Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
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 2]
New Zealand's Dependence: Wheat, Rice, Fuel, Ships
Friday, 1 May 2026, 2:16 pm | Keith Rankin
To avoid a food security catastrophe, New Zealand needs to store more food. Food stores facilitate any transition in land use. More >>
China And Taiwan; A Geopolitical Solution?
Thursday, 30 April 2026, 4:41 pm | Keith Rankin
The Asian political territory called China – a mix of continent and islands – is claimed by two rival regimes; one in Beijing, one in Taipei. More >>
Royal Humiliation? Emperor, King, Prime Minister
Wednesday, 29 April 2026, 4:08 pm | Keith Rankin
To Mr Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: Man-up. Grow a spine. Otherwise, you too may fall. Call an election if you must to re-establish your mandate, and the mandate of the King. More >>
Inflation Versus Our Cost-Of-Living Crises Of Choice
Friday, 24 April 2026, 3:44 pm | Keith Rankin
A depreciation of money – inflation – may be a problem, may be a solution to a problem, or it may be neutral. More >>
War Trophies: Considering USA, Iran, And Japan
Monday, 20 April 2026, 4:46 pm | Keith Rankin
It's commonplace, especially in The West, to think of wars in binary terms. In those terms, wars are either won or lost, like a sports match. And the symbol of victory is a trophy. In a match-up, the symbol of defeat is the loss of a trophy. In the ... More >>
Marooned In The Pacific Ocean: Famine Down-Under?
Friday, 17 April 2026, 3:46 pm | Keith Rankin
New Zealand's worst – or at least most immediate – problem might not be fertiliser. Rather, it might be dependence on imports of both human food staples and animal feed. More >>
Crusaders: The Crass, The Past, And The Present
Thursday, 16 April 2026, 2:50 pm | Keith Rankin
The Crusader issue is far from being an issue confined to the Middle Ages. More >>
Aggravating An Aggravated Cost Of Living Crisis
Wednesday, 15 April 2026, 3:45 pm | Keith Rankin
Like Donald Trump, on certain matters our governments just listen to a very close coterie of self-promoted advisers. More >>
Printing Money To Finance This And Other Wars
Tuesday, 14 April 2026, 4:41 pm | Keith Rankin
'Printing money' is not a literal expression; actually printed (or photocopied) money, counterfeit money, is illegal. More >>
Binyamin, Adolf, And Benito
Friday, 10 April 2026, 2:38 pm | Keith Rankin
While Nazi Germany is generally regarded as having been more extreme than the Fascist State, the word 'fascist' has commonly been applied to the former National Socialist regime of Germany. More >>
The Axis Nuclear Option In Light Of Japan 1945
Wednesday, 8 April 2026, 9:19 am | Keith Rankin
The author argues US-Israel 'axis' may use nuclear option on a city or some other quasi-military site in the northeast of Iran, drawing on the 1945 Japan precedent. More >>
Peter Thiel: Was The John Key Led Government Taken For An April Fool?
Wednesday, 1 April 2026, 4:21 pm | Keith Rankin
What did the New Zealand government do in the following year, in 2011? The New Zealand government made Peter Thiel a citizen of New Zealand! More >>
Frozen Vegetables, Food Security, And The New Zealand Dollar
Tuesday, 31 March 2026, 4:38 pm | Keith Rankin
New Zealand's present circumstances depend on – in addition to the maintenance of trans-oceanic transport – both the continuance of global economic growth and an overvalued exchange rate. More >>
The Enigma Of The Iranian President
Friday, 27 March 2026, 3:12 pm | Keith Rankin
To glean a semblance of truth in contentious times, you often have to hear what is not being said, and see what is not being shown. You have to look out for softly spoken messages; looking past caricatures & scapegoats, & looking past CAPITAL LETTERS More >>
USS Tripoli: What's In A Name?
Thursday, 26 March 2026, 4:58 pm | Keith Rankin
The context of the 1785-1795 war was that Great Britain, piqued by the loss of its American colonies, refused the United States the 'protection' of the British Navy. More >>
Has New Zealand Just Signed Up For World War Three?
Tuesday, 24 March 2026, 3:54 pm | Keith Rankin
Why, on Earth, would New Zealand want to be a part of that? Why would we want to be a party to both ecocide and economic suicide? And why would we want to become a target in a nuclear war? Is that egregiously stupid? More >>
1956, 1967, 1973, 1979 And All That: Shipping, Oil, And Inflation
Friday, 20 March 2026, 3:48 pm | Keith Rankin
Most wars start with a pretext, an event manufactured or exploited by the true belligerent to justify its aggression. More >>
Turkmenistan: The Hermit Autocracy In The Centre Of Eurasia
Tuesday, 17 March 2026, 4:34 pm | Keith Rankin
Turkmenistan, on the southeastern side of the Caspian Sea, has an ancient history in terms of trade along the Silk Road; it was indeed a land of transit in the times of caravans and camels. More >>
Israel, Epstein, And Big Money
Friday, 13 March 2026, 10:16 am | Keith Rankin
This opinion piece discusses Israel's duplicity regarding Hamas, its strong alliance with the UAE, and its strategy to divide and rule the Middle East. More >>
UAE, Israel, And The Hexagon Alliance
Tuesday, 10 March 2026, 2:17 pm | Keith Rankin
This present division of civil-war-sponsorship is compounded by the diverging relationships of these three Arab states – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE – with Israel. More >>
