James Hogan's Personal Blog
Kiwisaver was a policy initiative introduced with a big hiss and a roar by Michael Cullen back in the Helen Clark government in May 2005.Convinced that he had single handedly created a government fiscal surplus through his superior fiscal rectitude, he seemed to think no one was as good at…
When we think about environmental resources what do we mean by “sustainable” development? Economic growth is the change over time in the volume of goods and services which are available for investment or consumption. With increased production comes higher incomes, wealth, and improved living standards. Economic development, the reward from…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Yeah, no idea either, but I’m sick of hearing it over here in New Caledonia…
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 by…
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,…
I’m watching These Final Hours. All the best movies are grounded in economics.This wasn’t a Wall Street movie. It wasn’t about money, or greed. It was about economics: choice, constraints, outcomes and uncertainty. It was an apocalypse story based on economics. Wasn’t this an Australian Sci-fi?That’s the thing about sci-fi…
I’m currently reading The Bertrand Russell CollectionBertrand was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, and widely regarded as a super smart guy with his head in many different subjects. Political IdealsBertrand had a lot to say about the State which I’m finding, when you look at…
Thank you, I have just come back from a very lovely lunch with my H2R recruitment consultant, Sharyn Saxby.And on the way, I came across this sign about Edward Wakefield one of New Zealand’s “Founding Fathers”:Here’s a picture of Ed:The signs are located on a unassuming concrete wall, at 90…
From The Strait Times paper, out of Singapore The Straits Times 24 Nov 2021 Linette Lai Political Correspondent linettel@sph.com.sg As Singapore turns the tide in its fight against Covid-19, it must not allow the differences that have emerged during the pandemic to become permanent divides that affect its politics, said…
Back in the day, when the internet wasn’t behind a firewall, you could download and listen to all of Berkeley University’s first year lectures.I used to download all of these onto my MP3 player, and go cycling for 2-3 hours, feeding both body and mind.I’ve found they’ve archived all the…