Author Archives: Mark

Suddenly Everything Is Clear

From the deep thinkers at NBCNews.com: Investment experts often judge whether stocks are cheap or expensive by comparing the prices to how much money the companies are earning. Really??!!

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Some Things I’ve Been Reading…

The Cliff Hangs on the Fed: Why Ben Bernanke Controls the Economy’s Fate Ramesh Ponnuru and David Beckworth, The Atlantic, December 12 2012 The authors argue that regardless of any contraction associated with the ‘fiscal cliff’ the Federal Reserve has … Continue reading

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Geithner: No Agreement without Clinton Tax Rates on Wealthy

Tim Geithner wants tax rates to go back to what they were under Bill Clinton, because it was “a time when the American economy was doing exceptionally well.” Ok, but if his argument is that those rates were good for … Continue reading

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John Heilemann: “News products that feed our own biases”

Insightful comment on Morning Joe this morning – Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Manukau and Mogadishu

I was struck by the following sentences from two different articles in today’s NZ Herald. First this – “There was a lot of disorder and domestic incidents across the district – more than usual for a Friday night. There was … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Society | Leave a comment

Good Ol’ Kiwi Optimism

It is remarkable that on a day when major news outlets publish articles with the following headlines: Bloomberg: “Euro Era is Coming to an End” Financial Times: “Thinking the unthinkable on a euro breakup“ Financial Times (again): “The eurozone really … Continue reading

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Friedman on Why America Is Falling Behind

Some interesting insights here from Tom Friedman on NBC’s Meet The Press:

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Kristof Admires the Military as a Model for Providing Social Services

Nicholas Kristof in the NY Times this morning writes approvingly of the US military as a model for the way society should take care of people. A few key extracts… The United States armed forces knit together whites, blacks, Asians … Continue reading

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Are We Really Just Animals?

The NZ ACT Party’s Hillary Calvert generated some controversy last week during a discussion about battery hen cages. From TVNZ – We care about people ahead of silly little chickens,” Calvert said. Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE) says the comments … Continue reading

Posted in Ethics, New Zealand, Politics | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Where You May And May Not Take Your Vacation

The Australian Tourism Minister, Martin Ferguson, is quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that Australians saving vacation time for overseas trips is a “disgrace” and that “We’ve got to change our own mindset [and get people to realise … Continue reading

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