James Hogan's Personal Blog
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) this week dropped the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 3.0% from 3.25%. In theory, that should flow through the banking system, and drop the “price of money” (the loan interest rate) which banks demand for mortgages.Cheaper interest rates “should” increase demand for mortgages,…
New Zealand is currently in the worst economic recession since the Mother of All Budgets back in 1990. Our Golden Years (1998 – 2008) are well behind us. The business cycleHere’s a little thing I fizzed up when I was at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research but have…
Last week I boldly and deftly led from the back a small, but hardy group, of timid (but brave!) adventurous thrill-seeking explorers into the mountains of New Caledonia. Our quest: we searched for the final resting place of a World War 2 United States Airforce Douglas R4D-1 supply plane that…
BTW: a gentle plug for Pressreader.com, my source of truth, alternative truth, and the most likely thing that occupies the middle.Is he good? Is he bad? Does he care? Is he strong? Does he love America and hate war? Or does he love power, and hate freeloaders..Frequent readers of my…
Show us your skillsWelcome to XXXXXX – we specialise in statistics and numerical analysis.Your ability to read, process, analyse, interpretate and communicate statistical information to a lay audience is fundamental to the position you have applied for.This exercise is designed to allow you to demonstrate your skills at data manipulation,…
I’ve previously written about how the US Dollar is the ultimate IOU: the USA seems impervious to monetary crisis. The US Government seems to be able to continuously borrow from the world running some weird sort of international ponzi scheme where it keeps issuing more debt, and international creditors keep…
An interesting story in the business section of today’s New Zealand Herald: Tucked down the bottom was this comment below plucked from Burger Fuel’s annual report. It sounds like immigration is altering Burger Fuel’s traditional customer base. I really hope they adapt because I think their food is delicious (… says…
Check out this pretty normal photo in today’s (26 June 2025) New Zealand Auckland Herald from the NATO Head of Government meeting:… until you zoom in closer and wonder who let in THIS absolutely mad screamer… NATO Heads of GovernmentSo I went to the NATO website and pulled this picture…
CAUTION: GORY PHOTOS IN BLOG With sepsis and streptococcus infection to my leg, I could have died. Merci beaucoup Doctors Sylvain Rouches and Lisa McIlwraith. Merci New Caledonia’s health system, Allianz Insurance and SPC. Merci beaucoup to Rebecca for her care, my friends and everyone in the health care system…
… did President Donald Trump really just drop the single biggest explosive motherlode since Harry Truman?!?I give it 3-6 months before America sees the next 9-11 terrorist attack.Note to world: Iran “didn’t have strong cards”
As an Economist, this REALLY annoys me: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/560417/opposition-ramps-up-to-government-s-pay-equity-moveThe whole concept that you can look across different industries and try to equate remuneration rates without looking at the demand and supply pressures on the industries themselves is economic ignorance and massively annoying!For Economists, its like people claiming the Earth is flat…
Key Pay Equity CaselawWith a good head of steam built up, I dived into the main caselaw: Terranova Homes & Care Ltd V Service And Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota Inc Ca631/2013 [2014] NZCA 516 [28 October 2014] (Bartlett Case), fully expecting to find another ugly piece of activist…
I’ve sold my boat, which I brought with John Wood and John Andrews.Here’s some happy snaps. I’m feeling all nostalgic… There’s nothing more certain in this world than the fact that everything around you that you know and love will change.… queue sad song
Regular readers of Sir Bob Jones’s blog, No Punches Pulled would have been aware that his last posting was the 16 April.For a prolific commentator like Sir Bob, not posting something for close to three weeks is unheard of.It was for this reason that I have been scanning the media…
Extracted from the Wall Street JournalPOLITICAL ECONOMICS By Joseph C. Sternberg · Apr 11, 2025The goal of all these tariffs for avowed protectionists is to make Americans less able to purchase things. President Trump’s sudden reversal this week is unlikely to mark the beginning of the end of his adventures…
Because when you have removed options for shared agreement all that remains are “nothing to lose” alternatives. And the world just witnessed American President Trump and Vice President Vance personally humiliate Ukrainian President Zelensky, and remove the Ukraine’s options for achieving a shared agreement to end the bitter war with…
Book first published in 1993, so current up to then Land and Natural Resources Law
“So lets go check out this place”, I said to myself this morning after two strong coffees. It was this, or Plan B involving sparking up PlayStation and cracking open a beer. And at 10:30am on a Saturday, Plan B just seemed unseemly.Komoot (a cycling app I’ve got) suggested I…
The Conversation“What happens if we just write bad legislation?”Actually said the senior ranked New Zealand politician in the private sector meeting I personally sat in on (ie…. this is not hearsay – I’m not making this up).“We really want to give a tax break to the rich. But in THIS…
Nobody except economists thinks that hard about money. Admittedly, it’s the root of all evil (which is why it appeals to us black-hearted-rational-robot-like economists), but other then working hard to get it and using it to buy food and beersies, most people don’t really think about money all that deeply….