Author: thomasthethinkengine

Thomas the Think Engine is the blog of a trained economist. It comes to you from Melbourne Australia.

Haiti and three kinds of development aid

Haiti was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 last week.  The death toll estimate in this morning’s newspaper stands at 200,000.  We can only hope that the estimate cycle is at its peak, and it will be revised down later.

Earthquakes registering on the Richter Scale at 7.0 are rare but not unheard of.  There were 16 Earthquakes of this magnitude or more in 2009.  Six people died in Japan when an earthquake measuring 6.8 hit there recently.  The  disaster is as much the poverty and ill-rule in Haiti.

Continue reading Haiti and three kinds of development aid

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal looks like this.
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It’s a mausoleum, which means there’s dead people in there.  Dead person number 1 is Mumtaz Mahal.  Mumtaz was the wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, and he built the Taj Mahal for the sole purpose of housing her dead body.  He really liked her a lot.  Then, when he died, his son installed him in there alongside his lady.  The Emperor was the second and final person stowed in there. Continue reading Taj Mahal

Cheap property

People of my age tend not to own property. But, increasingly, they want to.

Here’s what you get for a smigden under $800,000 in North Fitzroy:

Here’s what you can get for a smidgen under  $200,000 in Ballarat: Continue reading Cheap property

Campaign: Ride like you walk!

I ride a lot.  When I ride for fun,  I wear sports clothes, avoid the city, and go fast.

I also ride to get to places, and when I do, I wear the clothes I want to wear at my destination.  Sometimes this means I’m riding in jeans, sometimes I’m wearing a suit, sometimes boardshorts and thongs (i.e. flip-flops).

And when I’m riding in my suit, people go past me.   I want to tell them it’s not a race, I’m not playing your game, I’m not even trying.  But they looks so smug.

Continue reading Campaign: Ride like you walk!

On ‘The Road’

At 1am last night, as Melbourne sweltered through its warmest ever night, ( a minimum of 30.6 degrees celsius was reached only at 8.49am), I picked up ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy.

As the temperature gradually dropped through the 30s I plowed through his post-apocalyptic, grey, dark and snowy book. By 4.30 am I finished the last page.

Cormac McCarthy was born in 1933, and his 76 years on earth have gifted him a particularly bleak outlook. I was familiar with his work only by having seen the film No Country for Old Men. Which may have been the most powerfully horrible, morally destabilising film I have ever seen.

So I was prepared for the book’s epic-scale serving of bleak. I’d guess no book I ever read  had the word ‘grey’ in it so many times. A man and his son traverse a post apocalyptic land (probably, but not identifiably, America) along a road full of the hopeless, the starving and the violent. The Road. Continue reading On ‘The Road’

Rolls Royce Drivers are Baby Killers

You can say this for capitalism. It’s a civilising influence.

Back in the day, when people wanted to demonstrate their power, they’d sack a few local villages, slaughter the menfolk, and hang the plundered booty from the ramparts.

The modern-day descendants of these megalomaniacs are calling for more market research, making the logistics budget lean, and driving a Mercedes.

It could be a lot worse. Demonstrating your power by compelling a factory-full of Germans (with compulsory superannuation and health insurance) to do eight-hour days until your new SLK is ready is not such an ill.

But as our civilisation become more civilised, our moral quandaries grow more subtle. Continue reading Rolls Royce Drivers are Baby Killers

Flaky Myki

Even though the Metcard is probably the last functional vestige of the public transport system, it is to be severed. Its replacement is a malformed, grossly over-priced, hideous new appendage.

Maybe I’m being a bit unfair. I don’t know if the new system will work or not. But I have my doubts… Continue reading Flaky Myki

Racial Violence

Melbourne is in the midst of an epidemic of racial violence.  Maybe.

In recent times, a number of Indian people have been attacked. Last week Nitin Garg, a 21-year-old Indian man was killed in Yarraville.

I’ll admit it.  Australia is racist.  Let’s go back to Cronulla beach and the southern cross supermen. There’s enough racism in the city and suburbs to provide for a racially motivated attack.

