Entries by Matt Nolan

Efficiency, equity, and tax

From Kiwiblog we hear the following statements from Bill English: Low-income earners would have to be compensated if GST was increased as a result of the current tax review, Finance Minister Bill English says. … “We don’t want to go down the route of raising taxes,” he said. “The Government has a strong preference not […]

The best reason for blogging

A short post by Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution lays down what I think is the most important element of economics blogging. People who learn economics through the blogosphere also receive feedback, especially if they sample dialogue across a number of blogs of differing perspectives.  The feedback comes from which arguments other people found convincing.  […]

Multipliers and New Zealand

In an interesting piece on Vox, Ethan Ilzetzki, Enrique G. Mendoza, and Carlos A. Vegh discuss their estimates of fiscal multipliers, and some of the reasons they differ between countries.  As multipliers are often used to justify the government spending during a recession, it would be useful to note down how their results related to […]