Author: Steve Kates

  • 9%+0%=9% not zero

    What has troubled me of late is that the American pseudo-government seems to think that after 9% inflation a 0% increase leaves you where you were. Actually it leaves you 9% behind [9+0=9%]. Getting back to zero inflation doesn’t start you at scratch.

  • I’m back

    Been away with an illness which I still have. It’s not Covid and it’s not communicable, least ways on a blog. My wife warned me that she will put up with it as long as my political views have stayed the same. She’s one in a million! We shall see.

  • The BBC thinks Australia is becoming “unlivable”!

    Saw this on Instapundit: WELL, NO. IT MIGHT BE COMING. I MEAN, THEY WANT TO GO CARBON-FREE:  Australia Becoming Unlivable–BBC. Personally, seeing this mentioned by the Poms on an American website does make me laugh. I can only say I consider it my greatest good fortune that I ended up in Australia, not in Canada where…

  • We apparently need a ‘recallibration’ of our freedom of speech

    I came across this at The Gateway Pundit: Australian Politician at Davos Explains that We Need a “Recalibration” of Freedom of Speech. Really, I said, so I watched the video. This is the summary of what she said: ‘Australian eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant tells the World Economic Forum we need a “recalibration” of freedom…

  • About as bad as it could have been

    “Give the people what they want, good and hard”. It’s a philosophy, I suppose, but not so good for those who didn’t want whatever it is that actually gets served up. So now Australia joins the Biden-Trudeau-Adern club of Mencken’s worst nightmare societies. I am still a bit shell shocked from the outcome, not that…

  • It would be a madness to allow Labor to govern if it is at all possible to prevent it

    There is a view I sometimes come across that argues that The Coalition should willingly lose the election since things are certain to crater over the next year or so and therefore, Labor will be blamed for everything. That way, The Coalition will be able to win in three years with an even more solid…

  • A non-paid political advertisement for our current government

    This is not a paid political advertisement in that I am not being paid. But I pass this along since I completely agree with the conclusion: This is from Terry Barnes at The Spectator: Tezza’s how-to-vote card. On Saturday, I’ll be voting Liberal, but out of loyalty rather than conviction. The party is no longer that…

  • What would a modern economist know about economic theory?

    I keep pointing out that the last person you should listen to about economic policy is anyone who has had a modern education in economic theory. Here is a bit of proof, from today’s Oz: Dismay at RBA as wages growth goes backwards. Here is the opening line of the article: The person most disappointed with…

  • On the brink of an inflationary disaster

    Increases in the price level (nowadays referred to as “inflation”) are embedding themselves across much of the world. And I would like to emphasise that it’s not just a money-supply thing. It is essentially caused by the growth of purchasing power relative to the growth in the amount of goods and services available for purchase.…

  • Trump’s star rising and he’s absolutely right about stolen election

    On the editorial page of The Oz today there was an article by Adam Creighton with the following heading: Trump’s star rising but he’s dead wrong about stolen election. How incredible and how disappointing, I said to myself, that the only journalist in Australia who writes honestly about the American political system has now gone…