Family income decile
|
Coalition proposal
|
ALP proposal (excl [...]
Number of comments: 40 Well, Labor’s tax advisers have certainly had a busy week. I don’t have any inside knowledge, but from the quality of the graphics accompanying their tax policy, my guess is that they’ve just jettisoned a carefully-crafted tax policy in order to adopt John Howard’s. I almost want to say [...]
Number of comments: 2 Ian McAllister (whose office is almost directly above mine) has put together a very readable compilation of trends in the Australian Election Study. Coauthored with Juliet Clark, it looks at topics ranging from trust to partisanship, party leaders to political issues. In some cases, he has comparable data going all the way [...]
Number of comments: 6 In a sole-authored paper, David Galenson thinks he has some ideas…
Co-Authoring Advanced Art
The joint production of paintings by more than one artist was not uncommon in the past: a number of Old Masters had assistants do much of the work on their paintings, executing images that had been [...]
Number of comments: 4 With the politics of capital punishment in the news lately, I thought I’d blog on three interesting pieces of work that have crossed my desk.
Realists: In new ARC-funded (but not endorsed!) research, Sinclair Davidson and Tim Fry analyse the Australian Election Study, and show a strong correlation between rating [...]
Number of comments: 3 I’m embarassed to say that this morning, I nearly fell for a scam-email purporting to be from the Australian Taxation Office, and offering a tax return of “270$”. I console myself with the thought that this is basically what I’ve been proposing the ATO ought to do.
[...]
Number of comments: 7 According to Peter Hartcher, markets currently put a 50% probability on the RBA raising rates at its 6 Nov meeting. And not surprisingly, many commentators are predicting that the Coalition’s tax cut package will increase that probability; though the effect of tax cuts starting on 1 July 2008 and [...]
Number of comments: 21 The first announcement of the federal election is out, and it’s a juicy big package of tax cuts from the Coalition. My guess is that much of the commentary will focus on the inflationary impact of the cuts when the RBA board meets 6 Nov, but to me that’s [...]
Number of comments: 3 I’m presenting a seminar at the University of Sydney tomorrow afternoon. It’s looking at a specific aspect of election betting markets - whether they seem to suffer from the same favourite-longshot bias seen in horserace betting markets (the expected payout from a day at the races is always negative, but [...]
Number of comments: 1 As anyone who’s been watching Sportingbet’s election date betting market has known for the last few days, we’re on for Nov 24. Peter Hartcher gives a taste of what’s in store from the Coalition.
So how does he expect to reverse Labor’s crushing 14 percentage-point lead in the two-party share of the [...]
Number of comments: 3 With today rumoured to be the day the federal election is called, here are the implied probabilities for each of the 150 federal electorates, derived from odds posted on the Portlandbet site (thanks to NL for collating them, and denoting incumbency).
