Posts by Rob Hosking
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Up Front: Somebody Think of the Young Adults!, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
The Victorians are much maligned, I feel. They were more colourful and varied than their reputation.
And they did elect a pot smoking, camp and probably bisexual novelist as prime minister several times - leading a Conservative administration, too.
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OnPoint: Quickfisk: Youth Unemployment, in reply to B Jones,
Excuse my ignorance, but I’m not sure what NEET figures add here. As far as I can tell (and the very different rates for males and females Matthew cites gives a hint of it), it includes young full-time parents as well as those out of paid work or training for other reasons. There are different economics at play for starting young families
There are. Oddly enough, NZ only recently brought caregivers under the umbrella of the NEET figures, and the only reason we seem to have done so was to bring us into line with other countries.
One of the points of NEET is to give a broader indication of social deprivation than just unemployment data, but also to provide an indication of transition issues between unemployment, training and work.
The broader point being it is important to look at all the employment data in toto, rather than seize upon one data series as "the" indicator.
We're a bit too inclined to do that in our economic debates, I feel - and not just about the labour market.
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OnPoint: Quickfisk: Youth Unemployment, in reply to Sacha,
Haven't heard of that one...and I'd imagine it'd be quite difficult to collate that sort of comparison, partly because of the many and varied ownership structures, partly because even if you got it its the sort of aggregate figure which would hide a lot of complexities.
You have though piqued my curiousity....
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I think the origin of the argument was something Hooten had said on radio which I didn't hear, but was something about NZ's youth unemployment being comparatively good.
Its not as good as it was, but the OECD report released last week says that long term youth unemployment is among the lowest in the OECD and it may have been this Matthew was referring to. I'm guessing. I didn't hear the broadcast but it seemed to get #heyclint excited.
That's long term unemployment. Short term its not as good. I think the figures you're using includes both.
NZ young people move around among jobs more than in most countries - one reason seems to be we have a higher mix of people doing part time work, part time study. I suspect the great Kiwi OE also plays a part: if you're 20, expect to go overseas in a year or two, you're probably more inclined to jump around a bit to earn a bit extra in the short term.
The NEET measure Che asks about is interesting: we're around the middle of the pack,but this is a deterioration. To quote that OECD report a bit more:
in all countries NEET mainly affects older youth. But even though
NZ long-term youth unemployment is among the lowest in the OECD, its NEET rate is close to the OECD average... This may reflect that NZ unemployment
rates include full-time students who are also seeking part-time work, so are a less useful measure than NEET in capturing youth inactivity.Also, NZ NEET rates have risen more over the past decade than in the OECD on average .
I should add that overall unemployment in NZ is, at 6.2%. below the OECD average of 8.1%. Still way too high, and no cause for gloating, but in the current context, also no cause for sackcloth and ashes.
NZ does have some very large, long term and rather intractable labour market problems, but the big difficulties are less around unemployment and more around skills, productivity, & the "long tail" (horrible term) of functionally illiterate and innumerate employees, as well of course as the issue of simply encouraging people to stay in the country.
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The link to the unitary plan doesnae work.
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I'm amazed the Military Manoeuvres Bill is running so high. I wrote about it at the time because it was so quirkily obscure: it repeals some First World War legislation which allowed the government to take over land for military training, and it hadn't been used for a very long time.
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Hard News: The Velvet Underground Etc., in reply to Danielle,
You know the thing I miss most about record stores? The smell. No, I don't mean the incense which always seemed to be there - for some strange reason* - in the old St Kevins Arcade Record Exchange. But the smell of the vinyl and polish had a character of its own. Hit me the first time I ever went into a record store that wasn't just a corner in Woolworths or Farmers.
Its been long gone, even in stores which still carry a large vinyl inventory.
*insert whatever level of irony you feel is appropriate at this juncture
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Hard News: Media3: Whistleblower Season, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
It's not sinister to be highly sensitive to the idea that sources don't always come forth out of some disinterested interest in Truth, Justice and the Public Good. That's Journalism 101, and it shouldn't go on hold just because someone calls themselves a 'whistleblower'.
I'd say never. I've believed for a long time the words 'No One Is Innocent' should be blowtorched on the wall of every newsroom.
Everyone who approaches a journalist with a story has an agenda, often a very dodgy one. The test isn't whether the source is as pure as Bo Peep, but whether (a) they're telling the truth and (b) there's a genuine public interest in the matter at hand being made public.
And yeah, that LRB of article on the Beeb...very disturbing. Many years back I worked with an ex-pat Pom who covered that trial in the 1970s mentioned. He mentioned a few names of secret witnesses, only one which I recall because it was so damn famous.
I strongly suspect this scandal has only just started to run.
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Which had me reaching back to Larkin (whose birthday is tomorrow, btw)
What are days for?
Days are where we live.
They come, they wake us
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:
Where can we live but days?Ah, solving that question
Brings the priest and the doctor
In their long coats
Running over the fields.The doctor, in this, is perhaps of philosophy, and/or an idealogue of some description, rather than a doctor of medicine.
I love the mental image of the last three lines: there's an air of a frantic and fruitless flailing at meaning.
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On my personal, Nick Hornby-ish, "Best Track One, Side One, numbers of all time" list.
Cannonball Adderley's "Somethin' Else" is also the perfect Sunday morning album.