Peter Zeihan has been running a entertaining series on world demographics, if such a thing can be entertaining!!. Each video is only 5-7 minutes long.
Anyway, he has just done a video that covers the demographic trends for both the US and NZ.
The takeaway is that the demographic future for both the US and NZ is very similar, despite the size difference. And, demographic trends for both the US and NZ are quite positive compared to a lot of other places in the world, e.g., China, Russia, and wider Europe, which are basically in terminal decline.
That's really interesting. Seems our urban migration sets the stage for more rural people by making 'elbow room'. The challenge then (if one wants a workforce) is to make the countryside attractive enough to retain some people, but not so attractive it too becomes populous.
The 'numbers making sense' (finance, opportunity) aspect of choosing to have children may be under strain lately. I have friends who seriously contemplate the expense of an extra pet, let alone child.
What he says about the financial pain coming as we hit the narrow band of X-ers (me) so there's not so many to fill jobs, not so much capital… Surely, the boomers capital has to go somewhere e.g. inheritance, investments still occurring? This bit puzzled me.
The wrap up leading to inflation, the future of some vs other countries, very insightful, thank you.
The boomer capital will be spend on nice, expensive money eating retirement homes and lifestyle for those that can afford it. The not so fortunate 'boomers' are as poor as the rest of us.
And why not. why would they not lay themselves like drift wood in the sun. They could be lonely in the cold cities. They could shrivel away in a retirement place. At that age, does it matter?
And for some, that might be the first time to ever do that to begin with, specially the poor working class boomers who exist in larger number then the financially well off.
No need to belittle them for cheap laughs.
What should be understood is that all of us will be asked to sell what we have in assets to get into a nice retirement home with people that will look after you, rather then some understaffed, underfunded, overcrowded affordable public retirement home because that is all that one can afford. You get the service that you can afford, and those with land to sell have money to afford a somewhat decent (hopefully) service. That is the system we have and so far i can not see any change come in the future.
Peter did his post-grad studies at the University of Auckland and retains a real fondness for his time in NZ. Scattered throughout his material are odd references to this country – often in jest.
He makes a living giving conference presentations, and has a team of researchers assisting. He has also published four books, all of which I have read with interest. I will acknowledge that along with Jared Diamond, Zeihan has been influential in my thinking. The core idea he brings is that geography, demography, transport and security are the elements that determine the long-term fate of peoples and nations far more than politics and personalities.
There is no requirement to agree with everything he says, but the hit rate on his predictions is disturbingly high.
His talk on solar is very sobering. He says that in many places, the carbon debt of having them is not repaid due to poor sunlight hours. Wind is much better.
His report on solar was kind of silly. A lot of it was rather obsolete, misguided, and probably just the usual US centric bigotry. Basically he looks like he is shit at basic research.
China produces solar panels because they have the largest installed capacity of solar power. More than 3x that of the US, nearly double the whole of the EU. Their excess production is sold worldwide because they have efficiences of scale because they trykng to green their power supply on new capacity.
Industrial grade silicon isn't produced in a "blast furnace". It is produced using electric furnaces. There are a number of paths to further refine into polysilicates used for solar panels – but as far as I am aware they are all powered by electricity and use various chemicals to get the right crystal structure.
So when he states that the panels are produced with coal power, well that may have been the case a decade ago, but increasingly the power for producing solar panels there is from non-coal sources. Just as you'd expect from a boot strap technology – which are always built on older technologies. Clearly he doesn't read or understand technological history.
Slave labour – no links, but it seems highly unlikely. The production path to produce solar cells doesn't survive sloppy work. Mostly it is automated. Basically that claim sound's like a ignorant clickbait.
He also ignores the role of batteries with solar power and the grid. Doesn't talk about the relative efficiences under different climates, in particular what happens when coal is removed as a energy source. Most of the problems with solar near large cities is directly related to pollution.
I could go on – but I have already written him off as a ignorant fool
Probably the issue that arises a lot these days where experts in one field suddenly feel qualified to comment on a lot of areas outside their expertise.
When he is talking about demographics and geopolitics then he is definitely worth listening to. When he goes outside that, then take it with a grain of salt, and confirm with your own research.
