MergeRight

cafe-suppress

2007-03-25T13:28:00.000+10:00

Cafepress kicked the shirts off for a bad taste violation. they didn't last 24hrs.they said: We recently learned that your CafePress.com account contains material which may not be in compliance with our policies. Specifically, we prohibit the display or sale of products which depict the use of "hard core" drugs, content which my (sic) infringe the rights of a third party including copyrights

hicks lovers

2007-03-24T18:36:00.000+11:00

Tired of all those sanctimonous david hicks lovers? I am – so I went and created a few products at cafepress. Check out www.cafepress.com/forgetdavid and www.cafepress.com/hanghicksPerfect with under your Brooks Brothers Blazer, with your Gucci loafers and Diesel jeans.

Face west towards Wall St and pray to Gittens

2007-03-08T12:28:00.000+11:00

I don't mean to harp on just about Gittens- but I mean its like he wants the abuse. If he didn't try and pass himself off as an economist (or should that be a Gittonomist?) then I wouldn't get my back up so much.Gittens tries to defend the arrogance of titling his new book "Gittinomics" claiming he is a demigod overlord of the economy (phew! I'd hate to have misinterpreted renaming a science

Economics in 5 minutes

2007-02-28T20:09:00.001+11:00

This is hilarious.

Gambling on Rudd

2007-02-27T12:28:00.000+11:00

The Sydney Kings won three of four championships and the Wollongong Hawks didn't make the top eight this year. Consequently I don't really gamble any more. I can't afford it. If I had a clue about what I was doing then maybe I would.Punter on the other hand has no real job and lives a lifestyle of debauchury only his gambling habbit can afford him to do so.Common sense has seemingly evaporated

The lights are on, but only Gittins is home

2007-02-26T14:58:00.000+11:00

On Turnball's plan to phase out incandescent light bulbs:Talk about high-handed intervention in a free market by the nanny state... Why the direct resort to command-and-control? ...why not apply the polluter-pays principle?I was with you Ross, right up until you said:Yes, I am kidding. ...Once you understand how far we mere mortals depart from the assumption of rationality, it's easier to see the

Salvation from carbon trading?

2007-02-20T13:25:00.000+11:00

Alex Robson (who has a new weekly opinion spot in the Telly) has turned me right off carbon trading: A carbon trading scheme will be similar to a tax on carbon emissions, except the size of the tax will be determined by the market and the government will receive no tax revenue. Unless, of course, the states decide to charge stamp duty and the Commonwealth decides to levy capital gains tax

Free coffee anyone?

2007-02-08T22:33:00.000+11:00

Interesing business model for this US cafe (via freakonomics). Essentially you pay what you like. The idea is that the honour system will cause most people to pay and some will overpay (for a warm glow) subsidising those who underpay.I think it will succeed; not much different from other business models which undercharge for some goods (in this case the coffee) and then overcharge on others (the

What is to be done?

2007-02-08T22:23:00.000+11:00

The economic response to the growing scientific consensus on global warming seems naive and inconsidered. After reading a Robert Samuelson op-ed, I can think of many reasons why a global Pigouvian tax (or cap and trade system) is not going to happen: developing countries will not stand for it (and in any case economic growth is, rightly, much more important for them than global warming);

Cap-and-shade

2007-02-08T07:52:00.000+11:00

The Australian's editorial continues to cloud the debate by propogating the unproven claim that an emissions trading scheme is far superior to a carbon tax: Such a system [carbon trading] would be far less punitive than a per-tonne tax on coal or emissions which would ultimately be paid by consumers and which would chase industry and jobs overseas to less restrictive regulatory

Telecommuting

2007-02-07T23:22:00.000+11:00

Tim Harford (aka the Undercover Economist) argues that the ubiquity of email, video-conferencing and other telecommunication media has increased the demand for travel (to conferences and meetings) and for living in big cities with networking opportunities. In essence: ... e-mail, internet networking and cheap phone calls have made it easy to maintain a lot of relationships. In principle

