Yesterday John Key delivered the National Party’s new plan for youth. I leave commenting on the many social issues related to the plan to others with who are better equipped to discuss whether his ideas will work. The thing that bothered me was when I was watching the news last night and they mentioned that …
Category Archive: Political economy
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/01/30/education-for-the-dole-why-does-it-sound-dirty/
Jan 25 2008
Ignoring costs and misrepresentation – People’s attitude to economists
One thing that gets to me is the fact that people from both sides of the political spectrum love to avoid costs. As economists pride themselves in discussing the opportunity cost associated with any given policy or action, we end up being attacked by both sides (Update: Including psychologists it seems. Dang I thought they …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/01/25/ignoring-costs-and-misrepresentation-%e2%80%93-peoples-attitude-to-economists/
Jan 18 2008
Protectionism: it’s instinct
Steven Landsburg has an opinion piece in the NY Times today in which he extols the benefits of free trade and rails against the protectionists: Suppose, after years of buying shampoo at your local pharmacy, you discover you can order the same shampoo for less money on the Web. Do you have an obligation to …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/01/18/protectionism-its-instinct/
Jan 15 2008
Of prostitutes, police and power
Matt observes that some crimes are not worth reporting, and it is probably sub-optimal for the police to do anything about them if they are reported. The flipside of that is the cost to society of criminalising behaviour and then refusing to enforce the rules. Sudhir Venkatesh and Steven Levitt’s new paper on prostitution in …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/01/15/of-prostitutes-police-and-pimps/
Jan 15 2008
Is policing some crimes optimal?
When someone gets robbed there are some direct costs and benefits. Firstly, the perpetrator receives the goods and or services, and may also derive some pleasure from the activity itself. Secondly the victim suffers the loss of goods and services, and is hurt by the fact they have become a victim. If this crime is …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/01/15/is-policing-some-crimes-optimal/
Jan 13 2008
Return to sender
Dwindling natural resources and increasing consumption are global problems that get plenty of airtime these days. So where do all the metals extracted and ‘consumed’ go? Well, apparently they end up in dumps in Japan: Despite perception of Japan being short of natural resources, “urban mines” mean the country actually possesses world-leading amounts of rare …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/01/13/return-to-sender/
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