When he is talking about demographics and geopolitics then he is definitely worth listening to.
I see that there are some demographic links further up. I'll have a peek at those when I get some time. Don't be surprised if I find something to disagree with there. Hopefully more with opinion than facts.
When he goes outside that, then take it with a grain of salt, and confirm with your own research.
I pretty much always do. What got me in the solar post was that he made some truly heroic presumptions that sounded like they were propaganda at least a decade out of date. The coal power generation one in particular. Because there has been a major effort in China to reduce coal electricity generation and to replace it with renewables.
The arguments about solar vs wind are things that I have observed for decades.
But the relative cost/benefit values he was talking about were also old. They sounded like something that I could have possibly agreed with in 2010 before the solar cost drops as production scaled, the economic movement of wind power generation from land to sea, and the massive improvements in battery cost/benefits. Not to mention the reports of changes in solar efficiencies as particulate pollution over urban areas diminished.
At that point I checked the date of the video. It was put up 9 days old on his own channel – and went WTF!
I'd also point out that none of this is particularly in my areas of expertise either. Maybe it is for some of the crystallography (earth sciences), furnaces (refractories), and some work on solar and battery economics (dealing with BOMs for hardware on electronic devices).
Mostly it is just general knowledge from my reading – mostly from The Economist which tends to delve into these issues at a detailed but general knowledge level.
You say that "So when he states that the panels are produced with coal power, well that may have been the case a decade ago, …. " and say that they are produced by electricity.
That may be so but China still produces more than 60% of its electricity from coal fired powered stations and you can't really distinguish where any give piece of electricity was generated so it seems quite reasonable to claim that the solar panels comes from coal sources. After all it will all be coming of the National grids(s) that cover the country.
That may be so but China still produces more than 60% of its electricity from coal fired powered stations ..
Well down from the 80% when it peaked in 2007.
and you can't really distinguish where any give piece of electricity was generated so it seems quite reasonable to claim that the solar panels comes from coal sources. After all it will all be coming of the National grids(s) that cover the country.
Because you have to be stupid if you think that power is normally transported long distances between where it is generated and where it is consumed.
That doesn't happen here, it doesn't happen in the US, or Australia, and certainly not in China where they only started using HVDC (like our cook strait cables) interconnects in 2005 between parts of their nascent grid.
Sure it is technically possible to transport power from one side of a country to another. But you typically have to put in hugely expensive and difficult to maintain high voltage DC lines. Mostly power is transported on lower voltage AC, and typically only for less than 500km.
China actually doesn't have any more of a national grid than the US or Australia does. It is building two at present, one in the north and one in the south. But it is a patchwork of local grids that are generally groups of a few provinces with some transference of electricity between them. Pretty much like Aussie, and probably even more disconnected than the US grid.
That is because the loss rates on long transfers of electricity make it uneconomic to send power more than a 200-500 kilometres depending on technology and voltage. Most power grids are connections that shift excess locally generated power relatively short distances.
I sense that you seem to be thinking something more like the two major NZ grids each of which well less than a megametre in length and skinny. We put a small fraction of our generated power over the HVDC lines between the two grids.
Whereas China is something like 5 megametres EW and 5.5 megametres NS. It'd require some really large numbers of of HVDC lines to be able to transfer power long distances in a much large area than our skinny islands.
Also on the basis of your argument it'd be easy to argue that the US which has 35% coal powered electricity so it should not be producing solar panels because that coal power through their rather useless grid was injecting too much carbon into the atmosphere. Of course you'd have to ignore where the solar panels there are created and are generating as well.
Because most of the solar power generation is in the West of the China in the more higher and more arid parts of the country. That is a for good reason, they get the highest efficiencies of converting sunlight into electricity. This is a common feature of all new technologies. Seems like basic economics to me – your interpretation may vary.
Also part of basic economics for new technologies is the co-location of manufacturing and R&D is typically close to usage sites. This allows issues to be fixed close to usage site without transport costs, and being able to look at issues in situ.