The circumstantial evidence is circling this event like a pack of ravenous sharks.  Are we going to let the narrative of racial hatred consume this latest event? or does logic demand that we see if we can wrest it from its jaws? Continue reading Racial Violence

# Bling-a-Ding-Ding #

Bling isn’t for everyone.  The Atlantic reports that University of Chicago economists found that black families spent 25 % more on BMWs, finger-rings and Yves Saint Laurent than a white family of the same demographic.

Each day, this blog is forged within the solid gold frame of this very macbook.

They tested this finding out in a bunch of other circumstances.  They found rich white people in South Carolina spent far more on bling than those in California.  A theory started to emerge.

Conspicuous consumption is stronger among people from social groups that are on average, poorer.    It’s why Jay-Z video’s have Rolls Royces in them. He’s from the projects.  It might explain why the Chinese are so keen to buy cars. It could even explain why, back in the day this lady’s great-great-great-grandfather thought it would be totally sweet to have a hat made of gold. Suck on that, peasants!

Continue reading # Bling-a-Ding-Ding #

The price of anarchy / The magic of roundabouts

Anarchy comes with a price.  Lawyers, economists and political scientists believe this.  This is what drives the congresses and senates and cabinets and presidents to make laws.

Continue reading The price of anarchy / The magic of roundabouts

Thomas the Grinch Engine

Christmas.  The time of goodwill to all is in reality a great boon for the forces of stress, unhappiness and unmet expectations.

One source expressed their yuletide sentiments thus:

Do they expect this to continue for ever?  The dread, the hate, the boredom?  Every year, until we die?

You could deck a lot of halls with that much ennui.  Continue reading Thomas the Grinch Engine

On Blogging

The blog recently had a milestone.  100 published posts!  Cause for some self-reflection.

What makes a good blog?

I think sticking to one topic would help.  Most of  the blogs I go to exploit one theme over and over.  I can’t do that.  I am addicted to diversity.

When I started out, I got this advice : Quantity over Quality.  There’s two main justifications

1. Blogging is like throwing darts at a board.  The way the internet works, 99 percent of stuff gets ignored, and one percent goes bananas.  There’s a small chance you’ll hit the bullseye without expecting to.  It’s important to throw as many darts as possible.

2. This urban myth:  there was a pottery class, where the class was split in two.  One group was told their mark would depend on the quality and beauty of pots they made.  The other group was told their mark would depend on the volume of pots they made.  By the end of semester, the group that had been focussing on sheer volume was making rounder, better pots than the group that had been trying to focus on beauty.  Sheer repetition of the actions improved their skills.

Occasionally I may use the motto of quantity first as an excuse for dross!  But I think my blogging has improved a little.  I hope it improves even more.

How do I blog?

I have a contract.  I have to pay my girlfriend 20 bucks every afternoon if I haven’t turned in a draft for an article.  I pay her another 20 if I haven’t published something by 11.30 am. Highly motivating, although when the contract expires I sometimes stop writing altogether.

This website called stickk inspired me.  It uses this technique to commit people to their goals.  Great for people who have lofty ambitions they sometimes fail to meet in their day-to-day life.

Some people have misinterpreted this and said ‘a bet is a stupid reason to write a blog, you should write a blog because you want to’.  I do want to, I just find the moment-to-moment motivation harder to harness than the grand ideas.  The great thing about this is that she doesn’t get rich.  I’ve only missed a couple.

How much money do i make from blogging?

None.

Yet.

Here’s the revised top twenty  pages.

Modern Warfare 2: glorifying violence? 407 More stats
About 184 More stats
Inglourious Basterds – a review 169 More stats
iSnack Two Point – Oh dear… 118 More stats
Coffee Safari 103 More stats
Riders’ rights and responsibilities – have your say
 88 More stats
My first (and last?) car. 81 More stats
Travel Disasters – the rat. 77 More stats
In which your correspondent is horrified 77 More stats
Eight things I don’t miss about the public service
 70 More stats
Mt Hotham – a book review 67 More stats
To Err is Devine 67 More stats
A stab in the back for the heart of the nation 64 More stats
Travel disasters 61 More stats
Costco – A review 60 More stats
Accents eh, bro? 60 More stats
Intelligent delivery? 55 More stats
Fairtrade 54 More stats
Something-something and over it 49 More stats
Are we dense? 49

What’s frustrating is the most-viewed posts are not the best ones.  The audience depends mostly on how well I link them.  If I put a link in an incisive comment at the bottom of a good article in a popular newspaper, then the traffic can be massive.   If I don’t even put it on facebook, it will be minimal.