|
Electorate
|
Incumbent
|
Labor
|
Lib/Nat
|
Other
|
|
Adelaide
|
Labor
|
81%
|
18%
|
1%
|
|
Aston
|
Coalition
|
8%
|
90%
|
2%
|
|
Ballarat
|
Labor
|
79%
|
20%
|
1%
|
|
Banks
|
Labor
|
88%
|
11%
|
1%
|
|
Barker
|
Coalition
|
4%
|
90%
|
5%
|
|
Barton
|
Labor
|
88%
|
8%
|
4%
|
|
Bass
|
Coalition
|
73%
|
25%
|
2%
|
|
Batman
|
Labor
|
90%
|
7%
|
3%
|
|
Bendigo
|
Labor
|
84%
|
15%
|
1%
|
|
Bennelong
|
Coalition
|
43%
|
56%
|
1%
|
|
Berowra
|
Coalition
|
6%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Blair
|
Coalition
|
67%
|
32%
|
1%
|
|
Blaxland
|
Labor
|
91%
|
6%
|
3%
|
|
Bonner
|
Coalition
|
83%
|
17%
|
1%
|
|
Boothby
|
Coalition
|
29%
|
71%
|
1%
|
|
Bowman
|
Coalition
|
46%
|
53%
|
1%
|
|
Braddon
|
Coalition
|
73%
|
26%
|
1%
|
|
Bradfield
|
Coalition
|
5%
|
91%
|
4%
|
|
Brand
|
Labor
|
79%
|
20%
|
1%
|
|
Brisbane
|
Labor
|
84%
|
15%
|
1%
|
|
Bruce
|
Labor
|
87%
|
12%
|
1%
|
|
Calare
|
Coalition
|
8%
|
72%
|
19%
|
|
Calwell
|
Labor
|
90%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Canberra
|
Labor
|
91%
|
7%
|
2%
|
|
Canning
|
Coalition
|
44%
|
55%
|
1%
|
|
Capricornia
|
Labor
|
86%
|
11%
|
3%
|
|
Casey
|
Coalition
|
19%
|
80%
|
1%
|
|
Charlton
|
Labor
|
91%
|
8%
|
1%
|
|
Chifley
|
Labor
|
91%
|
6%
|
3%
|
|
Chisholm
|
Labor
|
87%
|
12%
|
1%
|
|
Cook
|
Coalition
|
17%
|
83%
|
1%
|
|
Corangamite
|
Coalition
|
42%
|
57%
|
1%
|
|
Corio
|
Labor
|
87%
|
4%
|
9%
|
|
Cowan
|
Labor
|
61%
|
38%
|
1%
|
|
Cowper
|
Coalition
|
26%
|
73%
|
1%
|
|
Cunningham
|
Labor
|
90%
|
3%
|
7%
|
|
Curtin
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Dawson
|
Coalition
|
30%
|
69%
|
1%
|
|
Deakin
|
Coalition
|
51%
|
48%
|
1%
|
|
Denison
|
Labor
|
90%
|
6%
|
4%
|
|
Dickson
|
Coalition
|
37%
|
63%
|
1%
|
|
Dobell
|
Coalition
|
66%
|
34%
|
1%
|
|
Dunkley
|
Coalition
|
25%
|
74%
|
1%
|
|
Eden-Monaro
|
Coalition
|
67%
|
32%
|
1%
|
|
Fadden
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Fairfax
|
Coalition
|
13%
|
85%
|
2%
|
|
Farrer
|
Coalition
|
5%
|
91%
|
4%
|
|
Fisher
|
Coalition
|
10%
|
87%
|
3%
|
|
Flinders
|
Coalition
|
10%
|
87%
|
3%
|
|
Flynn
|
Coalition
|
37%
|
60%
|
3%
|
|
Forde
|
Coalition
|
28%
|
71%
|
1%
|
|
Forrest
|
Coalition
|
4%
|
72%
|
24%
|
|
Fowler
|
Labor
|
90%
|
5%
|
4%
|
|
Franklin
|
Labor
|
82%
|
15%
|
3%
|
|
Fraser
|
Labor
|
91%
|
6%
|
3%
|
|
Fremantle
|
Labor
|
90%
|
8%
|
2%
|
|
Gellibrand
|
Labor
|
90%
|
5%
|
5%
|
|
Gilmore
|
Coalition
|
25%
|
74%
|
1%
|
|
Gippsland
|
Coalition
|
20%
|
79%
|
1%
|
|
Goldstein
|
Coalition
|
12%
|
87%
|
1%
|
|
Gorton
|
Labor
|
90%
|
5%
|
5%
|
|
Grayndler
|
Labor
|
90%
|
3%
|
7%
|
|
Greenway
|
Coalition
|
32%
|
67%
|
1%
|
|
Grey
|
Coalition
|
20%
|
79%
|
1%
|
|
Griffith
|
Labor
|
90%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Groom
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Hasluck
|
Coalition
|
58%
|
41%
|
1%
|
|
Herbert
|
Coalition
|
51%
|
48%
|
1%
|
|
Higgins
|
Coalition
|
18%
|
81%
|
1%
|
|
Hindmarsh
|
Labor
|
84%
|
15%
|
1%
|
|
Hinkler
|
