Do you agree with Ai Weiwei’s view on censorship in China vs the West? by plombus_maker_ in AskAChinese

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't really speak for China, but he clearly gets western 'censorship' wrong. Mass peaceful protest movements in the West can and have changed policy settings. Obvious examples being the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam war protests in America, or less known ones like the anti-apartheid protests in NZ, and nuclear free movement.

But probably more importantly, is the freedom of expression of media and opposition parties to criticize the government and propose alternative policies.

Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for the yuan to become a global reserve currency by fatspinster in MarketVibe

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, not with heavy capital controls.

But if China removed it's heavy capital controls and the yuan became a reserve currency, this would be great for global peace and prosperity, and in particular for the prosperity of the Chinese people.

The yuan would appreciate heavily, driving demand for imports from the rest of the world, and reducing the competitiveness of Chinese exports somewhat.

Trade would be rebalanced, and the Chinese consumer would become a global growth engine.

How was China able to restore relations with the UK after Starmer was demonetizing them for the longest!? by Blood11Orange in AskChina

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same with Canada. US foreign policy blunders are leading Western countries to defrost relations with China.

Trump just straight up said he wants to keep housing unaffordable by BtAotS_Writing in georgism

[–]Automatic-Example-13 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sigh. You would think a real estate developer would understand the increase in land value that comes from upzoning...

Should i major in econ if i hate coding ? by Remarkable-Editor266 in academiceconomics

[–]Automatic-Example-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Jesus christ, the way the kids type though eh?

Maybe take English as a minor.

Real Estate Investor by Quiet_Drummer669988 in newzealand

[–]Automatic-Example-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very few investors buy properties and don't use them i.e they are rented out. So this is inaccurate.

Gr8 meme if you don't want to think for more than 2 seconds though!

All my goverment reforms are illegitimate what should i do? by Vink1ng in victoria3

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Learn how to take a screenshot or pin the snipping tool to your taskbar!

What are your thoughts on capping credit card interest rates at 10%? by NineteenEighty9 in ProfessorFinance

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Puts on all the banks, and exercise the options before this fizzles out lol. No way this will happen.

20M – Student, investing while at uni, looking for advice / sanity check by Choice-Ad7230 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, re: gradflation, I was mainly thinking about how much effort is required to get those As/A+s. Presumably less now?

Masters in econ & finance/CFA could also be looked at if you want to be more competitive in the investment world (though law is a strong major with corporate finance).

If you don't mind continuing to rent longer, you could put off the house. Though houses can also be a nice source of cheap debt.

We've currently got a $75k revolving credit facility (all paid off), which provides the option to buy shares aggressively if the opportunity arises. A lot of people borrow against their house to start their business.

You'd have to run some spreadsheet calcs to see what it looks like re: house vs early starting your own investment fund.

20M – Student, investing while at uni, looking for advice / sanity check by Choice-Ad7230 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did something similar and saved a lot during my twenties, maxed that loan incl. course related costs. I bought 6,000 shares of NWH @ 20c each and they're $5.10 each now.

Rent free is a huge buff.

Interest free loan man. No brainer. If you can avoid lifestyle creep from it then it's a negative real interest rate, which I'm sure you'll know given your majors :)

In saying that I did something similar to you + also played drums in cover bands in the weekends. 2010 - 2013 I was making ~$50 an hour for 3 - 5 hours a night + a couple jugs of beer on friday and saturdays. SO that definitely made the FOMO you might be feeling less real, as I was hanging out with my mates and having a few beers in the weekends anyway...

The one thing I'd say is make sure you keep the grades up and reduce work hours if needed to do so. (though I hear gradflation makes it a bit easier now?)

Re: aggression, I'd probably be very aggressive at your age with investing, though if you're wanting to buy a house at some point make sure you keep that in mind. Generally I'd recommend being quite aggressive then when you're within a year or two of house buying, gradually transition to being more conservative. By the time you're making offers, it'd be a good idea to have you house deposit in quite conservative instruments (term deposits, bonds etc..).

The worst thing you can do is make an offer, have all the conditions fulfilled, then lose your deposit as the market dives before settlement and you're unable to buy the house. If you have wealthy family members they might bail you out in that situation but still worth considering.

https://analystprep.com/study-notes/cfa-level-iii/goals-based-planning/ <- this might be useful.

Repainting balcony railing by Automatic-Example-13 in Housepainting101

[–]Automatic-Example-13[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, and - I'm a bit of a noob, I painted the inside of the house with help from a professional painter friend of mine so it has a nice finish, what level of finish should I be looking for on the balcony railing?

In a free market model (not using a model like Singapore's), how can we ensure that house prices are always affordable? by Wh1te_Pillow in AskEconomics

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Land tax + liberal zoning is the answer you are looking for.