So in China you'd expect to find most of the solar panel manufacturing is also located close to generating capacity. And that is is exactly the pattern you see when you dig into where the manufacturing plants for solar grade silicon and solar panels are located. Most of the substantive sites for producing solar polysilicon are also in the west of China.
But this isn't exactly rocket science or non-obvious effects of economics. It is the obvious geographical consequence of any new technology. Development and initial manufacturing usually happens where there is a either usage or a resource constraint that is hard to move. Silicon isn’t a hard resource to find. It isn’t a high labour or even a high skills area (outside of the R&D needs). So with solar panels, it tends to geographically cluster where it is used.
So you'll find (for instance) that Norway is a leading manufacturer of sea based wind power systems. Carbon is available everywhere. The skills are also R&D bound. They have some really large fields of wind turbines in the North Sea.
That NZ has quite a development and manufacturing history in open air agricultural technologies. etc. etc.
It is only after technologies mature that you find the locations of manufacture and R&D and the location of usage will start to separate. That typically happens as scale efficiencies happen and the distribution networks spread. Then the manufacturing centres will tend to proliferate
The obvious possible exception to trend involves software and net technologies which are less geographically bound. But that just results in those industries being geographically centred around comms links, capital and skills.
Which basically requires the reserve bank to kill the rest of the economy, whenever Auckland house prices, or wages, rise.
Originally enacted, as a circuit breaker, to cap excessive inflation in the 80's, politicians have kept it, long past its use by date, because in their limited view, what works once, briefly, will work perpetually.
It could be argued that it was somewhat successful in curbing very high inflation, on that limited occasion, though others would note that the end of very high inflation ended with the slowing of the rise in oil prices.
Now, every time the New Zealand productive economy struggles off its knees, the reserve bank delivers another knockout.
Mostly divided by age and gender based on some of the actual recent polling. I'd have to lookup the most interesting recent article out of my notes when I get back from the deep south.
You will notice that Josie just waffles her way through the peice giving only her opinion based on her experience, interpretation and biases only. She mentions a single international april poll about trust in media. And it is like she never read the link she used.
The poll text attributed most of the blame for the drop in media trust to the click-bait outrage of the media. In other words in my opinion they are describing exactly the type of evidence-free simplistic opinion only crap that Josie populates in both that article and in her usual media roles.
People like Josie are why I don't trust most media. Being a loud critic for the sole purpose of generating clicks is just a waste of my time. Especially when she neither manages to actually exactly what she is whinging about, nor manages to express any possible solutions.
I have been of the opinion that her, media like her, and their spawned PR collegues in pllitical parties and corporate are just useless at generating trust.
I tend to trust government somewhat more because because I read the documents backing shifts in government policies. Those invariably show the logic and background to decisions. This includes real data. Something that click bait media chasing indignation seldom does report or even seems to care about.
BTW: if you want to read good journalism, then the april article by Patrik Smellie at business desk that Josie referenced is a excellent example. May be paywalled (I subscribe to BD)
One of the world's great awards for journalism is named after Joseph Pulitzer. As a Hungarian refugee arriving in the US, he never forgot what it was like to sleep on a park bench because you had no money for rent. "Never lack sympathy for the poor," he said on his retirement.
Pulitzer's media was deeply democratic. He set out to provide a cheap daily newspaper for the poor that would be an alternative to the more expensive alternatives.
We are a culturally divided country. Trust in the media is dropping, particularly among people with more conservative views. You might not worry if your views are left, but it does matter in our democracy if a chunk of citizens don't feel represented.
She carelessly conflates conservative with poor and left with middle class liberal. Our largest media NZH is anti-left, and once provided an editorial (2005) demanding voters prevent a Labour-Green coalition government.
My local paper at the time, Hawke's Bay Today, ran a similar editorial explaining why a Labour Green government should not be elected. The blow back was about 50/50 according to then editor, Louis Pierard. Pierard was to the Right of politics, but allowed all views to be expressed in his paper. Unfortunately things turned sour after that editorial, some readership was lost, but the Left leaning editors that followed in quick succession ruined what was left of a once thriving regional paper. Of course, changing media habits didn't help.
