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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 13]
The Seventy-Thirty Problem, And The Māori Health Authority
Friday, 21 May 2021, 4:27 pm | Keith Rankin
When policymakers try to fix things, they often mess up because of the way the problem is formulated and the ways that subsequent policies are targeted. A classic example was the Closing the Gaps initiative in the early 2000s. The problem – albeit simplified ... More >>
The New Zealand Government’s 'Public Finance Rabbithole'
Wednesday, 12 May 2021, 11:50 am | Keith Rankin
Last week, out of left field, the government placed a three-year embargo on normal public sector wage bargaining, essentially a salary freeze. While there has been a certain amount of backtracking since, it is clear that the government has been ... More >>
Calling Out China
Tuesday, 4 May 2021, 2:33 pm | Keith Rankin
Keith Rankin, 29 April 2021 We humans seem to have a need to coalesce into tribes, and we do this by identifying – and sometimes demonising, or holding in condescension – others who are not us. We also like to anthropomorphise, treating ... More >>
Money, Housing, And King Canute
Thursday, 22 April 2021, 4:07 pm | Keith Rankin
Stories last week from Radio New Zealand: Expert analysis: low interest rates vs soaring house prices , Nine to Noon , 15 April 2021. And refer to: Arthur Grimes: How to fix a broken Auckland? Add 150,000 homes to crash prices by 40% ; The Spinoff, ... More >>
Covid-19 And The Common Cold
Thursday, 8 April 2021, 9:03 am | Keith Rankin
Is the worst of Covid-19 yet to come? The most recent wave of Covid19 is, I suspect, much more significant than the headlines so far would suggest. This phase started in Europe, has been very evident in South America, and is now apparent in Asia (eg ... More >>
Solving The Housing Crisis: Making Homes
Tuesday, 30 March 2021, 10:11 am | Keith Rankin
Getting the Language Correct Aotearoa New Zealand has a housing problem; a very big housing problem, and a problem not unique to New Zealand. While political leaders and privileged commentators do acknowledge the problem, the discussion remains befuddled, ... More >>
Homo Stupidus?
Tuesday, 23 March 2021, 1:30 pm | Keith Rankin
"If the nations of the world fail to honour the pledges they made in Paris, the climate could return to Pliocene conditions when okapi-like creatures and giant vipers thrived in Europe. … Ernst Haeckel's name for our Neanderthal ancestors, ... More >>
Apophenia
Tuesday, 16 March 2021, 11:12 am | Keith Rankin
"What psychologists call apophenia – the human tendency to see connections and patterns that are not really there – gives rise to conspiracy theories". https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apophenia The Gordon Riots "June ... More >>
The International Labour System
Friday, 12 March 2021, 4:41 pm | Keith Rankin
Historical Background Societies split into two strata following the post ice age (Neolithic) agricultural revolution. The new split, between ruling 'beneficiaries' and subservient 'workers', was made possible by the creation of food surpluses. (It More >>
Friday's Tsunami Messaging: Why Not Tauranga And Auckland?
Monday, 8 March 2021, 3:30 pm | Keith Rankin
On Friday at 6am I woke up in Covid Level 3 Auckland to news of a big earthquake around 100km east of East Cape, at about 2:30am. While many people in Auckland had apparently felt it, many more had uninterrupted sleep. Descriptions on Radio New ... More >>
Our Neanderthal Ancestry
Wednesday, 3 March 2021, 10:20 am | Keith Rankin
After my partner read Dan Salmon's novel Neands – written during lockdown in 2020 – I decided to renew my interest in our distant ancestry, in part with a concern that homo neanderthalensis has been unable to shake off, so far, its unflattering ... More >>
39,000 Steps
Monday, 15 February 2021, 2:53 pm | Keith Rankin
Last Thursday I walked the Tongariro (Alpine) Crossing with my partner. Actually, it was my third time, having also enjoyed that beautiful volcanic walk in 1979 and 1990. This was my first time with a mobile phone in my pocket. My phone assured me ... More >>
Science: The Good, The Ugly, The False, And The Expedient
Friday, 18 December 2020, 11:07 am | Keith Rankin
2020 has been the year of the scientist, or at least the public health scientist. Science is a method, not a discipline; it includes social science, because social science does at least notionally apply the scientific method. While being about the ... More >>
Queen Of Hearts, With Teeth
Thursday, 17 December 2020, 4:07 pm | Keith Rankin
I recently watched Season Four of 'The Crown'. Yes, it's a drama, not a documentary. The two dominant characters – outside of the Windsor bloodline – were Princess Diana and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Both characters were probably overplayed, ... More >>
Easter Sunday 2019
Thursday, 10 December 2020, 3:17 pm | Keith Rankin
I was in Victoria, Canada over Easter weekend in 2019. On Easter Sunday I returned to my hotel, to the shocking news of a set of coordinated suicide bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 267 people died that day, and at least 500 others were injured. The target ... More >>
Microbes And Macrobes
Tuesday, 8 December 2020, 4:07 pm | Keith Rankin
To understand the world we live in, it is important to read books written in different time periods. Older literature does not have access to the latest research and currently fashionable tropes, and they may include some expressions that would be censured ... More >>
Microbes And Macrobes
Tuesday, 8 December 2020, 3:56 pm | Keith Rankin
To understand the world we live in, it is important to read books written in different time periods. Older literature does not have access to the latest research and currently fashionable tropes, and they may include some expressions that would be censured ... More >>
Fixing The 2020 New Zealand House Price Bubble
Monday, 23 November 2020, 5:32 pm | Keith Rankin
To the surprise of most pundits, substantial real estate price inflation has resumed, after a hiatus from 2017 to 2019. As to be expected, most of the usual tropes have been employed: a lack of supply, immigration (in this latest case returning New Zealanders), ... More >>
Masks As Social Engineering
Monday, 16 November 2020, 10:01 am | Keith Rankin
On Friday the mainstream news media has been reporting that, today, the decision will be taken to make mask-wearing compulsory on Auckland's buses, trains and ferries; and on all domestic flights in New Zealand. None of the news reports indicate that ... More >>
The New 'Centre-Left' Establishment
Wednesday, 11 November 2020, 4:26 pm | Keith Rankin
The Linear Political Spectrum In both New Zealand and United States, we have just seen the political success of the one-dimensional political centre; perhaps a nudge to the left of centre. By one-dimensional (or 'linear'), we mean the traditional ... More >>