Coalition
|
39%
|
60%
|
1%
|
|
Holt
|
Labor
|
80%
|
20%
|
1%
|
|
Hotham
|
Labor
|
90%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Hughes
|
Coalition
|
36%
|
63%
|
1%
|
|
Hume
|
Coalition
|
8%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Hunter
|
Labor
|
90%
|
7%
|
3%
|
|
Indi
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Isaacs
|
Labor
|
80%
|
19%
|
1%
|
|
Jagajaga
|
Labor
|
88%
|
9%
|
3%
|
|
Kalgoorlie
|
Coalition
|
34%
|
65%
|
1%
|
|
Kennedy
|
Coalition
|
5%
|
5%
|
90%
|
|
Kingsford Smith
|
Labor
|
90%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Kingston
|
Coalition
|
84%
|
15%
|
1%
|
|
Kooyong
|
Coalition
|
9%
|
90%
|
1%
|
|
La Trobe
|
Coalition
|
50%
|
49%
|
1%
|
|
Lalor
|
Labor
|
90%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Leichhardt
|
Coalition
|
42%
|
57%
|
1%
|
|
Lilley
|
Labor
|
85%
|
12%
|
3%
|
|
Lindsay
|
Coalition
|
81%
|
18%
|
1%
|
|
Lingiari
|
Labor
|
88%
|
9%
|
3%
|
|
Longman
|
Coalition
|
46%
|
53%
|
1%
|
|
Lowe
|
Labor
|
82%
|
16%
|
1%
|
|
Lyne
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Lyons
|
Labor
|
81%
|
9%
|
10%
|
|
Macarthur
|
Coalition
|
34%
|
65%
|
1%
|
|
Mackellar
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Macquarie
|
Coalition
|
81%
|
18%
|
1%
|
|
Makin
|
Coalition
|
72%
|
27%
|
1%
|
|
Mallee
|
Coalition
|
6%
|
91%
|
3%
|
|
Maranoa
|
Coalition
|
6%
|
91%
|
3%
|
|
Maribyrnong
|
Labor
|
90%
|
7%
|
3%
|
|
Mayo
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
McEwen
|
Coalition
|
39%
|
60%
|
1%
|
|
McMillan
|
Coalition
|
45%
|
54%
|
1%
|
|
McPherson
|
Coalition
|
18%
|
81%
|
1%
|
|
Melbourne
|
Labor
|
91%
|
3%
|
6%
|
|
Melbourne Ports
|
Labor
|
85%
|
9%
|
6%
|
|
Menzies
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Mitchell
|
Coalition
|
5%
|
90%
|
4%
|
|
Moncrieff
|
Coalition
|
6%
|
91%
|
3%
|
|
Moore
|
Coalition
|
9%
|
88%
|
3%
|
|
Moreton
|
Coalition
|
81%
|
18%
|
1%
|
|
Murray
|
Coalition
|
6%
|
91%
|
3%
|
|
New England
|
Coalition
|
3%
|
7%
|
90%
|
|
Newcastle
|
Labor
|
90%
|
7%
|
3%
|
|
North Sydney
|
Coalition
|
18%
|
81%
|
1%
|
|
OConnor
|
Coalition
|
6%
|
91%
|
3%
|
|
Oxley
|
Labor
|
89%
|
8%
|
4%
|
|
Page
|
Coalition
|
48%
|
51%
|
1%
|
|
Parkes
|
Coalition
|
5%
|
86%
|
8%
|
|
Parramatta
|
Labor
|
80%
|
20%
|
1%
|
|
Paterson
|
Coalition
|
39%
|
60%
|
1%
|
|
Pearce
|
Coalition
|
9%
|
88%
|
3%
|
|
Perth
|
Labor
|
90%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Petrie
|
Coalition
|
37%
|
62%
|
1%
|
|
Port Adelaide
|
Labor
|
91%
|
6%
|
3%
|
|
Prospect
|
Labor
|
89%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Rankin
|
Labor
|
84%
|
15%
|
1%
|
|
Reid
|
Labor
|
90%
|
7%
|
3%
|
|
Richmond
|
Labor
|
84%
|
15%
|
1%
|
|
Riverina
|
Coalition
|
7%
|
90%
|
3%
|
|
Robertson
|
Coalition
|
39%
|
59%
|
1%
|
|
Ryan
|
Coalition
|
29%
|
70%
|
1%
|
|
Scullin
|
Labor
|
91%
|
6%
|
3%
|
|
Shortland
|
Labor
|
90%
|
7%
|
3%
|
|
Solomon
|
Coalition
|
64%
|
35%
|
1%
|
|
Stirling
|
Coalition
|
52%
|
47%
|
1%
|
|
Sturt
|
Coalition
|
41%
|
58%
|
1%
|
|
Swan
|
Labor
|
60%
|
39%
|
1%
|
|
Sydney
|
Labor
|
89%
|
3%
|
8%
|
|
Tangney
|
Coalition
|
9%
|
89%
|
2%
|
|
