Last year, the Treasury received the Deloitte IPANZ Public Sector Excellence Award for its revised blinded graduate recruitment programme. Under the programme, Treasury’s recruiters did not know whether their potential hires held a degree in critical theory or in economics. Read more

It’s astounding. Time seems to be repeating. Read more

We are lucky that, last year, economist Aaron Schiff provided us with an excellent collective noun for a grouping of economists. Owls, in concert, form a parliament. Read more

Paternalism is a lot less annoying when you get to be the paternalist – at home with the kids, as pater- or materfamilias. Let’s begin by acknowledging two basic facts. Read more

This seems about the worst possible month to be suggesting that anybody should try to emulate anything going on in America. The place seems to be going mad in ways no longer funny to laugh at from very far away. Read more

Dilbert creator Scott Adams likened knowing a bit of economics to having a mild superpower. High among economists’ mild superpowers is the ability to use formal mathematics to define what words mean. Read more

In a classic Simpsons episode, Homer teaches a night course on having a successful marriage. Egged on by students wanting ever more details of their private life, Homer errs on the side of pleasing the students but irritating Marge – who kicks him out of the house. Read more

Having a change in government is a bit like moving house. When you pack up the house for a move, you get to take a hard look at a lot of stuff that’s accumulated over the years – things that might have been a mistake to buy in the first place and almost certainly should have been gotten rid of ages ago. Read more

When asked whether they own their home or rent, some people with a mortgage like to joke that the bank really owns it. If you don’t make your mortgage instalment, the bank can, in the limit, take the house away. Read more

I know that people who aren’t economists manage to raise kids and that it all seems to work out in the end, but I’m not entirely sure how. I have learned that standard practice in the Crampton household diverges a bit from practice elsewhere. Read more

The two most exciting items in this year’s budget barely even made it into the budget tables. Both point toward better fiscal futures. Read more

The best thing about budgets in New Zealand is that they are just a little bit boring. Our fiscal conventions ensure big changes are telegraphed well in advance. Read more

There is a lot to be said for America’s federal structure. Fifty different states each trying different things not only lets policy better suit local preferences, but also helps researchers figure out the effects of different policies. Read more