If you’ve read this blog much you’ll know how obsessed Matt is with independent fiscal forecasts. He has variously called for an independent body to cost parties’ election proposals — Peter Dunne’s with him on that one — and independent bodies to set tax rates and maintain medium-term fiscal balance. The two have been jointly …
Category Archive: Political economy
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2011/11/17/fiscal-forecasting-bias/
Nov
16
2011
Competitive vs comparative advantage
Some business leaders in New Zealand have decided to lay bare the reasons why we shouldn’t manage the economy like a company. They think A successful business needs a competitive advantage. A successful country is no different. Actually, it is very different. As the WTO says: …it is meaningless to say a country has a …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2011/11/16/competitive-vs-comparative-advantage/
Nov
16
2011
The top 1%: A few facts
There have been protests about the amount of income going to the top 1%. In of itself, I have never thought we could tell too much about what is the “right” distribution of income with a certain number – after all, we would expect the top 1% to have significantly more income in some sense. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2011/11/16/the-top-1-a-few-facts/
Oct
20
2011
The trouble with desiring change for the sake of it
In a good post by Doug Reich (ht Not PC) he discusses why the current protests appear to have a great deal of “protesting for the sake of it” rather than having explicit – or testable – desires. The dangerous thing with such protests is the ability for someone to capture the crowd with a …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2011/10/20/the-trouble-with-desiring-change-for-the-sake-of-it/
Oct
14
2011
A message to tomorrow’s protesters
Update: The protest that I’m arguing against in the first half of the post isn’t till the 5th of November (thanks Seamus!). However, my main critique in the second half applies to both protests insofar as the first protest is focused on inequality again. Personally I AGREE with a some of the issues being put …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2011/10/14/a-message-to-tomorrows-protesters/
Sep
19
2011
Wealth distribution and demographics
A very good point from Stephen Gordon at Worthwhile Canadian Initiative that the growing concentration of wealth may, in part, be to do with changing demographics. Although I doubt this is the sole factor behind the growing concentration of wealth, it is a factor I’ve been thinking about – and that I’m keen to see …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2011/09/19/wealth-distribution-and-demographics/
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