''I’ve been hosting talkback this week. So far I’ve spoken to a tradie in his ute, a rocket scientist, a cook, retired folk and a dad with his 2-year-old waiting for a Covid test. ''
I take a lot of shit for being a avid talkback listener even though my critics can usually point to something they have found of interest on TB radio, in amongst the besmirching of my good character.
The above highlighted paragraph from Josie explains why I listen to TB. Sure, you won't hear higher echelons of Intellectual discourse, or discussions regarding reams of buro babble and clauses in a new piece of government regulation. But the effects of government policies, both known and little know, and cultural/ societal trends are usually first picked up by talkback back, months and sometimes years before MSM takes an interest. You sometimes get the inside story on issues that are just regurgitated official press releases beloved by MSM.
Talkbacks big secret – a tradie, rocket scientist, and a cook don't work for media outlets or vested interests. They are you and me.
Elmo thought this cretin was worthy of having his twitter account reinstated.
Andrew Tate says women belong in the home, can’t drive, and are a man’s property.
He also thinks rape victims must “bear responsibility” for their attacks and dates women aged 18–19 because he can “make an imprint” on them, according to videos posted online.
In other clips, the British-American kickboxer – who poses with fast cars, guns and portrays himself as a cigar-smoking playboy – talks about hitting and choking women, trashing their belongings and stopping them from going out.
Interesting and entertaining look at the political successes and failures over the last year – from a wide range of political commentators. Interesting to see the similarities (one expects to see the differences)
Apologies if this has already been linked (I had a quick look, but didn't see it) – I've been a bit offline over the holiday season.
''National: It should be better. Luxon is not believable nor is he particularly likeable.''
Ditto, the National Party as a whole.
He's right. Labour should have been evisceratedin the Hamilton by-election. Yet 4,500 people voted Labour. These voters either believe Labour is doing a great job ( generally unlikely), or they believe National would be worse in government.
''Or they don't think at all and reflexively vote Labour, as much as a third of the voting population reflexively votes for National.''
The worst type of political toadyism going. Similar to rugby diehards. At the base of these voters political thoughts are usually some simple childlike beliefs like the Left are commies, or the Right are only about rich pricks.
In my perfect world there'd be no parties, every shire would elect their chosen hobit and they would all meet and fund top solutions for our problems , but the realist says it'd never fly.
Imagine the caos if parties got wiped our completely at the whim of a population that swings wildly from side to side.
Bug chasing again. On the mobile version I'm getting some posts that don't display the post body. For instance the one below off an Samsung S10+. I'm guessing that it is to do with displaying twitter or youtube.
Yes it's quite frequent on my Samsung A8 Android V.9
Yesterday I had the same as your screenshot above, but today it opens the desktop version and when trying to change to mobile version nothing happens, it stays on desktop.
It appears to be where we have a classic block embedded into a block editor where the classic block is the whole of the content. The attributes on the div are set to display:none.
I'll feed the cat, assimilate some more coffee, and try to do a work around in CSS. If that doesn't work (which it may not because it is hard to override a element attribute), then I'll see if I can identify the code that puts that display:none into the html.
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The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Peter Zeihan has been running a entertaining series on world demographics, if such a thing can be entertaining!!. Each video is only 5-7 minutes long.
Anyway, he has just done a video that covers the demographic trends for both the US and NZ.
The takeaway is that the demographic future for both the US and NZ is very similar, despite the size difference. And, demographic trends for both the US and NZ are quite positive compared to a lot of other places in the world, e.g., China, Russia, and wider Europe, which are basically in terminal decline.
That's really interesting. Seems our urban migration sets the stage for more rural people by making 'elbow room'. The challenge then (if one wants a workforce) is to make the countryside attractive enough to retain some people, but not so attractive it too becomes populous.
The 'numbers making sense' (finance, opportunity) aspect of choosing to have children may be under strain lately. I have friends who seriously contemplate the expense of an extra pet, let alone child.
What he says about the financial pain coming as we hit the narrow band of X-ers (me) so there's not so many to fill jobs, not so much capital… Surely, the boomers capital has to go somewhere e.g. inheritance, investments still occurring? This bit puzzled me.
The wrap up leading to inflation, the future of some vs other countries, very insightful, thank you.
