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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 10]
Population Imbalances In A World Of Eight Billion
Thursday, 24 November 2022, 7:00 pm | Keith Rankin
Last week the world population reached eight billion people, at least according to some sources. See these world population clocks, which do not agree: refer Worldometer and the US Census Bureau . The growth rate of the world population is slowing. Indeed, ... More >>
Science, And The Benefits And Costs Of Nose-Picking
Thursday, 17 November 2022, 12:34 pm | Keith Rankin
If ... gets up your nose, picket.* This month, Radio New Zealand listeners were treated to not one but two science stories about nose-picking! They make good fodder for a discussion about the practice of science. Self-Vaccination? The first item ... More >>
The Cost-of-Living Crisis, And Inflation
Wednesday, 9 November 2022, 12:05 pm | Keith Rankin
The present cost-of-living crisis, and the present inflation, are global issues. It is just silly to discuss these, to address these, in predominantly nationalist terms. The next key point to note is that rises in the cost-of-living and inflation ... More >>
Liz Truss And Kwasi Kwarteng: What They Were Thinking
Monday, 7 November 2022, 3:45 pm | Keith Rankin
In the last three months, Elizabeth (Liz) Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng performed an amazing political boom and bust routine. They captured the British Conservative Party at a time that such a capture meant a direct route to power in the United Kingdom. ... More >>
The Coming Plight Of Aotearoan Women In Their Early Sixties
Thursday, 3 November 2022, 7:07 am | Keith Rankin
This is a story that is not confined to New Zealand women in their early 60s, but which focusses on them as a surprisingly large group facing challenging circumstances. My focus narrows even further; my emphasis here is on 'married' women, and with partners ... More >>
Does Covid19 Discriminate Against Māori And Pasifika New Zealanders?
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 10:20 am | Keith Rankin
A few weeks ago this article from Stuff (24 Sep) was drawn to my attention: The shocking stats that prove Covid19 does not kill equally . While I have some problems with the article's interpretation of the data, by and large the article itself was ... More >>
Public Health Watch: Where Does Michael Baker Get His Facts From?
Wednesday, 10 August 2022, 4:01 pm | Keith Rankin
This morning, RNZ played the following story: Health stats show 87 people have died in their homes from Covid-19 since March , which references New Zealand's most media-visible expert, Dr Michael Baker. (And this on today's Morning Report .) Before commenting More >>
Some Important But Little Known Facts About Taiwan
Friday, 5 August 2022, 3:21 pm | Keith Rankin
The nuclear clock is closer than ever (since 1962) to 'midnight'. Taiwan and Ukraine are of course the two flashpoints. It is important that the citizens of the world understand the key facts. The official name of Taiwan is the 'Republic of China'. ... More >>
Some Important But Little Known Facts About Taiwan
Friday, 5 August 2022, 3:14 pm | Keith Rankin
The nuclear clock is closer than ever (since 1962) to 'midnight'. Taiwan and Ukraine are of course the two flashpoints. It is important that the citizens of the world understand the key facts. The official name of Taiwan is the 'Republic of China'. ... More >>
Covid19 Winter Deaths: New Zealand Versus Australia
Wednesday, 3 August 2022, 10:55 am | Keith Rankin
New Zealand has had the worst reported mortality rate for Covid19 in the world for the last two weeks, according to the international data. And by a significant margin. But you wouldn't know it from the traditional media. 'Underwhelming' is an overstatement. ... More >>
Answers Please? Tribulations Of Getting A Covid19 Vaccine '2nd Booster'
Thursday, 28 July 2022, 1:34 pm | Keith Rankin
I try to write about general issues of importance, in a general – indeed global – context. This time I will write just about me. I am the same age as Phil Goff, Mayor of Auckland. And I want to be appropriately protected from Covid19. I have ... More >>
The Economic Cost Of War, Especially World War
Friday, 22 July 2022, 2:59 pm | Keith Rankin
All wars incur economic costs, and not only to the directly belligerent countries. The biggest costs arise when a war becomes a prolonged stalemate. The present war in Ukraine can be characterised, differently, as a Russian Civil War (that's the ... More >>
Latest Covid19 Death Demographics In New Zealand
Monday, 18 July 2022, 2:41 pm | Keith Rankin
This morning, on Morning Report (RNZ) Monash University epidemiologist Tony Blakely noted that Covid19 death rates in New Zealand are 20% higher in New Zealand than in Victoria, Australia. He also noted that facemask use is significantly more widespread ... More >>
Science Versus Narrative: Facemasks And Other Scientific Matters
Friday, 15 July 2022, 1:12 pm | Keith Rankin
A scientific hypothesis is a claim that is both plausible and 'empirically' testable. A hypothesis is the first part of the process of pure science. The second part is to actually test such claims. Claims that survive the rigour of testing become scientific ... More >>
Facemasks And Covid19 Mortality In 2021 And 2022, In Asia And Europe
Thursday, 14 July 2022, 9:58 am | Keith Rankin
Professor Michael Baker: "Societies who are using masks are doing very well, like South Korea, Japan. … And when we look at the countries which are succeeding, they are mask-using societies." From COVID-19: Epidemiologist Michael Baker ... More >>
Covid Vaccine Policy Fail: Priority Groups Under-protected
Wednesday, 13 July 2022, 1:35 pm | Keith Rankin
Keith Rankin, 13 July 2022 Kathryn Ryan: "Why is there a six-month gap between boosters?" Siouxsie Wiles: "I can't answer that for you. It doesn't make sense based on the data that we have. … In Israel they got it at least ... More >>
Narrow Vision: Subsidised Cars And Street Immunity
Friday, 27 May 2022, 12:31 pm | Keith Rankin
Problems make the world go round . Many of us – maybe the majority of workers, and certainly the majority of well-paid workers – earn our living addressing problems. A problem-free world would represent a major crisis for modern social-capitalism. ... More >>
Liberal Democracy In The New Neonationalist Era: The Three 'O's
Friday, 13 May 2022, 1:37 pm | Keith Rankin
Modern 'western' governments are known as 'liberal democracies'. While each political party in a liberal democracy has a 'policy agenda' which it would like to implement, only single-party governments have a realistic opportunity to fully implement their ... More >>
Problem Of Price Increases: 'Cost Of Living' Versus 'Inflation'
Thursday, 21 April 2022, 10:10 am | Keith Rankin
The new (though not unfamiliar to older New Zealanders) crisis of 2022 (and most likely beyond) has become, alternatively, a 'cost of living' or an 'inflation' crisis. The public discussion treats these two 'enemies of the people' as one and the same ... More >>
Global Warming: Considering The Lesser Evils
Thursday, 7 April 2022, 2:16 pm | Keith Rankin
Earlier this week the final report from the IPCC ( press release ) on climate change was released. While it indicates that it is still technically possible to limit global warming to 1½ degrees; such an outcome is both unlikely and may require more than ... More >>
