This is the bay directly across the road from my serviced apartment
Snorkeling in Noumea
More Fijian Fun!
I’m loving Suva! Check this out:I’m sure lots of happiness is had at the fine and reputable Happy Motel (and a cheap hourly rate) I’m in Suva for workWhen ever we travel, work gives us a per diem amount which can spend how we choose on accommodation, food, taxi and…
Comparative Grocery Pricing
So, here I am in New Caledonia. And as any right-thinking economist does, when they do their shopping, I’ve sourced comparative prices from New Zealand so I can check for systematic price differentials. šHere’s the shopping bill from the local supermarket, Carrefour market, expressed in South Pacific Francs (XPF):I’ve typed…
New Zealand’s Next Lorde?
The first thing which struck me is how good Te PÄti MÄori’s Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke voice is! Her’s are not my politics: I’m all for the conversation ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill has started. The modern set of Treaty of Waitangi’s principles have been developed by courts since 1975’s and have been accepted…
Night at the Sassy Kava
So there I was…It’s not every day you find yourself in Fiji. Especially when this morning you were getting your kitchen installed, after your wife had just melted down about how bad the kitchen was.I bagged my stuff and tools of my trade and shuffled out the door of a…
When was Inflation Beat?
Yeah! Good News! New Zealand’s nailed inflation.Don’t get me wrong – I dislike inflation, and everything about it. I don’t like how sustained persistent inflation is created by the government spending money it doesn’t have and buying up large on both the taxpayer and consumers ticket (inflation is a tax)….
Who’s winning?
Mmm… American politics are for Americans to decide. But… …Was Biden the best candidate the Democrats could really offer up to American voters?
Why Can’t New Zealand Make Something This Creative?
I’ve long been an admirer of the Singaporeans. For the modern day equivalent of Greek city states, the Singaporeans have no lawrels to rest upon. They’re not endowed with mineral resources like Australia. They don’t have old money like Europe. They weren’t endowed with fertile lands like New Zealand. And…
Oh! The Irony!
Left by someone on a bench on Wellington’s waterfront. It’s much easier to wear a slogan than live a slogan š«¤
The Game
I read somewhere that, regardless of the political environment, the top 1-5% of a society will always succeed. They might be the generals in Pakistan, Myanmar or some other dictatorship. Or American Ivy-Leaguers, with their path mapped out by family and familiarity connections. In England, they’re the Ox-bridge or Eton…
Trash Town: The shabbiest little capital in the world
My partner and I were coming back from dinner when I recorded this display of people-trash making public trash.Walking back from dinner, we had already passed two separate areas of homeless people, each camped out around Victoria and Manners streets.Before I snapped this tirade between three homeless, or whatever people…
The Life Cycle
Do you remember when your cat was young and new? You’d play with him, and he would come and cuddle with you. You were the most important thing in his life. And his fragility and new-ness to the world made you feel special. You might just be the dopiest prick…
Eugenie Sage: Our Most Regressive Politician
Before she, thankfully, stood down from re-election in October, Eugenie Sage from the Greens already ranked highly on my shit-list of worst political decision-makers ever. She was the “brains” behind the outlawing of single use disposable plastic bags. A Really Bad Decision-maker She wasn’t alone in her left-wing appetitite for…
Information Technology: Is it Capital or Labour Intensive?
What got me into this blog topic was a recent posting by Real Engineering on Nebula looking at how video streaming services work. In the posting, the presenter gave some arm-wavy stats on the relative breakdown of their costs.Oh, by the way: Rebecca Drew is AWESOME (she told me if…
David Brian Ponting: 29 September 1969 – 3 November 2023
After a painful battle with cancer, Dave’s tragically short life ended today. But by his own decision, and with the full consent of the State. The Young Husband I’ve known Dave since 1992, when I first met him in Dunedin whilst at University. Dave was married to Sarah Heal who…
The Price of Booze and Smokes
Stats NZ released its Consumer Price Index today. Booze & Ciggie InflationHere’s what’s been happening to the relative cost of your weekly booze and smokes.Booze and smoke annual prices increased approximately 1.6% faster than other goods and services between 1988 and 2009. All other goods and services increased in price,…
Working From Home
Lots of the talking heads think that Wellington needs to return to the office for both productivity reasons, and also the good of the inner city. I’m currently at the Bank of New Zealand, and I asked my team why they don’t want to come into the office more. The…
Brisbane Construction Boom
Rebecca and I landed in Brisbane last night, and we’re staying at the Emporium Hotel in South Bank. We have this phenomenal view of the Brisbane CBD. Check out this photo. It wasn’t clearly defined, so I added red marks over each. There are 13 cranes helping construction in Brisbane’s…
Australian Adventuring
Woo hoo!! Rebecca and I are off to Brisbane for a week!! I’m hoping to catch-up with one of my best friends, Peter & Leigh Wysocki, and their family Trixie and Theo. Peter and I are going to the Nick Mason concert! And Rebecca is going to hang out beside…
Milk Scarcity
Oddest sign… … why does NEW ZEALAND have milk supply issues?!?! But it looks like it’s backed up by evidence: I’ll be damned… That’s not good for both June GDP, and New Zealand, especially given inflation and a contracting monetary policy stance. š«¤