In my post on Monday I drew attention (again) to the fact that New Zealand has made no progress at all in reversing the decline in relative economywide productivity (relative to other advanced countries) since what was hoped to be a turning point, with the inauguration of widespread economic reforms after the 1984 election. If anything, […]
Spreading Christianity was seen by the colonial powers as a way of civilising the native populations in Africa. Indeed, in 1857 David Livingstone wrote that “neither civilization nor Christianity can be promoted alone. In fact, they are inseparable” (see here). Among the many effects of colonisation, the spread of Christianity is seen as one of…
Catching up is about radically raising growth in the countries now at the bottom…This book sets out an [aid] agenda for the G8 that would be effective. (The Bottom Billion, pages 12 and 13) Sir Paul Collier, Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) is a British development economist […]
In 1798, Thomas Malthus told the world to expect collapse – “Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio.”
Back in 1790, when Congress was arguing about process for the first Census, one argument was that the Census should limit itself to counting heads, for purposes of determining how many representatives each state should receive. But James Madison argued that it was important to seize the opportunity of the Census to gather additional information,…
With both the annual and quarterly national accounts data having come out recently it is time for a quick update of some old charts. First, labour productivity (real GDP per hour worked). This chart is from the period since just prior to Covid, and for both New Zealand and Australia If you want some slight consolation, […]
Tweet… is from my emeritus Nobel-laureate colleague Vernon Smith‘s splendid speech “Human Betterment Through Globalization,” delivered in September 2005 at the Irvington-on-Hudson then-headquarters of the Foundation for Economic Education: The challenge is that we all function simultaneously in two overlapping worlds of exchange. First, we live in a world of personal, social exchange based on…
The world is full of problems, which people are often very aware of. But most people have no idea about the many improvements we have visualized, and therefore they lose hope for the future and think the world is doomed.https://t.co/fOzOsDv5qUpic.twitter.com/Hyk3jqHpUM
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
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