Update

I’ve been much less active on my blog the last few months as work and other activities have taken a great deal of my time.

On the personal front, the Wentworth and Central Couriers have announced that I was chosen to be a Labor candidate for City of Sydney Councillor in the upcoming September elections. I’m looking forward to being involved in the election process and all that it entails.

A lot of people must be wondering about what, if anything, can be done to help the Zimbabwean population. Perhaps the situation in Zimbabwe is an example of what can happen when the monopoly state power has become disconnected from the population and the government seeks to retain power no matter the cost to the population. While, conceptually, the international system could have a whole host of triggers for outside intervention (e.g. genocide), defining triggers can create perverse incentives as states may focus on the definitions rather than the substance (e.g. is it actually genocide?). There seem to be no hard and fast answers.

E-mails from Burkino Faso

I wonder how many people reply to e-mails such as the one below?

FROM THE DESK OF IBRAHIM ALPHA
BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER,
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO.
Dear Sir,

I am the manager of bill and exchange foreign remittance at the department of African Development Bank (ADB).

In my departmentn we discovered an abandoned sum of $ 22.6 m US dollars (Twenty two Millon six hundred thousand US dollars) . In an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family in a concord plane crash in the year 2000 in paris that almost took the whole life of the pasengeres on board.

“I am Lady Mrs.Blessing Paul, suffering from cancerous ailment without a child.”

I’m the most lucky person in the world if the number of internet lotteries I’ve won is any guide. Below is another spam e-mail I received today for your enjoyment.

Good Day To You,

I am Lady Mrs.Blessing Paul, suffering from cancerous ailment without a child.

“Progressive fusionism”

A few bloggers have recently written progressive fusionism. Skeptic Lawyer (otherwise known as Helen Dale who I kind-of-knew from University of Qld days) has written a piece on it over at her blog.

She writes:

The idea that libertarians and ‘progressives’ could hammer out some of their differences and reach a compromise far more workable than that between conservatives and libertarians is an interesting one.

It looks like an enjoyable read. There may be some areas in which Liberal and Social Democrat thought are very similar and on which people can work together. I wonder if the essential difference between Liberal thought and Social Democratic thought is different conceptions of property rights and its importance.

On other matters, I’ve printed out a set of game theory lecture notes to read through - I’ve never learnt game theory and it might be interesting and even useful in my work.

What’s happening to property rights in NSW?

According to the Sydney Morning Herald,

[NSW] Homeowners will not lose their property to developers under proposed compulsory acquisition laws, unless an urban renewal project is in the works, NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor says.

Governments can already compulsorarily acquire land for roads and railways. This is generally accepted. However, being also able to compulsorarily acquire land for an urban renewal project is going too far.

Some more ideas for the 2020 summit

1. local (and other) governments doing genuine community consultation (the City of Sydney needs to learn this), including releasing completed commissioned reports (any confidential material can be withheld)

2. services run by governments being properly responsive to users’ needs. Governments are often extremely unresponsive to users’ actual needs, e.g. in providing bus services in inner-Sydney. This includes  education, health, public transport, community and public transport services.

3. removing unnecessary transaction costs and ensuring consistency in policy across jurisdictions where appropriate

4. public policy experiments to inform education policy - the focus must be on the outcomes rather than the processes 

5. having civil union registers in all states and territories that are recognised in other states and territories. Ensuring that couples in “civil unions” are treated by governments and under law/policy the same as those who are married. Also changing the definition of marriage to extend to same-sex couples.

6. local businesses “adopting” local areas (I saw this in Manhattan)

“My idea” for the 2020 summit

Well, many people’s idea - but I’d put it forward as it’s one of the most important ones:

Experiments in public policy including in education, health, research and governance.

And of course, implementing as well.

Short update

I’ve been quite busy with work and the 2011 Residents’ Association in the last few weeks, including drafting objections to DAs and letters/submissions along with letters to the editor. It’s surprising how long these activities can take.

I’ll try to write and publish something more interesting shortly!

On the Brisbane City Council election

The recent Brisbane City Council election result reminds me of Sally-Anne Atkinson’s win in 1988, although I think that Sally-Anne did slightly better.

In 1988, Sally-Anne received about 2/3 of the vote, and the Liberal Party won 17 of the 26 wards.  The Labor Party won 9 wards: essentially it’s then-stronger wards of Deagon, Eagle Farm (similar to Northgate), Spring Hill (covering a large part of the existing Central), Paddington, The Gabba, Doboy, Wynnum-Manly, Inala and Enoggera. 

Problems in the financial markets

Where will the problems in the financial markets stop?  What will be their impacts? Will there be recessions, or even depressions?  Are the problems in the financial markets an example of what can happen when entities don’t trust each other - if so, is this a graphic example of the importance of trust between entities in non-command economies?