Howard's trippin

2007-02-07T22:02:00.000+11:00

Howard seems lost on climate change. The other day he was saying that he does not support a tax on carbon but is happy to set a carbon price. But what's the difference? Now he is supporting a global emissions scheme but I don't see the big difference between a tax and cap-and-trade emissions target. Basic economics tells you that setting the price is equivalent to setting the quantity. Much

Friedman's influence

2006-11-21T23:18:00.000+11:00

Milton Friedman had a great influence on my ideas. I started university as a communist ... but then I met some. And, while other authors, such as Orwell, turned me off hadcore economic planning but effectively I remained a social democrat until I read Friedman. I read Free to Choose and it was a life-changing experience. Like most good ideas, the thing I took from it most was perhaps the

SIngapore Slung

2006-10-08T20:39:00.000+10:00

After the September IMF / World Bank meeting in Singapore, JP Morgan Economist Andy Xie wrote a ‘wrap up’ internal email, which (coincidently) was followed by his resignation from the venerable house of Morgan. Dr Xie had the temerity to suggest that ‘Singapore's success came mostly from being the money laundering center for corruptIndonesian businessmen and government officials.’ He followed it

Can the UN be any more useless?

2006-08-15T22:12:00.000+10:00

Miloon Kothari, the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing (that is seriously his title) has spent the last fortnight in Australia evaluating the adequacy of housing. (I can't seem to find his report online but there are news reports here and here.)Now he has some pretty bad things to say about outback Aboriginal housing. I don't know much about their conditions, but Miloon does not seem to recognise

How to do spend a lot to do absolutely nothing

2006-08-15T20:46:00.000+10:00

The chicken-winged Treasurer announced today the Government's response to the Redtape Reduction Taskforce Report. And what an absolute joke. If one wants an example of government-ese and how to say a lot with saying nothing, then this is the response to read!The Government has agreed to token reforms of existing laws, including working to harmonise conveyancing laws ... man, what great reforms!!!

How to pay teachers

2006-08-14T19:21:00.000+10:00

Judith Wheeldon argues that merit pay systems for teachers are flawed because:Evaluating a teacher's work has many facets. The easy one, because it can be expressed in figures that naturally rank themselves, is exam or skills tests results. Unfortunately, these easy-to-understand numbers do not meaningfully reflect the job description of a teacher.I agree with her that simplistic pay schemes that

Tricks for old goats

2006-08-08T20:57:00.000+10:00

The bomber has been bellowing like on old bull 'bout broadband – but as usual, he was making little sense, and demonstrating a poor grasp of the broader issues. The proposed fiber investment was simply a shot at circumventing the declaration of the copper network, and only made commercial sense to Telstra on these terms. There are alternative broadband investments, such as ADSL2+, that make

Sunk already

2006-07-13T23:01:00.000+10:00

Beazley ought to have a sinking feeling. The May and June employment reports appear to have saved the Govt’s Workchoices bacon – certainly smirky pete was looking like the cat that got the cream when doing the post employment gloat on Thursday afternoon. In the previous two months, 99.7k jobs have been added: 72.5k full time jobs (+1%), and 27.2k part time jobs (+0.9%). The unemployment rate is

Milne miscalculates

2006-07-11T22:41:00.000+10:00

One thing that the phoney war between Howard and Costello has proven was that Latham was right. From The Latham Diaries:The Dwarf [Glenn Milne] is just a frustrated politician; fancies himself as a player, not just a commentator: Circa 1997, he told me how he backed Keating over Hawke and planned to do the same thing for Costello over Howard. He should stick to his day job. (p. 189)Milne kicked

WWII redux

2006-06-13T15:33:00.000+10:00

What a great game last night! Especially entertaining was the historical parallels with the Second World War.The Japs got out to an early lead with a surprise, illegal strike and then tried to hold their early gains against an ever-expanding attacking force. (With the odd kamikaze attack by a lone striker.)I thought Australia's new passing based game (directed by coach 'Guss your Daddy') was very

