RT @GreenpeaceNZ are right: Do not send anyone to @cop21 The summit is waste of time
25 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in environmental economics, global warming, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: China, climate alarmism, climate treaties, global warming, green tariffs, Greenpeace, international environmental law, Paris Summit 2015, Twitter left
Greenpeace is right in saying in their open letter with others that New Zealand should not send a minister to the climate talks in Paris later this year. I agree for different reasons.
An open letter from @GreenpeaceNZ, @350nz & @coalaction to @johnkeypm not to send anyone to #climate talks in Paris. http://t.co/C1hBJ1teNU—
ActionStation (@actionstation) September 25, 2015
In common with many previous climate summits, the Paris talks will be a futile gesture that will have no significant effect on the pace of global warming and holding the summit is a waste of taxpayers money.
Nothing will come of them because the developing countries have no interest in postponing their development because of a minor inconvenience from global warming.
Do us all a favour @JohnKeyPM, don't send Tim to Paris >> stuff.co.nz/environment/cl… #GroserDontGo #COP21 http://t.co/DaqvPGZ4Ls—
Greenpeace NZ (@GreenpeaceNZ) September 25, 2015
The easy way to tell if there is anything going to happen at a climate summit is the seniority of the delegation.
The Chinese made it clear at the Copenhagen summit in 2009 that they were not interested in an agreement by sending a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs to a key side meeting of the American and French presidents, the British Prime Minister and the German Chancellor. All subsequent policy manoeuvrings by the Chinese on global warming are an attempt to head off green tariffs on their exports.
@nzlabour @NZGreens New Zealand state-owned enterprises dividends paid and capital injections since 2007
25 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in financial economics, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle, transport economics Tags: government ownership, KiwiRail, privatisation, rational ignorance, rational rationality, state owned enterprises, suppressive voting
The New Zealand Labour Party and New Zealand Greens both make much of the fact that when you privatise a state-owned enterprise the taxpayer is no longer entitled to dividends from the privatised business. The fact that the sale price is the net present value of those future dividends is a rating fallacy that is not the subject of this post.
Source: New Zealand Treasury – data released under the Official Information Act.
What is the subject of this post is whether there are indeed any dividends paid to taxpayers after capital injections. 2007 was the last year in which dividends to the taxpayer exceeded capital injections. The reason was that dog called KiwiRail.
Trigger warning for American political junkies: latest US presidential polling
25 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2016 presidential election, expressive voting, opinion polls, rational ignorance, rational rationality, voter demographics
Here's @pollsterpolls avg since 6/1, w/ less smoothing. 2-pt drop for Trump. Not yet clear whether there's a trend. http://t.co/vrwXNC6hlo—
The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog) September 24, 2015
Here's some actual evidence on whether voter anger is helping "outsider" candidates. washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-c… http://t.co/RaragjjStV—
The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog) September 16, 2015
Ben Carson's decline and then surge in the polls tracks media attention. washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-c… http://t.co/mrddJMMAc0—
The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog) September 03, 2015
Another key graph: news coverage of Trump hasn't really become more negative. For more: washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-c… http://t.co/p8KpVcUlGd—
The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog) August 28, 2015
Here's a new graph of Trump's poll numbers and share of news coverage. For more see: washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-c… http://t.co/sdJCQCs5O5—
The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog) August 28, 2015
@nzlabour @NZGreens Adjusted return to equity on the New Zealand state owned enterprises portfolio since 2008
24 Sep 2015 2 Comments
in financial economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, public economics Tags: expressive voting, government ownership, privatisation, state owned enterprises
I asked for information from the Treasury for as far back as 2000 but could only get information back to 2008 on the return on equity of the portfolio of state-owned enterprises to the taxpayer.
Source: New Zealand Treasury – released under Official Information Act.
Apparently, long-term information on the performance of the state-owned enterprise portfolio is not available. Anyone wanting to know the performance of an individual or group of listed companies simply looks at the share price was far back as they want. The prices of individual shares reflect market expectations of future dividends and future price movements, and they go up and down as new information is revealed. The history of a share price indicates the ups and downs of a company in one number far better than any other available indicator.
I also included the adjusted rate of return on equity taking out the two dogs in the portfolio: Solid Energy and KiwiRail.
Source: New Zealand Treasury – released under Official Information Act.
