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Keith Rankin
Political Economist, Scoop Columnist
Keith Rankin taught economics at Unitec in Mt Albert since 1999. An economic historian by training, his research has included an analysis of labour supply in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and has included estimates of New Zealand's GNP going back to the 1850s.
Keith believes that many of the economic issues that beguile us cannot be understood by relying on the orthodox interpretations of our social science disciplines. Keith favours a critical approach that emphasises new perspectives rather than simply opposing those practices and policies that we don't like.
Keith retired in 2020 and lives with his family in Glen Eden, Auckland.
Keith Rankin - Latest News [Page 1]
AI Holocaust Versus Nuclear Apocalypse
Friday, 11 September 2026, 12:55 pm | Keith Rankin
My key point is that a nuclear apocalypse would be more than a single-species suicide: it could be a murder-suicide that would destroy all life on Earth; indeed all life in the Universe if Earth is the only place with life. More >>
An MMP Election In Germany: Saxony-Anhalt 2026
Thursday, 10 September 2026, 2:54 pm | Keith Rankin
In the 1930s, the liberals failed big-time, and the population turned to the far-right for solutions. This time, it looks like the failing 'liberals' may be morphing into a new-far-right. More >>
Christopher Luxon's Uneasy Relationship With Known Knowns
Tuesday, 8 September 2026, 3:07 pm | Keith Rankin
Our present generation of political leaders seem to find the known truth – the known knowns – a source of political tension and defensiveness. More >>
Challenging the Pedlars of Austerity
Thursday, 3 September 2026, 8:25 pm | Keith Rankin
We must not let the austerity pedlars take over, unchallenged. More >>
Helpless, Hapless, And Hopeless Governments
Tuesday, 1 September 2026, 4:15 pm | Keith Rankin
The problem is being presented as a contradiction whereby the Treasury does not want higher interest rates while the Bank of England does want higher interest rates. More >>
Context: The New Zealand Residential Property Market
Monday, 31 August 2026, 4:47 pm | Keith Rankin
The real story about the 2021/22 property mini-bubble was not what started it, but what stopped it in its tracks. More >>
Is Mr Luxon Contemplating A Grand Coalition?
Tuesday, 25 August 2026, 5:03 pm | Keith Rankin
At present the grand coalition parties are behaving more like insurance companies which look for opportunities to renege on their obligations; like collectives unwilling to perform their societal function. More >>
Activities And Inactivities Of New Zealanders Aged 15-24
Friday, 21 August 2026, 2:27 pm | Keith Rankin
Some might say that, with education and training much more dominant today as measured activities, NZ is investing in its young people. But investment in people is a 'game of two halves'. NZ is only really playing the first half; formal education More >>
Employed And Unemployed Labour In New Zealand From 1986 To 2026
Tuesday, 18 August 2026, 3:44 pm | Keith Rankin
The biggest driver of increased labour supply this century has been additional work offered by people aged over 65. And the highest level of underemployment occurs at present among people aged 15-24. More >>
An Opportunity For Cautious Radicalism
Friday, 14 August 2026, 2:02 pm | Keith Rankin
The important change is conceptual; and the power of conceptual changes should never be underestimated. More >>
Did Michael Joseph Savage Fall Victim To A Posthumous Coup In 1943?
Thursday, 13 August 2026, 11:42 am | Keith Rankin
The more pertinent question today is whether Christopher Luxon will be a Geoffrey Palmer, either by being replaced or by losing to the extent in the popular vote that Palmer would have lost in 1990. More >>
The Problem For National
Tuesday, 11 August 2026, 3:46 pm | Keith Rankin
With 37 entitled seats, and all electorates retained, there would be a National overhang of six seats. More >>
Generations Of Working-Age New Zealanders
Monday, 10 August 2026, 3:31 pm | Keith Rankin
New Zealand's working-age population is in flux. Good for the international airlines which fly to Aotearoa, but potentially very difficult for the making of social policy. More >>
Hiroshima Day Reflection: An End To The Russia-Ukraine War?
Friday, 7 August 2026, 4:11 pm | Keith Rankin
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv is in a situation like Japan was in July 1945; though Kyiv may yet end up in such a situation. More >>
The State Of The New Zealand Economy: A Balance-Sheet Recession?
Thursday, 6 August 2026, 4:23 pm | Keith Rankin
Whenever circumstances or information change, parrots and too many economists are unable to make the appropriate intellectual adjustments. More >>
When Did World War Two End And The Cold War Begin?
Wednesday, 5 August 2026, 6:22 pm | Keith Rankin
Geopolitics is still largely treated as a game by its more entitled protagonists, despite all having changed for the world to see on 6 August 1945. Nuclear civilian collateral damage dates back 81 years. More >>
Pivot Point In Human History?
Friday, 31 July 2026, 3:34 pm | Keith Rankin
Cline, writing in 2021 during the Delta wave of Covid19, concurred with Harvey, only adding the overblown Covid19 pandemic into the mix. Thus 2020 was his candidate to rival 1177BC. More >>
Nuclear Oceania And Asymmetric Warfare
Wednesday, 29 July 2026, 2:18 pm | Keith Rankin
The next nuclear war will be an asymmetric war, and Iran has just written the textbook of how-to-do asymmetric war. More >>
Reckless Complacency Meaning The End Of Nuclear Deterrence
Friday, 24 July 2026, 5:06 pm | Keith Rankin
Ukraine's behaviour can only be described as 'baiting the bear', and has clearly been backed by Nato, especially the E3 nations of Germany, France and the United Kingdom. More >>
Bending The Knee
Thursday, 23 July 2026, 12:04 pm | Keith Rankin
Should New Zealand be explicitly deferential towards India? It's a real question, especially in the context of geo-economics where certain alpha-politicians demand submission. More >>
