productivity The canal to nowhere Are we falling into the same traps as the Ming Dynasty? Yes! (No.) Maybe?
fiscal When MMT and a Job Guarantee were tried before, they didn't work Those who forget the mistakes of the past are… something something
baking Pastry, stress, and software engineering What connects pastry making, watercolour painting, and software engineering? The answer will annoy you
productivity Matthew Yglesias's knee and the future of human civilisation A doctor's appointment illustrates what's going wrong with technology, and how we might fix it.
fashion Disappearing ink Fewer young people are getting tattoos. The number of 20-29 year-olds with tatts has levelled out, and maybe even started falling, ending 15 years of steady growth.Data on tattooing is sparse and
baking Not dead, just resting After my attempt at experimental baking, several people recommended Shirley Corriher’s BakeWise, so I bought a copy and now I’m in love. Corriher is a biochemist by trade, as well as
The rail wage Do train drivers need to improve their productivity before they deserve a real wage rise? Nope.
data science Could computers make communism work? We usually think of Communism as a political doctrine, but in practice it's also a big logistical problem. If you get rid of free markets, how will people get the goods and services
housing Yes, there is a housing affordability crisis Stephen Koukoulas, economic adviser to PM Julia Gillard, is one of Australia's most effective shit-stirrers. He regularly gets earnest young people riled up by dismissing millennials' complaints about economic hard times, urging them
auspol The Australian political landscape The ABC's Vote Compass is a neat way to find out where you stand on the main issues in the 2016 election. The quiz has 30 questions, each of which has been assigned
fiscal Let's make childcare free The idea of increasing the amount of public money going to childcare keeps popping up. For instance, Eleanor Robertson and Anne Summers recently singled it out as a desirable step forward for Australia.
The rent is too damn high, and also not high enough News stories about Australia's overheating real estate market have been missing a key part of the story. Rents in Sydney and Melbourne are far too expensive. On the other hand, they're likely to
data science 3 data science skills that economists can use I’ve been working as a data scientist for a little while now, and when I think back to my previous jobs in economics and econometric research, I realise that there are a
consumption Jeans are the best pants in the world In the early 1960s, the USSR was implementing a crackdown against economic crimes, and the highest profile court case was the prosecution of two young men called Rokotov and Faibishenko. They were heavily