Throsby
|
Labor
|
91%
|
5%
|
4%
|
|
Wakefield
|
Coalition
|
74%
|
25%
|
1%
|
|
Wannon
|
Coalition
|
8%
|
89%
|
3%
|
|
Warringah
|
Coalition
|
9%
|
89%
|
2%
|
|
Watson
|
Labor
|
91%
|
6%
|
3%
|
|
Wentworth
|
Coalition
|
41%
|
58%
|
1%
|
|
Werriwa
|
Labor
|
89%
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
Wide Bay
|
Coalition
|
14%
|
85%
|
1%
|
|
Wills
|
Labor
|
91%
|
6%
|
3%
|
[...]
Posted: October 13, 2007, 6:45pm EDT
Number of comments: 5 Surfing past LSE economist Tim Besley’s website, I came across a rather neat paper on the cost of UK MPs, which some enterprising political scientist could easily replicate for Australia.
Working or Shirking? A Closer Look at MPs’ Expenses and Parliamentary Attendance
Timothy Besley and Valentino Larcinese
This paper studies [...]
My former econ masters student Kirsten Storry is standing down from her position as indigenous policy researcher at the Centre for Independent Studies to take up a job in a Sydney law firm. It’s good for the law, but a pity for the issue, since Kirsten is an evidence-driven researcher [...]
Number of comments: 1 Ed Glaeser, who is always worth reading, writes a feisty fact-filled review of Krugman’s recent pro-Democrat book. He begins:
Human knowledge is produced by intellectual combat that exposes weak premises and faulty conclusions to withering challenge. We are often improved more by our ideological enemies than by our friends, because [...]
Number of comments: 4 It’s always good to see reasoned debate in our nation’s broadsheets. And then there’s articles like this one, by political scientist John Keane.
Our world is more complex than a novel, but Seeing should open our eyes to the rise of organised opposition to democracy in the early years of [...]
Middle-aged and feeling glum? Don’t worry, you’re just like most people in developed countries. And when you get older, you’ll be as happy as when you were a young ‘un.
Is Well-Being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?
David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald
We explore the idea that happiness [...]
Number of comments: 4 My friend Macgregor points me to this extraordinarily moving article by Christopher Hitchens. If you’re as lachrymose as me, I don’t recommend reading it at work.
[...]
Number of comments: 11 I somehow managed to miss this very interesting piece by Simon Jackman in the Bulletin, showing that there’s a systematic bias in the Australian electoral system against Labor, such that they typically need 51-52% of the two-party vote to win government.
Simon only slightly alludes to this, but naturally, one [...]
Number of comments: 1 My group - the Economics Program in the Research School of Social Sciences at ANU - is advertising for a junior economist (academic levels B/C/D) to do “close to full-time research”. The position description is over the fold. As academic jobs go, I think it’s a pretty attractive one. If [...]
Number of comments: 12 A friend of mine who lives in Sydney is looking to do postgraduate studies in economics. Does anyone have advice for him? Here’s his dilemma.