Comments are a better guide to what has got peoples attention.  Here’s the top ten articles, by numbers of comments.

Garbledy gook 5
Eight things I don’t miss about the public service …6
Bruno Sprunkelstein part 1 6
Should I run through the rain?…………………………….7
Inglourious basterds 7
Coffee safari ………………………………………………………8
Bargain 11
My first (and last?) car ……………………………………….17
Riders rights and responsibilities 20
A stab in the back for the heart of the nation ………. 20

You can see that the blog remains pretty modest, traffic wise…

On Maroon 5, Art and mad blurry skills

I like chocolate, but I’m not a chocolatier.  I like rum, but I’m not a distiller.  I like dags, but I do not breed hounds.

Is what you’re good at going to be what you like?  Could someone who has never drunk rum make a great one?  Could a blog-hater be the best blogger the world’s ever seen?

Do what you love, they say.

It could be that I would have been the world’s greatest plumber, but I never got to find out.  My girlfriend might be the world’s most dominant computer gamer, but she’ll never know.
Continue reading On Maroon 5, Art and mad blurry skills

Meredith Music Festival – A Review

I attended the Meredith Music Festival, centred around a grassy downhill just outside the town of Meredith, in rural Victoria.  Two nights and three days of bands and celebration.  I had never been before, but I loved it.  Before the festival, everyone was talking about the ‘Meredith experience’, and  noone was talking about the bands, which made me worried.  I was happy to find the music is still the centre of the experience.

I thought the best of the festival was Paul Kelly.  His set at 7pm on the Saturday night kicked off an epic night.  Mr Kelly’s music is so familiar it’s easy to disregard, but live, the familiar veneer is taken off and you remember why you (and everyone else) listened to it so much that you still know every word.  The crowd was moved to tears, and in what is apparently a Meredith tradition, indicative of ultimate respect, everyone took off their shoes and waved them at him. Continue reading Meredith Music Festival – A Review

Eight things I don’t miss about the public service

Don’t get offended by the following list.  It’s just my experience.  Many of these thing probably apply in any organisation, not just government.  I’m sure many public servants find a challenging and rewarding niche and work their guts out.  It just wasn’t me.


Continue reading Eight things I don’t miss about the public service

Rabbit Run – A Book Review

I read Rabbit, Run by John Updike.  It’s a mid-century American novel.

I got one of those orange Penguin Classics that sell for ten bucks.  I love those.  I think that’s how much a book should cost.  I’m far more likely to spend money on books if I get three for thirty bucks than if I only get one.

Anyway, the book is considered a classic, hence its inclusion in the Penguin collection.

Whenever I go back and read books written before my time, I expect classic themes and minimal social critique.  This is because I am a poor student of history and assume that everything that existed before I was born is irrelevant. Continue reading Rabbit Run – A Book Review

The appeal of the steel wheel.

355,000 google hits for ‘I hate buses’.

294,000 google hits for I hate trains’.

but

214,000 google hits for ‘I love buses’.

849,000 google hits for ‘I love trains’.

Clearly trains are the George Clooney of Public Transport.

Continue reading The appeal of the steel wheel.

Flexicar

My suburb is dotted with flexicars.

Pay a once-off 30 dollar joining fee, a 70 dollar annual insurance fee, and an hourly rate between 9 and 15 bucks, and you get a car.  Petrol and insurance included.  When you book online you get a code that pops the car doors open.  The keys are on the console.

In Melbourne they are very much an inner city thing.  The northenmost is in Brunswick  the southernmost is in St Kilda.  It’s only in these burbs that the economics of parking are so bad that sharing a car with someone else could make sense.
Continue reading Flexicar