Overworked and underpaid

2006-05-18T23:13:00.000+10:00

Jealousy is still alive and well in Australia. Only a week after the left were pointing out that cutting taxes actually means giving more tax back to those that already pay a lot, we now have the same hand-wringers whinging over the $21 million a year (or $1.8m/month, $400k/week, $60k/day, $2500/hr, $40/min or 67 cents per second) man, Alan Moss.Poor old Mossy. This bloke works hard to get to

Howard's steady hand

2006-05-15T22:46:00.000+10:00

A very close friend has often said to me: ‘yeah, well Howard’s OK, but what’s he done? Nothing!’. To some extent it’s true, other than the GST, and staying in power, Howard has not taken the nation forward with the same sort of aggression as Keating. Then again, he’s not had the bipartisan support that Keating and Hawke enjoyed. In any case, the best answer I can muster is not to underestimate

Gin for warming

2006-05-08T22:11:00.000+10:00

When I think of doomsday, when I read of a catastrophe to come, and when I listen to the prophet’s of doom on global warming, I imagine that something really dramatic is going to happen. I lack imagination, so it was with great interest that I started reading Michael Roux's Op Ed in the May 7th edition of The Australian Newspaper here. It boasted the dramatic (if silly) title ‘Heat’s on if we are

Cereal Reform Laws Deliver

2006-03-31T12:54:00.000+11:00

The Australian Council of Cereal Producers (ACCP) are outraged by the government’s new Cereal Consumption reform (CCR) laws. Under the new scheme, consumers are now able to purchase whatever brand and flavour of cereal they choose, regardless of how long they’d been consuming their old brand of cereal. ACCP Secretary Greg Kellogg said “Under the old scheme, cereal rights were protected by the

Want to buy a pound of flesh?

2006-03-27T22:49:00.000+11:00

In The Merchant of Venice Shylock, a Jewish usurer, enters a contract with a young lover's friend stipulating that if his friend fails to pay back a loan then he can claim a pound of his flesh. Since both parties entered the agreement voluntarily presumably it increased their ex ante welfare.Arguing along similar lines, the latest Policy magazine leads with a proposal, by Joseph Clark, that there

If you don't like Mergeright, Get F^KED

2006-03-25T16:19:00.000+11:00

I love my Mum. She grew up in country NSW (Bourke), and made us kids her first priority. She has often said that all she ever wanted to be was a Mum – and she succeeded admirably at her primary goal. I hold her in high esteem, as in consequence, am disposed to similarly maternal women. It has been hard finding the ‘right’ woman, as the women I meet are usually city types, who do not share

Gold medal for freedom - not awarded

2006-03-24T14:29:00.000+11:00

Something tells me I should have learned by now, but I’m always surprised by the hypocrisy of the Left. I mean come on guys, have your cake or eat it. With no real competition allowed to face Australia at the Commonwealth Games, poorer nations are acting as poor substitutes. Without the Americans and Continental Europeans, we’re winning buckets of medals in athletics, and without the Chinese

Is Europe heading for a new dark age?

2006-03-24T09:24:00.000+11:00

I remember having dinner, with the indomitable Matt Johnson and some dickhead DFAT grads. The conversation entered some pre-scripted DFAT talk about the importance of Europe, and its influence on Australian foreign policy. At which point, Matt dryly pointed out that Europe has a declining fertility rate, and decreasing productivity. In other words, without significant change, their economy will

Do the French look happy?

2006-03-23T12:55:00.000+11:00

Recently, Clive Hamilton again argued that we'd all be better off if we consumed less. The reason we all want the latest plasma tv or fast car, according to Clive, is not because big TVs are better or driving a nice car feels good, it's simply because I want to make others feel jealous of me. If I pull into my driveway in my new Nissan 350Z, only to find my neighbour bought a just as good Alfa

Cyclone Bob hits soon after Larry

2006-03-22T10:42:00.000+11:00

Nth Queensland Federal MP Bob Katter blew several gaskets last night on ABC news over the possibility of importing fresh bananas to deal with the destruction of Australian production due to Cyclone Larry.Anyone watching Cyclone Bob might have been mistaken to believe that the importation of bananas is a fresh issue. But alas, it is

Vouch for it

2006-03-21T23:42:00.000+11:00

Jenny Macklin recently attacked the Government for the alleged failure of a voucher scheme aimed at helping kids struggling with reading to access tutorial services. The media release is noteworthy for two reasons: (1) it does not use the word 'extreme' in relation to the Howard Government; (2) it is blatantly hypocritical.Macklin accuses the government of being wedded to ideology in preferring

How costly are tax cuts?

