Category Archives: Blogging

A commenter recently reminded me that I haven’t explicitly stated a comments policy for this blog. Since I haven’t gotten around to revamping the sidebar, let me simply post my guidelines: Please aim to keep comments civil, concise and relevant. … Continue reading →

Andrew Norton is running a survey ‘on how philosophical political identity (classical liberal, conservative, social democrat etc) links to policy attitudes’. It’s interesting and pretty quick (I just did it in 8 minutes), so click here if you have time.

After an eye-opening secondment at Treasury (when I started in July 2008, people were still talking about skill shortages), this week saw me back at my regular gig at ANU. I’ll miss the rich information flow, the daily policy debate … Continue reading →

Today, I’m an academic. Tomorrow, I become a public servant. After some generous arm-twisting from the brother of a famous econ-blogger (and no small amount of flexibility from my senior ANU colleagues), I’m taking a six-month secondment to the Australian … Continue reading →

I just recovered a dozen non-spam comments from Akismet. Apologies to those whose comments were caught, and thanks to Matt C for alerting me to the problem. If it recurs, please drop me an email.

I blogged two April fool jokes this morning – from Joshua Gans and Google. Now that noon has passed, we can ask the question, was I wise to do so? Fortunately, new academic research on the topic sheds direct light … Continue reading →

My friend Michael Fullilove is spending the year in Washington DC, and has begun blogging on the Lowy Institute ‘Interpreter’ blog, handling topics from the vegemite of national values to whether the press should have reported the Spitzer affair. I’ve added … Continue reading →

I’ve now finished upgrading to the latest version of WordPress, an exercise that always seems to take longer than expected. If anything looks askew, please let me know. Hopefully the only thing you should notice is a new tool making … Continue reading →

I’m in the midst of upgrading to the latest version of WordPress. Apologies if it takes a few days to get the house in order.

Aaron Schiff has conducted the first major survey of economics bloggers, garnering 107 responses, of which I’m one. His discussion of the results (and the data for download) are here.

Damien Eldridge (formerly known as Economics Geek) has decided to stop blogging. He tells me that at the end, he wasn’t really enjoying it (but adds “On the other hand, I have been enjoying my academic research recently!”). Sounds a … Continue reading →

I am, apparently, one of the 100 blogs that every professional investor should read. From Dani Rodrik’s blog, I discover that among his list of 106 economist blogs, mine ranks 52nd. And within that group, I’m apparently 44th in terms of paper citations. … Continue reading →

I’m flying to the UK today, and may not be posting for a few days. So consider this an open thread, to discuss any issues of economics, politics or pop culture that take your fancy.

I’ve been thinking recently about the different ways that bloggers respond to ideas they disagree with. What’s prompted the cogitation is two experiences with fellow bloggers over the past month. In late-August, after I posted on conflicts of interest, Andrew … Continue reading →

Each day for the last three years, I’ve been spending a minute ‘clearing out the trash’ by deleting spam comments that get past my Akismet spam filter. The filter catches about a thousand a day, but a handful typically get past … Continue reading →

Harry Clarke on why pot should stay illegal. Alex Tabarrok on the stupidity of American legislators giving medals, but not money, for organ donors. Joshua Gans on the economics of music downloading. Greg Mankiw on the Illinois legislators who don’t … Continue reading →

Econblogger Joshua Gans has been a recent victim of identity fraud. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to have suffered too badly as a result. But the incident has prompted me to rethink the amount of personal information that I have online. So … Continue reading →

Helen Dale and Mark Bahnisch have both quit the blogosphere – Helen to finish writing a novel, and Mark to focus on other work commitments. I’ve enjoyed their posts, and I’m always grateful for their comments on mine. I look … Continue reading →

I may not be blogging as much as usual this week, so here’s an open thread. Do with it what you will.

My spam-blocker has been having some trouble lately, first catching a handful of legitimate comments (I see the same happened on John Quiggin’s site), and then allowing a couple of dozen to go through. Please bear with me on the … Continue reading →

A new macroeconomic blog, Global Economy Matters, has just launched. Worth watching, particularly for anyone whose job involves economic forecasting. I’ve added it to the blogroll.

The OLO/Troppo best blog posts of 2007 list is burgeoning daily. Lots of great reading; full list here.

Apologies for the blog-hiatus. Moving house. Pregnant wife. Sunny days. All the regular excuses, really. Anyhow, I’m back at your service now. Thanks to my favourite commenters, who’ve kept on with a stimulating dialogue in my absence.

I’ve just returned from a trip away, and am moving house tomorrow, so apologies for the brief blog hiatus. In the meantime, here’s an open thread – do with it as you will.