Stephen King – the non-Australian SK – writes that low interest rates suggest longer- term insolvencies in ‘developed’ economies. They do not provide the basis for fiscal borrowings but arise because of a flight from any assets which can depreciate.
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Stephen King – the non-Australian SK – writes that low interest rates suggest longer- term insolvencies in ‘developed’ economies. They do not provide the basis for fiscal borrowings but arise because of a flight from any assets which can depreciate. I heard reference on the TV news tonight that Qantas has introduced a policy of not seating men next to unaccompanied kids on its plane services. My understanding is that this policy has been around for many years so I am unsure why the issue has risen again now. I think it is a discriminatory [...] Over the past 5 years US bankers have been paid $2.2 trillion. That’s roughly twice Australia’s GDP. It is an astounding amount that was not invested in productive assets but spent on fairly useless business executives who drove their firms – and the world economy – to the point of collapse. This makes the rewards [...] The decision by an unelected group of High Court judges to reject the hapless Gillard Government’s policy to limit illegal entry to Australia probably accords with the law but is a disgrace. These so-called asylum seekers are economic migrants who choose Australia rather than neighboring countries to reside in for economic reasons. They queue jump [...] I always think it crass of people to ask to get invited to a party. In my life I have not received invitations on more than a few occasions so that generally, these days, I am miffed only momentarily. But I was crass enough* to seek an invitation to the Government’s October Tax Summit and, as [...] I have been lazy on my blog-site for months now basically because of work commitments. Recently however the inactivity has reflected recreation rather than work. I spent the weekend in Sydney attending the 50th anniversary of my high school – The Forest High. I started there in the second year of its operations, 1962. It [...] I joined one of the best of the sand-belt golf courses in Southern Victoria today – The National at Cape Schanck. Its nice to be in the position where I have the time and the financial capability to enjoy such a beautiful set of courses. There are 3 at The National – the Old Course, [...] The most likely person to be the next US president is Rick Perry. Perry is a foolish delusionist who cloaks his ignorance in God-talk and who makes George Bush look good by comparison on issues such as climate change. A dangerous fanatic. This means that at a time of US/European and therefore global extreme economic [...] What is going on at Qantas? Is it just that high Australian costs are driving Qantas international broke so that it must move offshore? No management failures with respect to fleet management? A bit of decent information about the extent of cross-subsidisation of JetStar from Qantas international would help. “ This morning’s media, like yesterday’s supposedly [...] Brian Caplin reviews an interesting new work on happiness by Nick Powdthavee “The Happiness Equation”. He is intrigued by the argument that unhappiness caused by income inequality should be remedied by moving towards more equal incomes. “Finally, even if Mr. Powdthavee is right about the unhappy effects of income comparison, you shouldn’t conclude that redistribution [...] Environmental economists the world over are following with interest the trial of GPS-based congestion pricing in the Netherlands. Here charges are imposed on travel in a way that depends on the extent of congestion and route taken. Charges also depend on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle which captures in an approximate way the effects [...] I have been attending the 4th Annual Water Forum at La Trobe University Albury-Wodonga and -incidentally I hasten to note – golfing near Albury (at Thurgoona) and at Cobram-Barooga. The Water Forum was organised by La Trobe’s Professor Lin Crase. Over the past few years it has evolved from an informal discussion between academics and [...] When I worked on transport sector externality issues recently I became aware of the issue of the impact of air pollution from vehicles on human health. Concern with this issue has subsided a lot over recent years because of improved emissions performance by vehicles. Most attention gets focused on traffic congestion issues and road accident [...] According to this report women who take time off work to have and raise children are paid less than those who don’t. That sounds right. Presumably wages reflect productivity which is diminished if workers interrupt their time at work. The pervasive and destructive myth continues that employers should implement a program of social justice in [...] Eat your food off small plates and use a large fork. I enjoyed this Update: but not this. Lazy Friday night listening mainly to Iris Dement but also caught this humorous piece by DeMent and John Prine. Here’s another DeMent effort “My Town” with Emmylou Harris. I like DeMent’s voice, her simply folksy lyrics and her occasional sardonic realism: ”Some say there’re comin’ back in a garden/Bunch of carrots and little sweet peas/I [...] My colleague Dr Jan Libich recorded an interview with Professor Eric Leeper today that I attended. The interview went for about an hour and is recorded in YouTubes. First is part of the interview here and then then an interview with Jan here. An interesting approach to providing teaching material for macroeconomic students. Leeper was pessimistic about the [...] Very sorry to see that the UK’s Book Depository has been taken over by Amazon.com. The competition BD forced on Amazon has been beneficial to Australian book consumers. I was generally buying fiction novels in Australia from BD airmailed from the UK for about half the price of the same book in Australian stores. Amazon [...] As I remarked in an earlier post the media have totally abandoned the principle of “presumption of innocence” in relation to the claimed rape of a hotel maid. This outrage was fostered by the New York prosecutors and the police who treated him publicly as a criminal. Commentary in the press was written and constructed [...] |
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