Bad luck beeches me!I’m in Broadwood, and my right pedal had come out. The thread the pedal guys into is destroyed.Through luck and kindness of strangers, Mr Singe, Monty and Danny have made a “fix” for my pedal. It’s thread is well and truly rooted, by Danny has drilled through…
Getting to the start!
Things didn’t improve for me.We stayed at a department of conservation camp last night at the bottom of Cape Reinga. The road to the camp is a very steep and dusty with lots of ridges across the road caused by water damage. And it’s 5km from the cape Reinga carpark.The…
Getting to the Tour
Its not the destination, its the journey… Well the journey started with me yesterday at 5:25 when I missed my flight to Auckland because of Aviation Security regulations, and is continuing today, as I’m sitting in the back of a shuttle making ‘journey” up to Cape Reinga.After boxing up my…
James Bernard Hogan: 26 July 1941 – 8 December 2020
Jim Hogan, publican / carmudgeon / sage of wisdom and beloved father shuffled off this mortal coil yesterday.Born in Invercargill to Frank and Mae, Jim married Judith Going and together raised four boys, including me.Gifted with an entrepreneurial streak, Jim was a tax office clerk, a TAB clerk, a publican,…
If young people can’t buy houses
House price affordability is a perennial topic.Neither main political party really wants to burst the housing bubble. The median voter theory predicts political parties will choose the policies that best reflect the interests of “the median” voter: the interests, tastes and prejudices of “most” voters.And while “most” voters (as opposed…
Permanent Income Hypothesis: a very gentle primer
Revisionist historians and chardonnay socialists find their happy place throwing poo at Milton Friedman’s ideas. Friedman encompasses everything they think is wrong with economics, especially those economic ideas that have changed the world: “The Origin Of ‘The World’s Dumbest Idea’: Milton Friedman”, Steve Denning, Forbes “Milton Friedman: a study in…
.. It’s just a matter of transforming location into goods and services that people are willing to pay for…
I love this quote from New Zealand First’s Shane Jones here: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/tourism-nears-summer-of-uncertainty. This “can-do” optimistic attitude breaks down because of the the concept of public and private tourism goods and services. About Goods… and Bads“Goods” are things which people want. “Private” goods are things people want and can be made to…
When markets operate perfectly
Love this article: https://i.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/residential-property/122735434/new-block-of-townhouses-snapped-up-hours-as-prices-soar-in-the-hutt-valleyAt the moment the government is pumping as much money into the economy as it can. They’re pumping the paper stuff – not the legally binding contracts to deliver work stuff (which is called “fiscal policy”) – into the economy.They’re hoping that, with negative interest rates, banks…
… wise words
Never french kiss a lamprey.
Institutional Racism
There is so much wrong with the recently published Health and Disability System Review. Before addressing it’s technical issues, check out the depth of character it pigeon-holes the majority of New Zealanders into.The following description of New Zealand’s population groups is cut and pasted straight from the report. Diverse populationsAotearoa…
The Default Position
There’s been a lot written about how much the economy has been negatively affected by the government’s Covid response. Lots of commentators make their careers talking “about the problem” – especially obvious ones.Hey everyone, there’s a fire burning!! Everyone!! FIRE!!!! FIRE BURNING EVERYONE. FIRE!!!But when someone gets a glass or…
My life is full of non-single use, non-disposable bags…
One of the first things 2017’s Labour / Greens / New Zealand First coalition government did was strongly signal its “green credentials”. First cab off the ranks was stopping new offshore drilling oil permits.The second cab off the ranks was, oddly, single use disposable plastic bags….Rejoicing in the collective kumbiya…