More reasons to let @jeremycorbyn be Corbyn – non-voters believe much the same things as voters
24 Sep 2015 1 Comment
in constitutional political economy, income redistribution, Marxist economics, Public Choice Tags: British politics, expressive voting, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, Twitter left, voter demographics
It is vital to permanent Tory rule that Jeremy Corbyn stay staunch to the principles and electoral strategy on which he was elected by Labour Party members and supporters to be their leader and alternative Prime Minister.
Source: The huge shock coming down the track for the Corbynites | Conservative Home
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Source: New polling data shows the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Peter Kellner: Measuring the gap between Corbyn’s supporters and Labour’s target voters – y-g.co/1izSpph http://t.co/f1NaNL4xgt—
(@YouGov) September 25, 2015
Will the standard policy response to a labour market crisis reduce inequality?
24 Sep 2015 2 Comments
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: assortative mating, asymmetric marriage premium, College premium, economics of higher education, economics of schooling, economics of universities, graduate premium, marriage and divorce, power couples, university premium
Whenever there is a crisis in the labour market, the standard policy response is send them on a course. That makes you look like you care and by the time they graduate the problem will probably fixed itself. Most problems do. I found this bureaucratic response to labour market crises to repeat itself over and over again while working in the bureaucracy.
Inequality – What can be done?
Stefan Thewissen reviews Tony Atkinson’s book
bit.ly/1h0KDDF http://t.co/KiiGgFQJau—
Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) September 27, 2015
The standard policy response to a normal problem in the labour market is send them on a course. Clever geeks as yourself sitting at your desk as a policy analysis or minister did well at university. You assume others will as well including those who have neither the ability or aptitude to succeed in education. Lowering university tuition fees and easing the terms of student loans simply means that those who do well at university will not have to pay back as much to the government. People who succeed at university already have above average IQs so they already had a good head start in life.
Will more education decrease inequality? A simulation provided an answer. nyti.ms/1xw5m9W http://t.co/paQp19BEWc—
The Upshot (@UpshotNYT) March 31, 2015
The standard solution to growing inequality is to send people on a course. Trouble is that just make smart people wealthier without helping the not so smart and increases the chance of smart men and women marrying off together. This increases the inequality between power couples and the rest.
The supply-side economics of JFK
23 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: JFK, supply-side economics, taxation and growth, taxation and investment, taxation and the labour supply
Let @jeremycorbyn be Corbyn #toriesforcorbyn @LabourList @UKLabour
22 Sep 2015 1 Comment
in Marxist economics, Public Choice Tags: British politics, economics of ideology, expressive voting, ideology, Leftover Left, political psychology, rational ignorance, rational rationality, Twitter left
The last thing Tories for Corbyn want is for Jeremy Corbyn to start compromising on his principles. Do not be corrupted by the baubles of office. Stay staunch to those ‘renegade Liberal’ principles that kept you in the wilderness for 30 years within the Labour Party. That will guarantee permanent Tory rule. We and the Trots want our £3 worth.
Source: What’s going to happen to a Corbyn-led Labour party | LabourList
WATCH: @afneil exposes Lord Falconer's policy splits with Corbyn and McDonnell order-order.com/2015/09/20/11-… http://t.co/y2pxdu9YKl—
Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) September 20, 2015
The decline of the Republican Party in California
22 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2016 presidential election, California, voted demographics
California: the Republican party's lost state econ.st/1KfIJK0 http://t.co/vkdO87BfPE—
The Economist (@ECONdailycharts) September 17, 2015
The Twitter Left believes in obedience to authority as long as they are in charge
21 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, liberalism, Marxist economics, Music, Public Choice Tags: political psychology, The Who
Yesterday’s hippies, today’s grumpy old man, believed they were sticking it to the man. The only real problem of the left wing of politics with authority was they and those like them were not in charge. Jeremy Frimer explains:
Together with my collaborators Dr. Danielle Gaucher and Nicola Schaefer, we asked both red and blue Americans to share their views about obeying liberal authorities (e.g., “obey an environmentalist”). In an article that we recent published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, we found that liberals were now the ones calling for obedience.
And when the authorities were viewed as ideologically neutral (e.g., office manager), liberals and conservatives agreed. Only when people perceived the authority to be conservative (e.g., religious authority) did conservatives show a positive bias…
Liberal versus conservative is like Yankee fans versus Red Socks fans. Each has its own flag to which it pledges allegiance. And each side has its own authorities to which it demands obedience.
How many colonies did each European country have?
20 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: age of empires, British empire, British imperialism, colonialism
A map of Europe based on how many colonies each country had i100.io/SpgD1re http://t.co/Atj5Td1dHN—
i100 (@thei100) July 04, 2015
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