Monthly Archives: January 2003

Distributional Economics: Index

This entry was posted in Distributional Economics on by .

Research (Indexes)

The Economic and Health Status of Households Project (Index)
Household Equivalence Scales (Index)

Research (Articles)

Beware the Median (May 2002)
Income Distribution and Equity (August 1999)
What Has Happened in New Zealand to Income Distribution and Poverty Levels (July 1999)
Globalization and A Welfare StateChapter 3: The Progress of Poverty & Chapter 7: Thinking Systematically About Poverty (December 1997)
Income Distribution: Part I and Income Distribution: Part II (January 1996)
Poverty in New Zealand – 1981 to 1993 (November 1995)
The Fallacy of the Equity vs Efficiency Tradeoff. (June 1995)
Properly Assessing Income Adequacy in New Zealand (January 1995)
There are a number of earlier research papers, notably Income Distribution in New Zealand 1983 (Book not on website).

Other Relevant Pages concerned with the policy implications

Family Policy (Index)
Globalization and A Welfare State (Index)
The Commercialisation of New Zealand Chapter 3 ‘The Abandoning of Equity’ (July 1997)

Listener Columns (Miscellaneous)

Closing the Gaps: Policy Or Slogan? (November 2000)
In the Midst of Plenty (December 1985)

Economic Globalisation and National Sovereignty (II)

This entry was posted in Globalisation & Trade, Governance, Political Economy & History on by .

Chapter for the New Zealand Government and Politics 2ed, edited by Raymond Miller (OUP). First Edition Chapter

Keywords: Globalisation & Trade; Governance; Political Economy & History;

In recent years there has been increasing concern that the phenomenon of supranational economic integration, popularly known as economic ‘globalisation’, is undermining the sovereignty of the nation state. In New Zealand, this has been symbolised by international agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and World Trade Organisation (WTO). This chapter will explore the economic context of the debate.

Two Great Economists: Raymond Firth (1901-2002) & James Tobin (1918-2002)

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener, Macroeconomics & Money, Maori on by .

Listener 25 January, 2003.

Keywords:
History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Macroeconomics & Money; Maori;

I would start a beginning course in economics with Economics of the New Zealand Maori by Raymond Firth, who died last year. Not only is the book a part of our heritage but it confronts students with the classical Maori economy which answered the central economic problems of ‘what, how, for whom, where and when’ in quite different ways from today. Starting with an alternative to the narrow idealised version of the US economy which they are usually taught, would help students realise how special it is. It might even suggest that every economy is particular, and such general economic principles there are, need not result in the policies which slavishly follow from the idealised US one.

Maori Index

This entry was posted in Index, Maori on by .

Items with a substantial discussion on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi marked *

Keywords: Maori;

Riches without Wealth (November 1979)
For Whom the Treaty Tolls (February 1990)*
The Green Maori (May 1990)*
The Maori Broadcasting Claim: A Pakeha Economist’s Perspective (September 1990)*
Evidence of Brian Easton with Respect to Te Oneroa-O-Tohe (March 1991)*
Tikanga and Te Oneroa-O-Tohe (May 1991)*
Te Whakapakari Paapori, Ohanga o Muriwhenua (June 1993)
Fishing and the Chatham Islands (September 1993)
The Maori Geothermal Claim: A Pakeha Economist’s Perspective (September 1993)*
The Maori Electoral Enrolment Option Campaign (February 1994)
Contract, Covenant, Compact: the Social Foundations of New Zealand Governance (April 1994)*
The Maori in the Labour Force (November 1994)
A Quiet Revolutionary: Eru Woodbine Pomare: 1942-1995 (February 1995)
A Data Base for Iwi (May 1995)
Divided Issues: The Myth of the Unified Maori (June 1995)
Working with the Maori: Consultancy, Research, Friendship (August 1995)
The Economic and Social Impact of the Raupatu (October 1995)*
Maori Melting Pot (November 1996)
Was There a Treaty of Waitangi: Was it a Social Contract? (April 1997)*
Notes for a Presentation on Maori Exporting (October 1998)
Closing the Gaps: Policy or Slogan? (November 2000)
Two Great Economists: Raymond Firth (1901-2002) & James Tobin (1918-2002) (January 2003)
Rightful Owners (August 2003)*
Closing the Credibility Gap: Why Act’s Race-based Welfare Statistics Are Worthless. (February 2004)
Public Policy and the Maori. (February 2004)
Public Policy and the Maori. (March 2004)

This consists items only in the public domain, and excludes other work for iwi and government agencies.

Money Can’t Buy You Love

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener on by .

Why can’t economists measure wellbeing as material wealth?
Listener 11 January 2003.

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy;

While there is considerable national agreement that economic policy should aim to accelerate the growth of sustainable GDP, Gross Domestic Product only measures material output. Its designers never not intended it to assess human welfare. As economists have known for more than fifty years, GDP is not a good measure of wellbeing. While people in cold climates have bigger fuel bills, they are not necessarily better off than where it is warm. People in insecure environments spend more on the police and military, but better to be in a secure community. Where does friendship fit into GDP? Attempts to extend the concept (to include such things as non-market activities and the environment) do not solve the basic problem that material output is not the same thing as happiness.