2006-03-21T10:20:00.000+11:00

Peter Costello's recently announced tax inquiry is now 4 weeks in. By my calculations they would have just finished downloading the relevant OECD reports and now have a week to reformat the tables and graphs so they look like original work.All in all the whole exercise is a waste of time and effort. Instead of looking at what other countries are doing we should instead examine our own recent

Official Government Pronouncement

2006-03-15T16:45:00.000+11:00

Quick updateThe Australian Government has released its Discussion Paper on Media Reform Options. It is official, according to the Australian Government, the decision about whether to allocate another free-to-air television licence is too important to be left to unelected bureaucrats in ACMA.The Australian Government plans to amend legislation so as to make the government of the day the

I never knew any pancakes that got nuked by India

2006-03-10T16:54:00.000+11:00

That’s the punch line to a Krusty the Clown joke from an episode of the Simpson’s set in a future to come. The joke: “What’s the difference between Pakistan and a pancake?” This past week, the world’s two largest democracies began constructing what could be the strategic alliance to define the 21st Century. The United States has agreed, in principle, to cooperate in the development of India’

Mason dumps Terra Nullius

2006-03-06T12:25:00.000+11:00

According to Blackstone, writing about settled law prior to 1788, there are three ways of acquiring sovereignty over land: you may acquire it by force, acquire it as a gift, or take land that has no owner. The latter, taking ‘vacant’ land, is often confused with the infamous doctrine of terra nullius, but it is not quite the same thing. Age is the easiest and best way to distinguish the two

Stay at home and watch the ABC instead

2006-02-24T10:20:00.000+11:00

The last two movies I had paid to see were Cinderella Man and Munich. Both were quality films, easily in my top ten of all time. So my following rant on the snore that was Brokeback Mountain may reflect me my affinity for boxing and the cold blooded slaying of Palestinian terrorists. I was never meant to like it right? It was a story of unrequited homosexual love. Bigotry and ignorance stood

How to rort a hurricane

2006-02-22T08:03:00.000+11:00

In the aftermath of one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States last year, politicians came under intense pressure to compensate for their initial slow reaction and provide significant assistance to the victims. The politicians didn't take too long to notice which way the wind was blowin' and in an orgy of welfare, promised so much money that it felt like election time.We are talking

I’m not allowed to have an opinion on abortion

2006-02-17T11:48:00.000+11:00

“We never think about the results of our actions because we can’t, being so dim as we are. We love washing machines, running water and frozen food because they make our lives so much easier – therefore it follows that we will all be racing to the doctor the minute we know we are pregnant, and taking a pill to cure the problem… We used to head off in the mornings to our girly,

Leunig gets virgin for Anti-Semitic Cartoon?

2006-02-16T21:05:00.000+11:00

Cartoonist Michael Leunig found himself in a tight spot when his best anti-Semitic cartoon was selected for the Iranian ‘payback’ free speech cartoon competition. At stake in the inter-continental cartoon slag-off contest were gold coins, supplied by a lovely Iranian philanthropist.Leunig’s cartoon was entered by a lovely Australian larrikin – Richard Cooke. It was another case of one of the

Perfect one day ...

2006-02-15T02:10:00.000+11:00

Although I must confess that I put very little effort into Valentine's Day this year (I bought my better half a caramel sundae from Macca's) no doubt others spent a lot of time and money on the occasion.It's strange though that so much is invested in pleasing our partners on one (or maybe a few, including anniversaries and birthdays) particular days of the year. Assuming that lovers (like the

Let the eye fit the tooth

2006-02-11T23:08:00.000+11:00

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; let the punishment fit the crime; let the cliché fit the occasion! Questions of crime and punishment, and law and order, are always hot topics: presently within the rubric of the Muslim response to the (infamous) Danish/Mohammad cartoons. Rather than rake these hot coals, I want to consider a more general point of view.In addition to commentary about the

Where are Radical Islam’s apologists now?

