flexible working hours – Genius or madness
The flexible working hours bill aims to increase the degree of ‘flexibility‘ in the labour market for households with a child under the age of 5 or a disabled child under the age of 18. Now I’ve heard all sorts of complaints and complements about this bill, so I’ll try to talk about the way …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2007/11/23/flexible-working-hours-genius-or-madness/
Oct 25 2007
Income tax and tax incidence
There seems to be a significant debate between the left and right wing blogs about whether New Zealand is over-taxed or not. However, there is one thing that both sides agree on, if taxes are cut by $1,000, this gives people $1,000 more to spend. This is the point I’m going to discuss. Households receive …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2007/10/25/income-tax-and-tax-incidence/
Sep 27 2007
Trust the professionals?
I was talking to a keen cyclist a few days ago who told me that he never fixes so much as a puncture on his gleaming pride and joy. “I’d rather leave it to a professional who knows what they’re doing than risk stuffing it up myself,” he told me. I was bemused at the …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2007/09/27/trust-the-professionals/
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