… 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”
Pretty Trigger Happy
Pay Equity Laws and “Structural Gender Discrimination”: Economics Component
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…
Pay Equity Laws and “Structural Gender Discrimination”: Legal Component
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…
The Mighty Bedouin 2
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
Another Mighty Totora has Fallen
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…
The Trade Secret of Intellectual Trumpism
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…
Never back an opponent into a corner
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…
History of New Caledonia
Book first published in 1993, so current up to then Land and Natural Resources Law
Hot in the Tropics
“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…
… what Happens if we Just Write “Bad Legislation”?
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…
The American Dollar: The Ultimate “IOU”
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….
Creative Learnings: Breaking down Split Enz’s “Message to my Girl”
So awhile ago, in a moment of sickness, I Got All Creative and had a fun time at home one work day whilst feeling very sick. The best thing about the Fundamentals of Music website was the it taught the basics of music, keys, tones, scales etc.Well, now I’m in…
A Smooth Sea Never Made a Skilled Sailor
Its been almost two months weeks since I moved to Noumea. It’s time for a bit of retrospection: what’s gone well, what hasn’t, what have been the obstacles, lessons learned, and the rewards gained. What has gone really well The Organisation of Opportunity The Pacific Community (SPC) is such an…
Un si grand saucisson ! Merde, foutre!
Yeah, no idea either, but I’m sick of hearing it over here in New Caledonia…
Big problems in little New Zealand
I and every economist with a bit more than pudding between our ears saw the economy crashing coming mainly because of the Reserve Bank doing this and this clown doing everything I’ve accused him of in this. Grant and Jacinda started this with REALLY bad economic management, which all the…
Snorkeling in Noumea
This is the bay directly across the road from my serviced apartment
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. 🙂Here’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 Pāti Māori’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…