The boomer capital will be spend on nice, expensive money eating retirement homes and lifestyle for those that can afford it. The not so fortunate 'boomers' are as poor as the rest of us.
You're so right about that Sabine
We Boomers(myself, not you) don't die respectably early these days, so the kids watch as their inheritance gets hoovered up
Yeah that makes sense. Cruise ships till death!
Andre King, comedian, works cruise ships. He jokes about the age of the clientele: He went out on deck and thought they'd laid out lots of driftwood.
Driftwood!
Genius.
And why not. why would they not lay themselves like drift wood in the sun. They could be lonely in the cold cities. They could shrivel away in a retirement place. At that age, does it matter?
And for some, that might be the first time to ever do that to begin with, specially the poor working class boomers who exist in larger number then the financially well off.
No need to belittle them for cheap laughs.
What should be understood is that all of us will be asked to sell what we have in assets to get into a nice retirement home with people that will look after you, rather then some understaffed, underfunded, overcrowded affordable public retirement home because that is all that one can afford. You get the service that you can afford, and those with land to sell have money to afford a somewhat decent (hopefully) service. That is the system we have and so far i can not see any change come in the future.
"No need to belittle them for cheap laughs."
I remember why I stopped replying to you. My bad, but get a grip.
This is effing interesting! I wish our economists could explain things as eloquently and effectively as him. Great find!
Peter did his post-grad studies at the University of Auckland and retains a real fondness for his time in NZ. Scattered throughout his material are odd references to this country – often in jest.
He makes a living giving conference presentations, and has a team of researchers assisting. He has also published four books, all of which I have read with interest. I will acknowledge that along with Jared Diamond, Zeihan has been influential in my thinking. The core idea he brings is that geography, demography, transport and security are the elements that determine the long-term fate of peoples and nations far more than politics and personalities.
There is no requirement to agree with everything he says, but the hit rate on his predictions is disturbingly high.
His talk on solar is very sobering. He says that in many places, the carbon debt of having them is not repaid due to poor sunlight hours. Wind is much better.
His report on solar was kind of silly. A lot of it was rather obsolete, misguided, and probably just the usual US centric bigotry. Basically he looks like he is shit at basic research.
China produces solar panels because they have the largest installed capacity of solar power. More than 3x that of the US, nearly double the whole of the EU. Their excess production is sold worldwide because they have efficiences of scale because they trykng to green their power supply on new capacity.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/solar-power-by-country
Industrial grade silicon isn't produced in a "blast furnace". It is produced using electric furnaces. There are a number of paths to further refine into polysilicates used for solar panels – but as far as I am aware they are all powered by electricity and use various chemicals to get the right crystal structure.
So when he states that the panels are produced with coal power, well that may have been the case a decade ago, but increasingly the power for producing solar panels there is from non-coal sources. Just as you'd expect from a boot strap technology – which are always built on older technologies. Clearly he doesn't read or understand technological history.
Slave labour – no links, but it seems highly unlikely. The production path to produce solar cells doesn't survive sloppy work. Mostly it is automated. Basically that claim sound's like a ignorant clickbait.
He also ignores the role of batteries with solar power and the grid. Doesn't talk about the relative efficiences under different climates, in particular what happens when coal is removed as a energy source. Most of the problems with solar near large cities is directly related to pollution.
I could go on – but I have already written him off as a ignorant fool
Probably the issue that arises a lot these days where experts in one field suddenly feel qualified to comment on a lot of areas outside their expertise.
When he is talking about demographics and geopolitics then he is definitely worth listening to. When he goes outside that, then take it with a grain of salt, and confirm with your own research.
People underestimate China's commitment to renewable energy. It's huge.
https://twitter.com/KyleTrainEmoji/status/1604510937557635072
careful now T Smithfield
I see that there are some demographic links further up. I'll have a peek at those when I get some time. Don't be surprised if I find something to disagree with there. Hopefully more with opinion than facts.
I pretty much always do. What got me in the solar post was that he made some truly heroic presumptions that sounded like they were propaganda at least a decade out of date. The coal power generation one in particular. Because there has been a major effort in China to reduce coal electricity generation and to replace it with renewables.
