15 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth miracles, inflation targeting, liberalism, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, monetary economics, Murray Rothbard, Public Choice, rentseeking
Tags: Hong Kong, The fatal conceit, The pretense the knowledge
15 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, industrial organisation, politics - USA, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle
Tags: Puerto Rico
Arindrajit Dube
(Co-authored with Ben Zipperer. Posted at Washington Center for Equitable Growth)
Puerto Rico today faces a serious debt crisis, recently defaulting on a bond payment. The proximate cause is a slowdown in economic growth since the mid-2000s, which has reduced tax revenues, and a declining labor market, where employment growth has been mostly in the red since 2007.
There are many explanations for the economic downturn and the resulting fiscal crisis, but some commentators have incorrectly blamed the island’s high minimum wage. To be sure, the federal minimum wage—which has applied to Puerto Rico since 1983—is much more binding there than it is on the mainland. Because hourly wages are substantially lower in Puerto Rico compared to the U.S. mainland, the federal minimum wage policy affects more of the workforce there. In 2014, for example, the federal minimum wage stood at 77 percent of the median hourly wage in Puerto Rico…
View original post 117 more words
15 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, survivor principle
Tags: antimarket bias, entrepreneurial alertness, superstar wages, superstars, top 0.1%, top 1%, top wage earners
15 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in economic history, labour economics, unions
Tags: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, union membership, union power, union wage premium
Union membership has been very high all the time in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Source: OECD Stat Extract.
14 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in development economics, economic history, entrepreneurship, growth miracles, industrial organisation, international economics, survivor principle
Tags: automotive industry, car industry, comparative advantage, creative destruction, entrepreneurial alertness, manufacturing industry, market selection, The meaning of competition
14 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in economic history, Euro crisis, labour economics, unions, urban economics
Tags: Eurosclerosis, France, German unification, Germany, Italy, union membership, union power, union wage premium
There are large differences in unionisation rates between the three countries. France has always had low levels of unionisation which halved since the 1970s. Italy had a sharp boost in union membership in the number of unions in the 1960s and 70s. This may have been associated with increased urbanisation. Union membership rate stayed pretty high in Italy ever since with a small taper downwards. Germany had stable unionisation rates prior to German unification after which the numbers about halved up in a slow taper.
Source: OECD Stat Extract.
13 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied welfare economics, economic history, income redistribution, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, welfare reform
Tags: child poverty, family poverty, family tax credits, Leftover Left, New Zealand Greens, Twitter left
The material hardship measure shows a falling child material hardship rate using a threshold equivalent to the ‘standard’ EU level, down from a peak of 21% immediately after the GFC to 14% in 2014.
Using the more severe threshold, there was a slight rise through the GFC to 10% and a small fall to 8%, the level it was at before the GFC.
Bryan Perry (2015, p. 7, Key Findings)
Source: Bryan Perry, Household Incomes in New Zealand: trends in indicators of inequality and hardship 1982 to 2014 – Ministry of Social Development, Wellington (August 2015), p. 133.
Source: Bryan Perry, Household Incomes in New Zealand: trends in indicators of inequality and hardship 1982 to 2014 – Ministry of Social Development, Wellington (August 2015), p. 133.
13 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied welfare economics, discrimination, economic history, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality
Tags: Maori economic development
From a longer-term perspective, all groups showed a strong rise from the low point in the mid 1990s through to 2010. In real terms, overall median household income rose 47% from 1994 to 2010: for Maori, the rise was even stronger at 68%, and for Pacific, 77%.
These findings for longer- term trends are robust, even though some year on year changes may be less certain. For 2004 to 2010, the respective growth figures were 21%, 31% and 14%.
Bryan Perry (2015, p. 67)
Source: Bryan Perry, Household Incomes in New Zealand: trends in indicators of inequality and hardship 1982 to 2014 – Ministry of Social Development, Wellington (August 2015), Table D6.
13 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of media and culture, income redistribution, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice
Tags: capitalism and freedom, Leftover Left, The Great Enrichment, The Great Fact, top 1%, Twitter left
Bill Rosenberg at the Council of Trade Unions was good enough to tweet a Treasury chart that shows next to no increases in inequality in New Zealand for at least 20 years.
Inequality in both market and disposable incomes has been stable for a good 20 years, as the above tweet shows, while inequality in consumption has been falling. To back this interpretation of mine up, coincidentally today Bryan Perry published his annual report on income and inequality under the banner of the Ministry of Social Development.
His report showed that there be no significant increase in New Zealand in at least 20 years.
13 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of regulation, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, urban economics
Tags: antimarket bias, child poverty, expressive voting, family poverty, green rent seeking, housing affordability, land use planning, Leftover Left, New Zealand Greens, NIMBYs, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, RMA, zoning
Nothing much has happening to child poverty before housing costs in New Zealand since the early 1980s. It is after housing costs poverty that is crucifying the children in New Zealand.
Source: Bryan Perry, Household Incomes in New Zealand: trends in indicators of inequality and hardship 1982 to 2014 – Ministry of Social Development, Wellington (August 2015), Table F6 and table F7.
From HES 2013 to HES 2014 median household income rose 5% in real terms (5% above the CPI inflation rate)…
On the AHC moving line measures, child poverty rates in HES 2014 are around the same as their peak after the GFC. A good amount of the rise from HES 2013 to HES 2014 is due to the large rise in the BHC median, as noted above, rather than a change in the numbers in low income per se.
Bryan Perry (2015, pp. 3, 7).
The parties that oppose measures to increase the supply of land and reduce the cost of housing through reform of the Resource Management Act and its many restraints on the supply of land are the New Zealand Labour Party and New Zealand Greens.
13 Aug 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied welfare economics, economic history, politics - New Zealand
Tags: child poverty, family poverty, Leftover Left
Utopia, you are standing in it!
Lindsay Mitchell put me onto a quote by veteran grumbler Max Rashbrooke that the child poverty rate doubled in New Zealand:
In a system where income goes disproportionately to the already well-off, ordinary workers are missing out on the rewards of their efforts, to the tune of billions of dollars a year. Welfare benefits, cut by a quarter in 1991 and increased just 8 per cent in the last budget, are far too low to meet people’s basic needs.
The result is a doubling of child poverty and the return of childhood diseases unknown in most developed countries – a national embarrassment, as one researcher described it.
Poverty, income and inequality data is collected in loving detail by Brian Perry every year for the Ministry of Social Development.
Figure 1: % child poverty in New Zealand (before and after housing costs), 60% 1998 median constant value, 1982 – 2013
Source:
View original post 509 more words
Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries
Recent Comments