Source: New Zealand Treasury (2013) Long-term fiscal statement.
How much does a NZ superannuation eligibility age to 67 save? @nzlabour
13 Dec 2016 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, politics - New Zealand
Diffusion of consumer durables to poor American households since 1984
13 Dec 2016 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economic history, politics - USA Tags: child poverty, creative destruction, family poverty, technology diffusion, The Great Enrichment
We do not have air-conditioning. Do not know many people who do but New Zealand does have a temperate climate. But if you are down and out in America you still have air-conditioning.
Sources: The Economic Condition of Poor Americans (and the rest of us) Continues to Improve – Coordination Problem and Well-Being – Extended Measures of Well-being: Living Conditions in the United States, 2011 – People and Households – U.S. Census Bureau.
In the 2000s, dishwashers, air conditioning and microwaves were still diffusing rapidly in poor households in addition to the usual digital goods.
To make it even worse, despite the ravages of the 1996 US federal welfare reforms and a top 1% who apparently kept for themselves 90% of all income gains since the 1970s, air-conditioning in poor houses increased by 50% or so between 1994 and 2004.
Imagine how many more poor households would have dishwashers, air-conditioning, microwaves and digital goods but for the top 1%. Not that many actually because most of them already have those consumer durables despite their income not increasing for several decades.
I always puzzle over these who claim that incomes of ordinary families have not increased since the 1970s because that implies you can only buy the same basket of goods and same quality of goods as in the 1970s. That is what no real income growth means. You cannot buy more than before.
Why did poverty start falling noticeably in the 1990s in the USA?
06 Dec 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, welfare reform
Randall Kroszner’s advice for the next president
02 Dec 2016 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, entrepreneurship, international economics, macroeconomics, politics - USA, public economics Tags: 2016 presidential election, company tax
Maybe if we had called more people racist Trump would not have won?
02 Dec 2016 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of media and culture, gender, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2016 presidential election, identity politics, political correctness
Hillary Clinton Supported Flag-Burning Penalties in 2006
30 Nov 2016 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: free speech, Left-wing hypocrisy
Maher: Trump won because of PC liberals
24 Nov 2016 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: 2016 presidential election, political correctness
Is inequality just getting worse and worse in #NewZealand?
23 Nov 2016 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economic history, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality
Source: New Zealand Treasury Long-Term Fiscal Projections 2016.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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