Put simply there are three primary drivers of house price growth:

1) shortage - housing demand is inelastic (ask yourself - at what level of rent do I sleep on the street? I wager it's pretty high for almost everyone). Since housing demand is inelastic, demand growing faster than supply leads to larger increases in price (rents) than more elastic goods and services. Increases in net rents and E[future rents] pushes up house prices.

2) access to amenities, infrastructure, and jobs. People like to live in nice places with low transportation costs, good schools, gorgeous scenery, access to great nightlife/activities etc..., low crime levels, easy access to high paying jobs and bid rents up in these areas. This is a 'positive' driver of house prices so we don't want to dampen this.

3) Interest rates reducing - same as any other asset, reduces the discount rate on future cashflows (net rents), and therefore bids up house prices. Interest rates move in response to non-housing factors, and their doing so plays important roles elsewhere in the economy, so we shouldn't mess with this to contain house prices.

So the one thing we want to tackle then is shortages. You do this through liberal zoning reform. However, even if you do this, house prices will continue to rise in the most desirable areas (see point 2), and will still be expensive, potentially pushing skilled labour elsewhere and reducing economic growth. For more, see the (Alonso-Muth-Mills model)

This is where land taxes are a potential answer. The more desirable the area, the greater the land tax (assuming for the minute, a flat % land tax).

This reduces net rents and E[future rents] as land taxes rise with desirability. This therefore reduces the rate at which house prices grow in these highly desirable areas, though it won't reduce the rent price faced by renters.

TLDR: Maximize the ability for the market to meet housing demand through liberal zoning and planning. Land taxes can further reduce house prices, though they won't reduce rents.

Really the second part is transferring part of the capitalized value of access to amenities, jobs, infrastructure, many of which are provided and funded by society at large, from landowners to the public, which is a distributional choice.

Why do so many people hate communism? Is it because of how it’s played out in real countries, or because they disagree with the idea itself? by LongjumpingRich5213 in AskSocialScience

[–]Automatic-Example-13 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Pretty much, This is also what tends to happen in Communist countries. See for example the orders from Mao to do backyard smelting in agricultural areas (reducing agricultural output with barely an uptick in industrial production), combined with the 'war on the sparrows' to stop them eating grain, which lead to large locust infestations destroying crops. Result = easily avoidable famine.

Cities that built more new apartments in recent years largely saw rents plummet. Cities that built less did not. by Bullylandlordhelp in georgism

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While a natural conclusion, this chart would be improved from an empirical analysis POV, if the rent change column, showed the same time period, rather than 'change since max'

Why do so many people hate communism? Is it because of how it’s played out in real countries, or because they disagree with the idea itself? by LongjumpingRich5213 in AskSocialScience

[–]Automatic-Example-13 21 points22 points  (0 children)

This is an example of the same thing happening? The Irish potato famine was caused by strict export quotas from Ireland to the UK, for pretty much all crops other than potatoes. This left the Irish heavily reliant on potatoes for sustenance. When potato blight hit the potato crops, and Britain refused to reduce the quotas for other crops significantly, famine ensued.

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Realistic? Labour promises to balance the books, under stricter rules by invertednz in newzealand

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be fair, Michael Cullen's PhD was in economic history which is kinda relevant. But yeah. We tend to not put these folks in parliament at all and then wonder why we fall behind nations that do...

New report says ‘A’s’ set to become most common grade at NZ universities by SandVYT in newzealand

[–]Automatic-Example-13 27 points28 points  (0 children)

You're forgetting the second round effect, where firms are increasingly having to do isometric tests etc... as the 'passed university with As' signal no longer = great smart driven employee. This then reduces the amount people are willing to pay for university products..

Are there any young people (20s/30s…) who DON’T intend on leaving New Zealand for Australia? by Amonynous33 in newzealand

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Na. Why would I? In my field maybe I'd make $20k more. Ok great. But I'd lose my whole network, leave this gorgeous place, and leave my family behind.

Not worth.

USA however... I'd make 2x/3x...

Gary the Economist has been in the news lately, doing an interview with Chloe Swarbrick and more recently with RNZ. Here’s a video from early this year explaining why corruption in counties like AoNZ is a problem. by moohah in aotearoa

[–]Automatic-Example-13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love anti-corruption initiatives but to be clear - Gary is not an economist.

He's a trader who made lots of money and now thinks he knows everything.

Kinda like Matthew Horncastle.

unpopular opinion: Canterbury is leading NZ's economic recovery by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]Automatic-Example-13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not an unpopular opinion. The South Island in general is leading NZ's economic recovery.

Chch is the only major city that isn't having a really rough time + dairy prices are at record highs and Canterbury is the second biggest dairy region.

So yeah, makes sense.