I was hoping that you may be able to give me some advice on options for part-time post graduate study (or point me to someone else who would [...]
Number of comments: 29 I’ve been meaning to write a post about Kevin Andrews’ recent decision to reduce the share of refugees coming to Australia from Africa (and, conversely, to increase the share of non-African refugees, since the total intake is staying constant). In general, it seems reasonable to me that our decision on [...]
Number of comments: 4 My co-author Tim Smeeding draws my attention to some fascinating new research. In 1988, three-quarters of Americans thought that their society was not one of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. Now, half of them think it does fit that description.

More details here.
[...]
I’m presenting a seminar at the University of Melbourne next Tuesday (October 9), on the topic “Are Weekend Births More Dangerous?”. As with the last ANU seminar on this topic, it’ll be on a “please do not quote or cite” basis (apologies). The seminar will run from 12-1pm, and will [...]
Number of comments: 3 The SMH today presents the results of “the latest six-month average of the Herald/Nielsen Poll”. With a sample size of 8115 voters, it’s certainly likely to be more precise than each of the individual polls that comprise it (though the commentary assumes that the poll is afflicted only by [...]
Number of comments: 4 I just returned from two weeks in Europe, working with co-authors in London and attending a conference on inequality in Seville. At the end of the journey, we flew into Brisbane to spend some time with family. After those fusty Europeans with their formal grammar, it was nice to come [...]
Number of comments: 8 I have an oped in the Australian Financial Review today, discussing the upsurge of randomised trials in development economics, and linking it to Indigenous policy in Australia. It was written under somewhat unusual circumstances. I’ve spent the past few days on a family holiday in Lamington National Park, near the NSW/Qld [...]
Number of comments: 2 My frequent coauthor Joshua Gans has received an award for the best young economist in Australia. Last December, Joshua noted that he had just published his 100th paper. Given that the Economic Society award only goes to those aged under 40, this means that Joshua has published an [...]
Number of comments: 1 For the last decade or two, ANU and the University of Western Australia have been running a conference for PhD students. As well as being a chance for final-year PhD students to present their work, it’s the closest thing that we have to a job market for Australian PhD students. [...]
Number of comments: 3
- I am, apparently, one of the 100 blogs that every professional investor should read.
- From Dani Rodrik’s blog, I discover that among his list of 106 economist blogs, mine ranks 52nd. And within that group, I’m apparently 44th in terms of paper citations. Admittedly, I would be a little more flattered if [...]
Number of comments: 2 I’d been worried that spending the past two weeks out of Australia would mean missing a thrilling few opening weeks of the election campaign. But as far as I can tell from reading the news online, it’s been about the slowest period for domestic news in ages. In fact, have [...]
Number of comments: 17 Kirsten Storry has a terrific oped in the Newcastle Herald (republished in Online Opinion). It concludes with her three-point wishlist regarding test scores:
If the Australian Government or Opposition want to score a few points with information-starved parents in their election campaign, here are my top three.
First, test all students [...]
Number of comments: 3 For anyone researching or teaching in the field of behavioural economics, Stefano DellaVigna has written the nicest summary paper of the literature that I’ve yet seen.
[...]
Number of comments: 2 In the theme of economic imperialism, David Uren alerts me to this new paper from boundary-pushing Swiss economist Bruno Frey. The current draft is a bit terse (it probably needs to be 2-3 times as long to make its points fully), but tis still a fun idea.
Why Kill Politicians? A [...]
The Economics Program in the Research School of Social Sciences is offering a handful of scholarships for research-inclined Honours and Masters students to attend forthcoming economics conferences at the Australian National University (we’ve called them “A Taste of ANU Economics”).
The application process is very simple - we just need grades [...]
Number of comments: 4 The Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development program is looking for economists. Details over the fold.
In terms of world social welfare, there’s probably no better place for young economists to be devoting their energies than international development, so if you’re open to the possibility of living in a developing country for [...]
