Taxes on the rich clearly aren’t too high

There are lots of countries in the world that are tax havens. They are short of skilled labour. Anyone earning enough to pay higher-rate tax in a Western country has a skillset that would easily land them a job doing something similar in a tax haven. Instead, they've chosen to live where they do. Definitionally, … Continue reading Taxes on the rich clearly aren’t too high

Waratah trains: why the NSW government isn’t at fault

The suggestion that the NSW government had done nothing wrong would normally seem unlikely, irrespective of context. Even more so when the context is a $2.6bn capital investment project that’s at risk of collapsing, requiring a massive government bailout, or both. However, the funding shortfall threatening the public-private partnership (PPP) to build 78 new Waratah … Continue reading Waratah trains: why the NSW government isn’t at fault

World leader? Not even close

Matt Yglesias, who used to be a liberal US commentator but seems to have turned into a neo-liberal US commentator, has a very odd piece on retailing, in which he argues that being awesome at retailing is the US's major skill, which will one day benefit poor benighted foreigners: We’re the world leaders in retail … Continue reading World leader? Not even close

Crooked Timber comments deliver, again

From a post on the correlation between studying engineering and becoming a violent extremist, commenter Tom Bach: Hitler was notoriously lazy and profoundly ignorant; in large measure because he never studied anything and read less. He enjoyed rambling monologues filled with made up facts. Commenter Stuart: It sounds as if Hitler had been born a … Continue reading Crooked Timber comments deliver, again

As if he’d know

Rupert Murdoch to the FTC: Technology makes it cheap and easy to distribute news for anyone with Internet access, but producing journalism is expensive. True. Phones don't just illegally tap themselves, and making police investigations magically disappear is also an expensive business... However, his implied public service argument falls down on an obvious point: none … Continue reading As if he’d know

What I’ve been up to, week ending 2010-09-05

RT @legaleagleMHM Just opened wheelie bin and a WASP flew out. Who on earth would have put a wasp in a wheelie bin; what's world coming to? # Thing which perplexes me about this TBL piece: how the hell did they find anywhere in Aus that even serves hot curry? http://bit.ly/aGAFvV # I mean, if … Continue reading What I’ve been up to, week ending 2010-09-05