2006-02-10T15:24:00.000+11:00

The left excuses radical Islam for its campaign of terror against the West as “responding to American imperialism.” They excuse the plights of the Palestinian terror campaign (against school children on buses) in Israel, the Muslim rioters in France, the Iraqi “insurgents,” the Taliban remnants in Afghanistan and the latest Middle Eastern nation (Iran) to seek ultimate destruction of everything

Show some guts

2006-02-10T14:50:00.000+11:00

I think the Australian media has been gutless in not publishing the Danish cartoons (the Courier Mail and the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin excepted). Basically, there are two reasons why the cartoons deserve to be published.an example of the complete ineptness of Danish cartoonistsdemonstrating how disproportionate and overblown the reactions of radical Muslims areFor the record all the cartoons

Bad taste and worse Taste

2006-02-06T09:22:00.000+11:00

OK, I’ll be honest. I think that the cartoons are funny. However, I can see what people mean when they say they are in bad taste. I don't much fancy piss-Christ; I understand where they're coming from. I’ve not, however, burnt down any buildings in rage. Which would be in still-worse taste.So why is it that they don't understand that Western freedoms include the right to publish nasty / funny

On the US free trade agreement

2006-02-05T18:51:00.000+11:00

The Australia-US Free Trade agreement gave a lot of people the shits. It gave economists the shits, because the important issues got lost beneath ass lickers and a politician licked for his deployment of dangerous metaphors. It gave US haters the shits because we gave preferential treatment to the nation that they think is most undeserving. And it had the Australian media shitting itself, because

Labour Market Regulation Sucks

2006-02-03T08:49:00.000+11:00

There is a flyer advertising the upcoming HR Nicholls Society's Conference in March. The flyer has nothing “offensive” on it whatsoever. But this is a university, so I guess mentioning Liberal Senator Nick Minchin’s name as the keynote speaker is a hanging offence. The HR Nicholls society is a collection of industry leaders, businessmen and academics who are united by their pursuit of industrial

Even get their own fireworks.

2006-01-27T08:51:00.000+11:00

I was going to write about the drop off in higher education enrollments (or rather the odds of Ross Gittins and I agreeing on something – twice! First flat taxes and now higher ed), but then a conversation with a friend sparked me off on the special treatment of aboriginals.The recent promotion of outgoing Minister of Defense, Senator Robert Hill, led to a cabinet shake up, reshuffle and mixing

OECD Report: Australians efficient in dealing with government

2006-01-18T11:50:00.000+11:00

The French based OECD have just come out with a new report criticizing Australia and Australian businesses for excessive bribery in foreign dealings (cough oil-for-escargot cough). But is there anything really wrong with side payments and fat yellow envelopes under the table?According to this new OECD report, Australia is notorious for being soft on foreign bribery- even providing tax incentives

PBS, ACA and TT

2006-01-10T08:48:00.000+11:00

Tip your hat to Liberal MP Andrew Laming, Member for Bowan, for his gutsy article in today's Oz challenging the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). While he well underestimates how much taxpayers are burdened by the clumsy scheme- "we pay $800million too much" -any effort to reform, reduce and remove the PBS must certainly be welcomed.In essence, the PBS is a 60 year old scheme under which any

The Paris end of Cronulla beach

2005-12-15T23:11:00.000+11:00

I am late to the piece, but for what it’s worth, here are my four cents on the Cronulla riots:The violent and random overreaction of the rioters is explainable. Lebanese gangs have been getting away with blue murder for too long. However, a cause is not a justification. Just because the violence was caused by some specific events does not justify it. Responding to violence through uncontrolled

Can tax cuts help the poor?

2005-12-09T00:42:00.000+11:00

Bruce Bartlett, in an interesting article in the Washington Times, argues that lower marginal tax rates on the very wealthy can result in them paying proportionately more taxes. For example, in the US the top tax rate has fallen from 70 per cent in 1980 to 28 per cent today. Over that time the amount of income tax paid by the top one per cent of taxpayers has risen from 19 to 34 per cent (an

Wolf, wolf!