So I looked up this world bank graph from 2015.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.COAL.ZS?locations=CN
then wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_China#Coal_power
then solar in China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China#Solar_PV_by_province
The arguments about solar vs wind are things that I have observed for decades.
But the relative cost/benefit values he was talking about were also old. They sounded like something that I could have possibly agreed with in 2010 before the solar cost drops as production scaled, the economic movement of wind power generation from land to sea, and the massive improvements in battery cost/benefits. Not to mention the reports of changes in solar efficiencies as particulate pollution over urban areas diminished.
At that point I checked the date of the video. It was put up 9 days old on his own channel – and went WTF!
I'd also point out that none of this is particularly in my areas of expertise either. Maybe it is for some of the crystallography (earth sciences), furnaces (refractories), and some work on solar and battery economics (dealing with BOMs for hardware on electronic devices).
Mostly it is just general knowledge from my reading – mostly from The Economist which tends to delve into these issues at a detailed but general knowledge level.
And I have written you off as an arrogant pompous know it all fool. But unlike you I will not go on.
Bye.
Hope you're not buggering off RL, you're worth reading
He does this every so often, might be an Australian weather related meltdown, or he WOKE in a bad mood!
Anyhow, it's a shit way to speak to an old friend. Lprent is no fool though so he's clearly stressed about something.
I agree, Francesca. RedLogix is a well needed counter balance. I always read what he has to say. Worldly experience seems to have rounded him out.
Again?
You say that "So when he states that the panels are produced with coal power, well that may have been the case a decade ago, …. " and say that they are produced by electricity.
That may be so but China still produces more than 60% of its electricity from coal fired powered stations and you can't really distinguish where any give piece of electricity was generated so it seems quite reasonable to claim that the solar panels comes from coal sources. After all it will all be coming of the National grids(s) that cover the country.
How do you come to your conclusion that it isn't?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_China
Well down from the 80% when it peaked in 2007.
Because you have to be stupid if you think that power is normally transported long distances between where it is generated and where it is consumed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission#Losses
That doesn't happen here, it doesn't happen in the US, or Australia, and certainly not in China where they only started using HVDC (like our cook strait cables) interconnects in 2005 between parts of their nascent grid.
Sure it is technically possible to transport power from one side of a country to another. But you typically have to put in hugely expensive and difficult to maintain high voltage DC lines. Mostly power is transported on lower voltage AC, and typically only for less than 500km.
China actually doesn't have any more of a national grid than the US or Australia does. It is building two at present, one in the north and one in the south. But it is a patchwork of local grids that are generally groups of a few provinces with some transference of electricity between them. Pretty much like Aussie, and probably even more disconnected than the US grid.
That is because the loss rates on long transfers of electricity make it uneconomic to send power more than a 200-500 kilometres depending on technology and voltage. Most power grids are connections that shift excess locally generated power relatively short distances.
I sense that you seem to be thinking something more like the two major NZ grids each of which well less than a megametre in length and skinny. We put a small fraction of our generated power over the HVDC lines between the two grids.
Whereas China is something like 5 megametres EW and 5.5 megametres NS. It'd require some really large numbers of of HVDC lines to be able to transfer power long distances in a much large area than our skinny islands.
Also on the basis of your argument it'd be easy to argue that the US which has 35% coal powered electricity so it should not be producing solar panels because that coal power through their rather useless grid was injecting too much carbon into the atmosphere. Of course you'd have to ignore where the solar panels there are created and are generating as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China
Because most of the solar power generation is in the West of the China in the more higher and more arid parts of the country. That is a for good reason, they get the highest efficiencies of converting sunlight into electricity. This is a common feature of all new technologies. Seems like basic economics to me – your interpretation may vary.
Also part of basic economics for new technologies is the co-location of manufacturing and R&D is typically close to usage sites. This allows issues to be fixed close to usage site without transport costs, and being able to look at issues in situ.
So in China you'd expect to find most of the solar panel manufacturing is also located close to generating capacity. And that is is exactly the pattern you see when you dig into where the manufacturing plants for solar grade silicon and solar panels are located. Most of the substantive sites for producing solar polysilicon are also in the west of China.
