Monthly Archives: December 2011

Government 2.0: my first column of the Gittins Summer break

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Nicholas Gruen

Ross Gittins asked me if I’d fill in for him during his summer break, which gives me a chance to get a few things off my chest. So here’s the first of four weekly columns. In 2009, I chaired the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Innovation, IT and Internet, Web and Government 2.0 | 9 Comments

An update on the Arab Spring and its consequences

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Paul Frijters

About 8 months ago, I had a look at what was then happening in the Arab world and made predictions about what was going to happen next. Time to see what really happened and update the forecast. A minor prediction … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 28 Comments

A justification for greed

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Ken Parish

George Monbiot bells the “libertarian” cat: Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Political theory | 51 Comments

About those computers Kevin was organising . . .

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Nicholas Gruen

The Effects of Home Computers on Educational Outcomes. Evidence from a Field Experiment with Schoolchildren Date: 2011-09 By: Robert Fairlie (Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz) Jonathan Robinson (Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz) URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1114&r=exp … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Education, IT and Internet | 12 Comments

Innovation and Prizes

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Nicholas Gruen

Looks like they work . . . Inducement Prizes and Innovation. Date: 2011-12-15 By: Brunt, Liam (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) Lerner, Josh (Harvard Business School) Nicholas, Tom (Harvard Business School) http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2011_025&r=ino We examine the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Innovation | 1 Comment

Designing better lives: An economist’s appreciation of design

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Nicholas Gruen

Herewith an paper about my encounter with design, on taking up the Chairmanship of the Australian Centre for Social Innovation and encountering the Family by Family program.  The site where it’s been published doesn’t have any comments facility, so I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Philosophy, Political theory, Web and Government 2.0 | 1 Comment

What is wrong with me? Are values really like this?

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Nicholas Gruen

I am just no good at those ‘values’ questionnaires. Whenever I’m asked a question about values my only answer is “it depends”. I don’t think this is very clever, but there you go. Here is the first page of 120 questions … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Political theory | 15 Comments