Number of comments: 1 Another terrific paper from Steven Levitt - this one coauthored with Roland Fryer, one of America’s top young economists. They’ve turned their attention to the economics of the KKK.
Hatred and Profits: Getting Under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan
Roland G. Fryer, Jr, Steven D. Levitt
The Ku Klux [...]
Number of comments: 8 In the latest issue of Reason Magazine, economist Deirdre McCloskey has a beautifully-penned article about Galbraith, Schumpeter, economics and rhetoric. Definitely worth a read, particularly the parts about Galbraith’s zingers and Schumpeter’s three great ambitions.
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Number of comments: 5 A casual comment in an email from my coauthor Christine Neill made me realise that I’d forgotten to blog on this - very cool - paper. My favourite summary statistic is that 9% of US Congressional representatives have close relatives who also served in Congress.
Political Dynasties
Ernesto Dal Bó, Pedro Dal [...]
Number of comments: 11 The New York Times, a newspaper that some of us rather like, has just announced that it’s bringing down its paywall. As the article states:
In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, [...]
Number of comments: 13 Andrew Norton today posts on the impact of delaying the start of university by a year. As he points out, we don’t have very good evidence on the causal impact, but it looks like taking a gap year may lead to better grades at university.
So if we believe the [...]
Number of comments: 18 Chris Hitchens and Richard Dawkins may not like it, but the findings from a new paper on the impact of a religious childhood sound pretty reasonable to me.
The Role of Religious and Social Organizations in the Lives of Disadvantaged Youth
Rajeev Dehejia, Thomas DeLeire, Erzo F.P. Luttmer & Joshua [...]
Number of comments: 13 I’m flying to the UK today, and may not be posting for a few days. So consider this an open thread, to discuss any issues of economics, politics or pop culture that take your fancy.
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Number of comments: 5 Gweneth today took Sebastian along to the Democrats and Greens’ launch of their paid maternity leave policy.* Turned out there were only a handful of babies in the room. While the other babies were featured on various news outlets, Sebastian took star billing on Ten News, as he reached out [...]
Number of comments: 2 Must get out of the habit of watching Today Tonight with a laptop.
Their reporter (in a very serious voice): The trouble is, no-one knows how many people are working three or more jobs.
Me: Really? Surely we could look at the 2005 wave of the HILDA survey. Here we go, variable [...]
Number of comments: 12 In my AFR piece today, I make a new case for following betting markets instead of polls - they’re more boring, so they leave more room for talking about ideas.
“Forget the Polls, Ask the Hard Questions”, Australian Financial Review, 13 September 2007
There are three ways to report on an election: [...]
Number of comments: 7 I’ve been thinking recently about the different ways that bloggers respond to ideas they disagree with. What’s prompted the cogitation is two experiences with fellow bloggers over the past month.
Number of comments: 5 My college at ANU has started a thing called “Controversy Corner”. The first contribution made some rather unflattering comments about the Research School of Social Sciences, in which I’m located. I’m rather proud of RSSS, so it seemed a good chance to write a few paragraphs on what makes it [...]
Each day for the last three years, I’ve been spending a minute ‘clearing out the trash’ by deleting spam comments that get past my Akismet spam filter. The filter catches about a thousand a day, but a handful typically get past it.
In an effort to cut down on this, I’ve now [...]
Number of comments: 4 Regular commenter Sinclair Davidson just emailed to tell me that the reports of Cabinet infighting seems to have been had a big effect on the betting markets. For example, Portlandbet last week had John Howard a 39% chance to lose Bennelong. The latest odds have him a 47% [...]
Number of comments: 1 First, it was Bracks in Victoria handing over to Brumby. Now in Queensland, Beattie has given the reins to Bligh. I’ve only met Beattie once, but he struck me as somehow a characteristic Queenslander - straight-talking, enthusiastic, and decent. We were chatting just before he gave an after dinner [...]
My colleague Jack Pezzey, at the Fenner School of Economics and Society, is advertising generous PhD scholarships in environmental economics, and also looking for a post-doc to work on the economics of greenhouse gas control.