But this isn't exactly rocket science or non-obvious effects of economics. It is the obvious geographical consequence of any new technology. Development and initial manufacturing usually happens where there is a either usage or a resource constraint that is hard to move. Silicon isn’t a hard resource to find. It isn’t a high labour or even a high skills area (outside of the R&D needs). So with solar panels, it tends to geographically cluster where it is used.
So you'll find (for instance) that Norway is a leading manufacturer of sea based wind power systems. Carbon is available everywhere. The skills are also R&D bound. They have some really large fields of wind turbines in the North Sea.
That NZ has quite a development and manufacturing history in open air agricultural technologies. etc. etc.
It is only after technologies mature that you find the locations of manufacture and R&D and the location of usage will start to separate. That typically happens as scale efficiencies happen and the distribution networks spread. Then the manufacturing centres will tend to proliferate
The obvious possible exception to trend involves software and net technologies which are less geographically bound. But that just results in those industries being geographically centred around comms links, capital and skills.
Good discussion on the question, does using monetary policy and unemployment to target inflation work?
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=51089
As relevant now as back then.
KJT. Random musings on all sorts of things.: The Reserve Bank, Debt and the Property Market (kjt-kt.blogspot.com)
Third try, this looks a little more likely to be correct.
Could people check if they are getting their correct replies.
working fine, thanks
Same here.
all good for me too.
Looks like we have a winner. Told it to ignore caching the group "recent_replies"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130870952/josie-pagani-were-more-divided-than-ever–culturally-not-just-economically
Interesting opinion piece by Josie Pagani about how New Zealanders are more culturally divided
Mostly divided by age and gender based on some of the actual recent polling. I'd have to lookup the most interesting recent article out of my notes when I get back from the deep south.
You will notice that Josie just waffles her way through the peice giving only her opinion based on her experience, interpretation and biases only. She mentions a single international april poll about trust in media. And it is like she never read the link she used.
The poll text attributed most of the blame for the drop in media trust to the click-bait outrage of the media. In other words in my opinion they are describing exactly the type of evidence-free simplistic opinion only crap that Josie populates in both that article and in her usual media roles.
People like Josie are why I don't trust most media. Being a loud critic for the sole purpose of generating clicks is just a waste of my time. Especially when she neither manages to actually exactly what she is whinging about, nor manages to express any possible solutions.
I have been of the opinion that her, media like her, and their spawned PR collegues in pllitical parties and corporate are just useless at generating trust.
I tend to trust government somewhat more because because I read the documents backing shifts in government policies. Those invariably show the logic and background to decisions. This includes real data. Something that click bait media chasing indignation seldom does report or even seems to care about.
BTW: if you want to read good journalism, then the april article by Patrik Smellie at business desk that Josie referenced is a excellent example. May be paywalled (I subscribe to BD)
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/media/distrust-in-media-undermining-democracy-two-new-reports
It only lacked a decent link to the poll itself.
She carelessly conflates conservative with poor and left with middle class liberal. Our largest media NZH is anti-left, and once provided an editorial (2005) demanding voters prevent a Labour-Green coalition government.
My local paper at the time, Hawke's Bay Today, ran a similar editorial explaining why a Labour Green government should not be elected. The blow back was about 50/50 according to then editor, Louis Pierard. Pierard was to the Right of politics, but allowed all views to be expressed in his paper. Unfortunately things turned sour after that editorial, some readership was lost, but the Left leaning editors that followed in quick succession ruined what was left of a once thriving regional paper. Of course, changing media habits didn't help.
''I’ve been hosting talkback this week. So far I’ve spoken to a tradie in his ute, a rocket scientist, a cook, retired folk and a dad with his 2-year-old waiting for a Covid test. ''
I take a lot of shit for being a avid talkback listener even though my critics can usually point to something they have found of interest on TB radio, in amongst the besmirching of my good character.
