Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money;
A correspondent, R.B. Chrystal, to The Listener asked
Why do we have a floating currency and what advantage is it to the country in general? To me it seems that all it does is allow another tier of parasites, ie currency speculators, into the system as well as create more uncertainty for our exporters. The strength or weakness of our dollar seems to bear very little relationship to the strength or weakness of our economy, as was touted when it was floated.
My answer, published in The Listener of 1 August 2003 is given below. Go to Brian Easton’s response I asked another economist to look at my reply. He thought it fine but also offered his account, which does not address the respondent’s question directly, but gives greater insight into official thinking. Go to another economist’s response <
Listener 26 July, 2003.
Keywords: Education: Regulation & Taxation;
In one of his witty essays in The Intellectual in the Marketplace, George Stigler describes a fictional Latin American university whose vice-chancellor aimed to raise the quality of the academic staff by a system of competitive exams. In order to win, the academics gave up teaching, so the system was changed to provide incentives to teach well. A further change had to be made to incorporate research achievement. Each time the ‘contestants’ found ways around the rules, the system was distorted and goals not attained. Eventually the VC moved on, to a position where he is as conservative as his radical reputation allowed, and his old university lapsed back to its traditional ways.
Prepared for some members of the councils of Tertiary Educational Institutions. (The choice of the VUW accounts to illustrate the general issues is fortuitous, and is not intended to reflect in any way – positively or negatively – on the university.)
Keywords: Education: Governance;
Statement of Financial Performance
Debates about student fees usually focus on the ‘Statement of Financial Performance’ which describes the revenue and expenditure of the Tertiary Educational Institution (TEI). However we shall see that other accounts are also important in order to understand this one. Table 1 shows the 2002 Statement of Financial Performance for the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW).[1] Its website is where you can find the details. (Attached to most line items is a ‘note’ which it is always wise to check when if you are interested in that line.)
Listener 12 July, 2003
Keywords: Environment & Resources;
In a typical year motorists drive 3.6 percent more kilometres (more than the growth of GDP), while the road network hardly increases. It might seem a good thing that we are using our roading capital more intensively. Unfortunately road-use does not follow standard market behaviour, so the ‘good thing’ is also the economic ‘bad’ of increasing congestion. Once that congestion occurred in a few hotspots, in the morning commuter rush hour, and most particularly in Auckland. Today Wellington and Christchurch seem to have congestion for long periods in the day, while many Auckland roads are congested from dawn to dusk (and after in winter).
Review of SIR GREGOR MACGREGOR AND THE LAND THAT NEVER WAS: The Extraordinary Story of the Most Audacious Fraud in History: David Sinclair (Review $59.99)
Listener 5 July 2003.
Keywords: Business & Finance; Political Economy & History;
The story told here is so extraordinary that I wondered whether the book was a hoax. Its writer, David Sinclair, is a reputable English financial journalist with non-fiction books to his credit (notably The Pound: A Biography), but belongs to a profession which often has a hankering for fiction. However, his key references appear in international bibliographies, while a Google search found independent mention of the country of ‘Poyais’ about which the fraud occurred.
Keywords: Social Policy;
Executive Summary
1. That the ‘Woodhouse Principles’ be applied to assessing the options on the treatment of medical misadventure. (Section 1)
2. The fault principle which underpins medical error conflicts with the Woodhouse Principles, the Ottawa Charter and the Ministry of Health’s guidelines to reportable events, particularly in regard to prevention. (Section 2)
3. On the available information Option 3 (Unintended injury in the treatment process) is the choice which most closely fulfils these principles. (Section 3)
4. However, the consultation document does not pay sufficient attention to the prevention possibilities of the scheme, nor to the administration costs issues. Some suggestions for improvement are discussed. (Section 4)
5. The ACC should be charged with a vigorous program to reduce medical misadventure. (Section 5)
6. While the medical misadventure is currently funded as a part of the non-earners scheme, it is suggested that an ‘insurance’ levy on health professionals as a part of their ACC levy would be more appropriate. The introduction of such a levy, plus the gains from a vigorous prevention program and a reduction in compliance costs would mean that the application of option three would not add a burden to the public purse. (Section 6)
