Monday morning blues? Compare the avg number of #working hours in yr country per year. More: bit.ly/1JPVYQu http://t.co/r5MsELJr1n—
(@OECD) April 19, 2015
Hours worked per worker varies greatly across industrialised countries
20 May 2015 Leave a comment
Families with single mothers face the greatest risk of falling into deep poverty
20 May 2015 1 Comment
American families with single mothers face the greatest risk of falling into deep poverty: brook.gs/1IVXiTo http://t.co/dwLcQzvHkh—
Brookings (@BrookingsInst) May 13, 2015
US and Canadian real GDP per capita as a percentage of British GDP per capita, 1800–2010
19 May 2015 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, macroeconomics, politics - USA Tags: British economy, Canada, convergence
Figure 1: US and Canadian real GDP per capita are as percentage of British GDP per capita (1990 Int. GK$PPP), 1800 – 2010
Source: The Maddison-Project, http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/maddison-project/home.htm 2013 version.
There are no Liberal Republicans and Conservative Democrats any more
19 May 2015 2 Comments
in income redistribution, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: political polarisation
Entrepreneurial alertness alert: Las Vegas advertised itself as a place to watch the nearby nuke tests
19 May 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, entrepreneurship, politics - USA Tags: atomic bomb tests, entrepreneurial alertness, Las Vegas
Back in the 1950s, Las Vegas advertised itself as a place to watch the nearby nuke tests. Bring the whole family! http://t.co/zMrCdskYLk—
Weird History (@weird_hist) December 06, 2014
New Zealand’s Experience with Territorial Taxation | Tax Foundation
18 May 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: company tax, endogenous growth theory, foreign direct investment, lost decades

New Zealand is one of only two developed countries, the other being Finland, that switched from a territorial tax system to a worldwide system.Both eventually returned to a territorial tax system for competitiveness reasons. New Zealand went one step further in their experiment with worldwide taxation by ending deferral.
This resulted in a twenty year stagnation in foreign investment at a time when foreign investment was growing dramatically in the rest of the developed world.
This coincided with an economic decline in New Zealand relative to Australia and the rest of the developed world. Because foreign investment is key to accessing the world’s consumers, it is not surprising that less foreign investment translated to less economic prosperity at home.
The New Zealand experience shows that ending or limiting deferral in the United States, as President Obama and others have proposed, would likely have severe economic downsides. Instead, as New Zealand eventually did in 2009, the U.S. should implement a territorial system that exempts foreign earnings.

via New Zealand’s Experience with Territorial Taxation | Tax Foundation.
Working age populations of Australia, New Zealand and Japan
18 May 2015 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: ageing society, Australia, Japan, labour demographics, New Zealand
HT: OECD
A Decade-long Increase in Political Independents
17 May 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: swinging voters


99% of robots agree with Robert Reich on the minimum wage
17 May 2015 Leave a comment
in macroeconomics, minimum wage, politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election, economics fallacies, expressive voting, quackery, rational irrationality, Robert Reich
The main drivers of child poverty
15 May 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economics of love and marriage, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, population economics, welfare reform Tags: child poverty, economics of the family, family poverty, marriage and divorce, single mothers, single parents
CHART: Black Illegitimacy Rate Went from < 20% in 1950 to 75.2% in 2010. Has Obama ever mentioned that? http://t.co/1UBUQ5aLRi—
Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) May 12, 2015
Quotation of the Day from Charles Murray http://t.co/Y8W6xGjRPO—
Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) May 12, 2015
Urban planners are confident souls
15 May 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of regulation, environmental economics, growth miracles, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, urban economics Tags: green rent seeking, housing affordability The fatal conceit, land use regulation, offsetting behaviour, RMA, The pretence to knowledge, unintended consequences, urban planning, zoning
Health spending has been slow for a few years now
15 May 2015 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: public health expenditure, welfare state
Further evidence that street politics is counter-productive
14 May 2015 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: activists, civil disobedience, Leftover Left, protesters, street politics
Public disorder and rioting by a large leads to a law and order response among the public and a hardening of social attitudes against whatever the desired social reform might be when it is tainted by civil disorder.
The Left, the Green Left and the watermelons in particular want to believe that street protests change things. They have to validate their youthful offences against public order.
Sadly, no; sadly for them but not for the law-abiding rest of us who resolve our differences by trying to persuade each other and elections.
The law-abiding rest of us believe in democratic equality. Your vote counts as much as mine in a democracy with free speech. The only way you can change my vote is by free speech, not by public disorder, threats and intimidation and taking the law into your own hands.



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