The above highlighted paragraph from Josie explains why I listen to TB. Sure, you won't hear higher echelons of Intellectual discourse, or discussions regarding reams of buro babble and clauses in a new piece of government regulation. But the effects of government policies, both known and little know, and cultural/ societal trends are usually first picked up by talkback back, months and sometimes years before MSM takes an interest. You sometimes get the inside story on issues that are just regurgitated official press releases beloved by MSM.
Talkbacks big secret – a tradie, rocket scientist, and a cook don't work for media outlets or vested interests. They are you and me.
Here's to happy endings.
https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1608590154838466563
Darn! I’ll miss his dazzled dick tweets.
Jerry's! Jerry's! Jerry's!
Elmo thought this cretin was worthy of having his twitter account reinstated.
Andrew Tate says women belong in the home, can’t drive, and are a man’s property.
He also thinks rape victims must “bear responsibility” for their attacks and dates women aged 18–19 because he can “make an imprint” on them, according to videos posted online.
In other clips, the British-American kickboxer – who poses with fast cars, guns and portrays himself as a cigar-smoking playboy – talks about hitting and choking women, trashing their belongings and stopping them from going out.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/06/andrew-tate-violent-misogynistic-world-of-tiktok-new-star
https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1608735970131849217?cxt=HHwWgsDR0ey1sNMsAAAA
🔥 #2
If guilty I hope Andrew Tait goes to prison, like forever. Lock away the key. Human sex trafficing is the lowest.
And by saying "if he is guilty" I am not implying in anyway he isn't.
Interesting and entertaining look at the political successes and failures over the last year – from a wide range of political commentators. Interesting to see the similarities (one expects to see the differences)
Apologies if this has already been linked (I had a quick look, but didn't see it) – I've been a bit offline over the holiday season.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/19-12-2022/the-champs-and-flops-of-nz-politics-in-2022
From Shane Te Pou's recapitulation:
''National: It should be better. Luxon is not believable nor is he particularly likeable.''
Ditto, the National Party as a whole.
He's right. Labour should have been eviscerated in the Hamilton by-election. Yet 4,500 people voted Labour. These voters either believe Labour is doing a great job ( generally unlikely), or they believe National would be worse in government.
Or they don't think at all and reflexively vote Labour, as much as a third of the voting population reflexively votes for National.
The really sad thing is that this by -election should never have happened. A pointless exercise in pretending that there are two distinct parties.
The only interesting result of this by – election was Act.
''Or they don't think at all and reflexively vote Labour, as much as a third of the voting population reflexively votes for National.''
The worst type of political toadyism going. Similar to rugby diehards. At the base of these voters political thoughts are usually some simple childlike beliefs like the Left are commies, or the Right are only about rich pricks.
While I look sideways at anyone who blindly votes for the same party endlessly.
Those 20to 30% on both sides provide a good solid base for democracy to function from.
Never looked at it that way. All hope for a better future for our country has just faded for me.
In my perfect world there'd be no parties, every shire would elect their chosen hobit and they would all meet and fund top solutions for our problems , but the realist says it'd never fly.
Imagine the caos if parties got wiped our completely at the whim of a population that swings wildly from side to side.
TBH parties are useful, as it provides an indication of what sort of policy outcomes that candidates are after.
Bug chasing again. On the mobile version I'm getting some posts that don't display the post body. For instance the one below off an Samsung S10+. I'm guessing that it is to do with displaying twitter or youtube.
Is anyone else getting this?
Been happening on and off for awhile, I think I pointed it out 2 micky a few months back
looks exactly the same on my iphone12 iOS 16.2
Yes it's quite frequent on my Samsung A8 Android V.9
Yesterday I had the same as your screenshot above, but today it opens the desktop version and when trying to change to mobile version nothing happens, it stays on desktop.
That sounds like a caching issue on the same page rather than the current bug.
I'll have a look at the caching for mobile after I get this bug killed.
this one too https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31-12-2022/#comment-1928782
Ok – got a signature on it after a second look.
It appears to be where we have a classic block embedded into a block editor where the classic block is the whole of the content. The attributes on the div are set to display:none.
I'll feed the cat, assimilate some more coffee, and try to do a work around in CSS. If that doesn't work (which it may not because it is hard to override a element attribute), then I'll see if I can identify the code that puts that display:none into the html.