2005-12-06T23:34:00.000+11:00

Many years ago I remember reading some outlandish claims about rising sea levels, published in one of the many environmental propaganda tracts that are force fed to primary school students. The article sat beside a photo purporting to show what Sydney would like like in 2010. The ocean was halfway up Centrepoint tower!I am not a scientist but similar outlandish claims, made by environmentalists,

An aboslute disgrace ...

2005-12-06T22:25:00.000+11:00

News has filtered through today that Sen. Campbell wants to continue the anti-competitive trade restrictions on flights between Australia and the West Coast of the USA.The current Minister for the Environment (and ex-Parliamentary Sectretary to the Treasurer) stated that "We have to think very carefully about Australia's national interests when we're trading in access to a very lucrative world

Newsflash: lower prices cause more demand!

2005-12-01T00:01:00.000+11:00

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare have just released a report on the Welfare of Australians. News Limited has already run with the AIHW claim that child care is apparently becoming less affordable. This conclusion is based solely on the fact that people are spending more of their income on child care. Yet this tells us nothing about the price of child care services, clearly the price

Happy Holidays

2005-11-30T21:38:00.000+11:00

In a farce the recalls the heavenly tabloid headlines damning Sydney Mayor Clover Moore’s rejection of Christmas decorations in the name of multiculturalism, The Drudge Report has broken a story that is sure to re-heat the tired old debate about bounds of church and state. Apparently, some time in the 1990s the US Capitol’s Christmas Tree was renamed the Holiday Tree (here). It remains a

Technological pork

2005-11-24T22:57:00.000+11:00

What is it with flash technology? Politicians seem to have an inbuilt attraction to promoting its use regardless of whether consumers are willing to pay for it. The last week has seen a flood of plans to deliver the best technology to ignorant people who refuse to pay for the latest invention.First we had the story that the UN wanted to promote the supply of wind-up laptops to third world

An objective approach to van Nguyen

2005-11-22T14:03:00.000+11:00

Just in case you haven't heard, a young Australian man is about to be hung in Singapore for drug trafficking. Tuong van Nguyen pleaded guilty and was promptly given the mandatory death penalty.Apparently, van Nguyen was trafficking in drugs to pay off a debt that his brother had incurred. Given these 'sad' circumstances, many do-gooders are now actively petitioning for clemency, demanding trade

Always follow through!

2005-11-22T11:05:00.000+11:00

I don't know quite where to put Michelle Leslie anymore. When she first came onto the scene, I wrote her off as non-issue: the washed up druggie that would Ralph Magazine would use to compete with the (and you know its coming) Schappelle issue of FHM.But then when she reformed and conveniently found Allah, I had to move her off the junkie loser list, and onto my list of heroes. Her blatantly

The real hero is game theory

2005-11-17T23:26:00.000+11:00

The Socceroos win last night was very exciting, largely due to the penalty shootout. Penalty shootouts are exiting because they are zero-sum games (one player wins, the other loses). Although zero-sum games are relatively rare in real life they are a common feature of popular 'artificial' games such as chess, rock-paper-scissors, etc.Game theory suggests that when playing a zero-sum game you

Who's marching for the unemployed?

2005-11-16T21:32:00.000+11:00

Although I have never, and probably never will, take part in a protest march, protests themselves serve a useful purpose because they can reveal the strength of people's preferences. It is always difficult to judge what people are willing to pay for public goods (be they bridges, health care, restrictive IR regulations, etc) but a protest march provides an opportunity to measure this willingness.

Dear Media Watch

2005-11-15T16:45:00.000+11:00

After watching the final episode of Media Watch for the season I am left confused as to when you deem free speech appropriate and when you do not. Last week in yet another bashing of the proposed anti-terror laws, you referenced Tony Jones’ point blank assistance of paperback icon John Pilger in promoting the deaths of Australians service men fighting in Iraq (wherein, Tony only asks the