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Number of comments: 4 Knowing which companies are doing dodgy deals has always been the stuff of thriller movies. Now, Stefano DellaVigna and Eliana La Ferrara think they’ve come up with an economists’ trick - if you want to know who’s selling weapons to the bad guys, why not see which companies’ stock prices drop [...]
Number of comments: 2 According to a press release, Sportingbet has temporarily suspended betting on the election date, following rumours that the election might be called today. Before closing off the market, its latest odds were:
October 20th 5.00
October 27th 3.75
November 3rd 6.50
November 10th 3.75
November 17th 5.50
November 24th 7.50 [...]
Number of comments: 3 For any political tragics who are mildly curious as to precisely what books Kevin Rudd bought George Bush yesterday, an insider tells me that they were:
Number of comments: 29 There are many things I love about the US media. When it comes to newspapers, theirs are unquestionably the best in the world - led by the New York Times, and followed at some distance by the WSJ, WaPo, LA Times, and others. Moving back to Australia after living in [...]
Number of comments: 9 I just received a copy of the report from the Australian Davos Connection’s 2007 Future Summit. As well as serious-looking photos of prominent Australian bloggers, it contained a neat quote from an Australian expatriate - Harvard Business School Professor Jonathan West.
When you enrol at Harvard College as an undergraduate… the [...]
Number of comments: 1 More neat articles on the economics of the media keep appearing. This one is from the May 2007 issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics:
News Droughts, News Floods, and U.S. Disaster Relief
Thomas Eisensee & David Strömberg
This paper studies the influence of mass media on U.S. government response to [...]
Number of comments: 10 Dan Andrews and I have a short paper out on the relationship between inequality and intergenerational mobility (aka social mobility). By contrast with the view that inequality is offset by more income mobility across generations, it turns out that in more unequal countries it is actually harder to move from [...]
Number of comments: 14 With all the anti-APEC protests taking place in Sydney this week, it’s a pity that there isn’t something to give a bit of balance. After all, one of APEC’s greatest achievements is to get all developed members to commit to free trade by 2010, and developing members to commit to [...]
Number of comments: 7 For over a generation, social scientists have discussed the ‘Easterlin Paradox’. One version of this is the commonly-held notion that above a certain threshold, GDP is uncorrelated with happiness.
This turns out to be wrong.
Income, Aging, Health and Wellbeing Around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll
Angus Deaton
During 2006, the [...]
Number of comments: 6 Over the past few months, Bryan Palmer and I have been debating the merits of using aggregate-level data to learn about individual-level behaviour. He’s been gracious enough to post a comment of mine on his recent tabulations.
Bryan also has his regular betting markets roundup, which I ought to [...]
Number of comments: 2 We’ve just finished watching the first season of Torchwood on DVD, which is kinda cheating, since TV viewers are only up to Episode 10. As Dr Who fans, we were suckers for the series from the outset, but I was also struck by the strong guiding philosophy that went through [...]
On 28 September, QUT lecturer Peter Black will be holding an Australian Blogging Conference in Brisbane. Registration is free. Details here. As Peter describes it:
This will not be a conference in the traditional sense. It will be relatively informal. Instead of lengthy presentations, people will be invited lead [...]
Number of comments: 3 I’ve written before about the way in which research on the benefits of targeted high-impact early childhood intervention has been used to justify low-impact universal programs. Fortunately, it seems I’m not the only one who’s worried about this. From the Wall Street Journal blog, via New Economist:
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Number of comments: 28 The BCA has a report out today on education, which seems to have received blanket coverage in the AFR. I think it’s splendid to have more people throwing ideas into the policy mix, and the report is appropriately cautious/modest about what it’s contributing to the policy mix.
My favourite parts [...]
Number of comments: 4 For anyone curious about the kind of research that Australasian labour economists are doing, some of the papers and discussions from the recent Australasian Labour Econometrics Workshop in Wellington can be found here.
There’s only a dozen papers, but I’d be curious as to people’s views about the questions we’ve chosen [...]
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