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
How is the gender pay gap going in the USA since 1980, adjusted and unadjusted?
19 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: compensating differentials, gender wage gap
Source: The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations by Francine D. Blau, Lawrence M. Kahn :: SSRN
Tax mix in New Zealand as percentage of GDP since 1965
19 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - New Zealand, public economics Tags: growth of government, size of government, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
That GST certainly played a major role since the 1980s. Taxes on corporate profits are on the up and up despite what you would believe from the grumblings of the Left down under.
Source: OECD Stat.
Tax mix in the USA as a percentage of GDP since 1965
18 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, fiscal policy, great recession, macroeconomics, politics - USA, public economics Tags: company tax, company tax rate, growth of government, GST, indirect taxation, property taxes, size of government, Social Security contributions, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply, welfare state
The only major change in the US tax mix in the last 50 years has been greater reliance on social security contributions.
Source: OECD Stat.
The share going to income taxes bobbing up and down quite a lot in the last 30 years much of that to do with the business cycle. In the 1990s, the share of taxes from personal income increased during boom times. In the Great Recession, the tax share to income tax rose with the declining economy as did that on corporate profits.
The impact of the 1986 GST on the New Zealand tax mix since 1965
17 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - New Zealand, public economics Tags: growth of government, GST, income tax, size of government, taxation and labour supply, VAT
The introduction of the GST in 1986 led to a major change in the New Zealand tax mix. There was no offsetting income tax cuts.
Source: Tax – Tax on goods and services – OECD Data and Tax – Tax on personal income – OECD Data.
Combined federal, state and local company tax rates across the OECD, 2015
17 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, public economics Tags: British economy, company tax rate, optimal tax theory
Britain will have the 2nd lowest company tax rate across the OECD by 2020. The 2016 British budget announced overnight reduces the tax to 17% by 2020.
Source: OECD Stat Table II.1. Corporate income tax rate.
New Zealand physical and human capital (by a skill level), 1986 – 2001
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 Tags: pension fund socialism, top 1%, Withering away of the proletariat
New Zealand working class is wealthier than the entire capitalist class. Their human capital, shown in the chart below as the human capital of the unskilled and non-degree workers, far exceeds the value of the physical capital stock of New Zealand.
Source: 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).
Only part of this physical capital stock is owned by the capitalist class given we live in the era of pension fund socialism. About a 3rd of that physical capital stock is owner occupied homes.
Source: 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).
The only reason that the share of unskilled and non-degree workers is in any way declining is the withering away of the proletariat. More and more people are joining the middle-class and going on to higher education.
Andrew Little is looking to update Labour's definition of the 'working class': stuff.co.nz/national/polit… http://t.co/AQ9mJL7CQf—
NZ Stuff Politics (@NZStuffPolitics) November 30, 2014
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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.
@BernieSanders lies more often than @HillaryClinton
16 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, politics - USA
The presidential scorecards so far @realdonaldtrump
16 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, politics - USA
% of New Zealand mortgages that were fixed and floating since 2004
16 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of information, economics of regulation, monetary economics, politics - USA Tags: antimarket bias, libertarian paternalism, monetary policy, mortgage interest rates, New Zealand Labour Party, Other people are stupid fallacy, rational irrationality, The fatal conceit, The pretence to knowledge
Despite the best efforts of the libertarian paternalists to sell the other people are stupid fallacy, ordinary New Zealanders are quite nimble at moving between fixed and floating rates depending upon their forecasts of the future of interest rates. Price controls on floating rate mortgages, as suggested by the New Zealand Labour Party, would make this more difficult, not easier.
Source: S8 Banks: Mortgage lending ($m) – Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
The explosion of lead in the saddlebags of trade agreements @KennedyGraham @DavidShearerMP #TPPANoWay
16 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, international economic law, international economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: crony capitalism, customs unions, free trade agreements, international investment law, investor state dispute settlement, preferential trading agreements
Percentage of fixed and floating mortgages in New Zealand
16 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: antimarket bias, mortgage interest rates, New Zealand Greens, New Zealand Labour Party, price controls, rational irrationality
I did not know so many people were on a fixed rate mortgage. Labour is risking its economic credibility on regulating the rates for a minority of mortgages.
Source: S8 Banks: Mortgage lending ($m) – Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Capped mortgages cannot be linked to the current official cash rate of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand because they are based on expected future interest rates over an up to 5 year span, not current interest rates.
An important motivation for going onto a floating rate is you can repay faster. Fixed rate mortgages have penalties for early repayment.
Source: Price Controls: Price Floors and Ceilings, Illustrated.
In consequence, price controls linking floating rate mortgages to the official cash rate of the Reserve Bank would benefit better off mortgagees expecting to repay quickly. A typical policy of the modern Labour Party.
@TheDailyBlogNZ just does not understand why @JohnKeypm is popular and beats them
16 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, politics - New Zealand Tags: Attack Ads, Key derangement syndrome, media bias, Ronald Reagan
The latest example of Key derangement syndrome, a photo essay, reminded me of a story about some prime time TV network current affairs coverage of Ronald Reagan early in his first term. It was a long piece arguing that he was not a very good president.
The White House communications director Mike Dever rung up the journalist and thanked him for the coverage. The journalist did not understand why did not understand why.
Dever said that collection of TV clips they put together were excellent – some of the best they have seen. They showed Reagan meeting congressional leaders, business, the public and foreign leaders. Dever said the only thing that the public will remember is the images of Reagan as a hard-working world leader but still a man of the people.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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