@JulieAnneGenter doesn’t know what is shipped through ports
24 May 2016 Leave a comment
in environmental economics, global warming, politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: celebrity technologies, New Zealand Greens
The Greens today announced a policy to double the amounts of cargo moved by train and shipping. It seems to have forgotten that most cargo moved by ship is bulk cargoes such as cars. Nothing can change the fact that once the ship is unloaded, the cars have to go by truck to the car yard.
Source: New Zealand Institute of Economic Research. Port study 2 Final report NZIER report to Auckland Council (3 February 2015).
Privatizing local bus services could save $5.7 billion
19 May 2016 Leave a comment
in industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, privatisation, survivor principle, theory of the firm, transport economics, urban economics Tags: privatisation, state owned enterprises
How green art thou? #buswaysforelectriccars not #BuswaysForBuses
06 May 2016 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, politics - New Zealand, transport economics, urban economics Tags: busways, do gooders, electric cars, expressive politics, global warming, trade-offs, transport lobby
Finally have something nice to say about electric cars. They will put bus lanes to good use.
A trivial percentage of people take the bus to work In New Zealand. The government has a target of doubling electric car fleet every year (from 2000 in 2016 to 64,000 in 2021).
This decision yesterday to allow them to use busways allows us to relish in seeing environmentalists feud over which technologies are green enough to have access to priority lanes on the road such as those allocated to buses.
Which is more important? Saving the planet or saving the buses; most of them are diesel? Busways are empty at the weekends and many other times.
Landmarking Is Turning New York City Into a Life-Sized Historical Diorama
01 May 2016 1 Comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, urban economics Tags: landmark preservation, zoning
Source: Landmarking Is Turning New York City Into a Life-Sized Historical Diorama – Hit & Run : Reason.com
And the beat goes on – housing prices since 1975 @PeterDunneMP @PhilTwyford
24 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: Auckland, housing affordability, land supply, land use planning, NIMBYs, Resource Management Act, urban limits, zoning
New Zealand housing prices were pretty flat up for the two decades until the passage of the Resource Management Act (RMA) in 1993. They then soared well before any foreign buyers such as from China entered the market.
Source: International House Price Database – Dallas Fed December 2015; nominal housing prices for each country is deflated by the personal consumption deflator for that country.
Most of the housing price rises were under the watch of a Labour Government – a party which is supposed to look out for working families.
The failure of the Labour Party to nip the problem in the bud when they had a working majority in Parliament means future solutions run into the political problem that any significant increase in supply of land may push many with recent mortgages such as in Auckland into negative equity.
Since they left office in 2008, leaving land supply regulation in a mess, the approach of Labour has been political opportunism rather than supporting RMA reform.
Labour recently admitted the need to increase the supply of land, but have not put forward practical ideas to increase the supply of land.
The National Party is not much better in terms of real solutions to regulatory constraints on the supply of land.
Which occupations have the longest commutes?
05 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in human capital, labour economics, occupational choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: commuting times, compensating differentials
Bugger the top 1% – it is the retired who are going from strength to strength
24 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
Remembering @JeremyCorbyn’s good old days
20 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - USA, urban economics Tags: British economy, British politics, pessimism bias, The Great Enrichment
Las Vegas population since 1900
18 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, population economics, urban economics Tags: land supply, land use planning, Las Vegas, zoning
The Las Vegas population doubled in the 60s doubled again between 1970 and 1990 and almost doubled again by 2000.
Source: Insiderviewpoint.com Las Vegas Population.
Between 1990 and 2000 despite the doubling of population, housing prices only increased by 25%.
Source: Insiderviewpoint.com S&P/Case-Shiller Las Vegas Home Price Index – S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Land supply must be pretty easy in Las Vegas at least up until 2000.
Source: Economics of Contempt: Land Use Regulations and the Housing Bubble.
The value of New Zealand owner occupied homes, net capital stock and human capital stock since 1987
17 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economic history, economics of education, entrepreneurship, human capital, labour economics, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, urban economics Tags: household wealth, housing prices, pessimism bias, top 1%
Tring Le found that the human capital stock was consistently 2.6 times the value of the physical capital stock of New Zealand.
I decided to apply that ratio to the net capital stock of New Zealand estimates of Statistics New Zealand back to 1987 to see what we get. It is pretty standard for the value of human capital to be two to two and one-half times the value of physical capital.
Source: National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks): Year ended March 2013 and Lˆe Thi. Vˆan Tr`ınh, Estimating the monetary value of the stock of human capital for New Zealand, University of Canterbury PhD thesis (September 2006), Table 4.8: Human and physical capital stocks.
All the above chart says it is most wealth in New Zealand is held by ordinary people either as their human capital or the value of their homes.
Time-starved skilled workers may be driving gentrification
23 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, transport economics, urban economics
@PhilTwyford 22 years in UK to raise deposit – up from 3 years in the 90s for low income households!
17 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, urban economics
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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