tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post4965137437740003920..comments2024-03-28T09:22:36.967+13:00Comments on Offsetting Behaviour: Who Speaks?Eric Cramptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-11364787162016611242012-02-09T16:08:01.948+13:002012-02-09T16:08:01.948+13:00The New Zealand Government would not have fallen h...The New Zealand Government would not have fallen had they kept the finance companies out of the deposit guarantees scheme. And we'd be far better off. (fist shaking at Michael Cullen)Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-76032829733133194322012-02-09T15:17:49.360+13:002012-02-09T15:17:49.360+13:00"There is a point there though about governme..."There is a point there though about government willingness to engage in bank bailouts where there seem more worthy candidates."<br /><br />Yes, but you can pin it on fairly mundane reasons: any government that let banks fail, and told the public to brace for a painful but necessary adjustment, could expect to be slung out on their ear. No need to debate the soul of capitalism here.Miguel Sancheznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-5315804333203960622012-02-09T14:08:37.992+13:002012-02-09T14:08:37.992+13:00Of course there is the usual suckers for punishmen...Of course there is the usual suckers for punishment.Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-11272599347381700432012-02-09T09:30:11.779+13:002012-02-09T09:30:11.779+13:00Umm... I was drafting a post on it in my head whil...Umm... I was drafting a post on it in my head while walking over from daycare to the office...now looking to see whether the Cabinet Papers are anywhere around. Was going to hang it around the excellent Ryan Avent piece over at Economist.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-18971923659453264262012-02-09T08:44:06.572+13:002012-02-09T08:44:06.572+13:00... and that EBay guy... and that PayPal guy...
T...... and that EBay guy... and that PayPal guy...<br /><br />There is a point there though about government willingness to engage in bank bailouts where there seem more worthy candidates. The rest, agreed, is dreck.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-79939866397017835502012-02-09T08:42:58.162+13:002012-02-09T08:42:58.162+13:00If there were more academics ready to comment on t...If there were more academics ready to comment on their area of expertise, we might hope that fewer would be asked to comment on areas outside of theirs. That's likely ridiculously optimistic though.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-35313192217480260162012-02-08T23:26:59.837+13:002012-02-08T23:26:59.837+13:00And another one: "In the midst of successive ...And another one: "In the midst of successive financial crises, the hand of the market still harvests wealth for the wealthy. While the richest avoid taxation, billions can be found to shore up the corporate sector, but not to deal with child poverty, third-world diseases, high rates of youth incarceration and suicide, and other indicators of suffering and failure." Nice evasive attempt with the sudden switch to passive voice - "can be found" - but please tell us, who is doing the "finding" here? It's surely not the markets you were talking about earlier. It's government at fault in this case, if I'm not mistaken?<br /><br />I also think there's a point to be made about dealing with third-world diseases, but it escapes me for now. Something something Bill Gates something something wealthy capitalist...Miguel Sancheznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-19454429686415614112012-02-08T23:06:05.129+13:002012-02-08T23:06:05.129+13:00Funnily enough, the section about academics commen...Funnily enough, the section about academics commenting on topics outside their field of expertise mainly reinforced to me why I'd rather they didn't. Just to pick on one example: "Occupiers are concerned that after the series of financial crises beginning in 2008, governments and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund have chosen to rescue banks and finance companies while imposing austerity measures on pretty much everyone else." It sounds insightful, and there are certainly elements of truth... but what is the IMF doing in there? I'm fairly confident that the IMF has not bailed out a single bank or finance company, and the only people that they've imposed austerity upon are the national governments that have gone begging for a bailout themselves... from the IMF. This doesn't really sound like someone who's well-informed about the IMF; it does sound an awful lot like someone who's thrown them in there because it's fashionable in left-wing circles to portray them as the source of all eeeeevil.Miguel Sancheznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-3315804780178216862012-02-08T20:59:12.127+13:002012-02-08T20:59:12.127+13:00It comes down to a lack of incentive in many cases...It comes down to a lack of incentive in many cases. <br />For example who will be volunteering to take on the 3.8% minimum wage increase? Don't all rush.<br />Nobody wants to be public enemy #1.<br />:-)Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-3384351630947339482012-02-08T20:07:55.638+13:002012-02-08T20:07:55.638+13:00"frightened, self interested and confined by ..."frightened, self interested and confined by oppressive research demands"<br /><br />Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.<br /><br />I think most academics are (a) not really interested or (b) lazy.Sinclair Davidsonhttp://www.catallaxyfiles.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-66733182972360976642012-02-08T11:37:35.012+13:002012-02-08T11:37:35.012+13:00And I suppose we ought add that one very prominent...And I suppose we ought add that <a href="http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/06/ruth-richardson-and-fiscal-austerity.html" rel="nofollow">one very prominent instance of Auckland's Economics Department making a public statement in 1991 was an embarrassment.</a>Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-54100338808252960522012-02-08T11:27:11.872+13:002012-02-08T11:27:11.872+13:00"Bridgman found some reasons why: universitie..."Bridgman found some reasons why: universities, made over by the market reforms of the 80s and 90s, did little to encourage the critic and conscience role..."<br /><br />I well recall criticism of academia in the 1970s for not coming out and publically criticising the nonsense of the Muldoon administration. And it seems that the issue most pertinent to the people surveyed in the story reported here was PBRF, which came in under Labour after the reform period. How the reforms can then cop the blame for academics not playing their critic and conscience role is mystifying. Sometimes I think it is only a question of time before "the reforms of the 80s and 90s" gets blamed for the common cold.Seamus Hoganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06752338906486087395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-4794918041205970492012-02-08T10:40:48.056+13:002012-02-08T10:40:48.056+13:00@Dave: The go-to folks for radio, TV, and newspape...@Dave: The go-to folks for radio, TV, and newspapers are almost entirely consultants and bank economists. Sometimes that's the right move: you won't find an academic worth a dime who's willing to read big portents from small moves in exchange rates, and there seems to be a big market for that kind of prognostication. <br /><br />Count the number of times you hear bank or consulting economists talking on issues where an academic might be better suited rather than just the number of times you hear academics speaking. Note that the Herald's list is only on business and economic expert commentary.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-32234800878007201342012-02-08T10:14:47.534+13:002012-02-08T10:14:47.534+13:00You're right they missed Matt, but I don't...You're right they missed Matt, but I don't note any great shortage of academic views on issues of the day. The issue may be more about thin markets in specialisms, where we only have 0-3 experts on any one issue in NZ.Dave Guerinhttp://www.ed.co.nznoreply@blogger.com