Rodney Hide: Doctors and Nurses now Kill and Maim

Our Doctors and Nurses are leaving babies to die should their attempt to kill them in utero fail. Their only care is to wrap the poor things in a blanket as they struggle and strain to their last pained breath.

That happens now in New Zealand hospitals with nurses and doctors present with the ability to save their lives. It happens because mum doesn’t want the baby hence the late term abortion.

Brian Easton: What Do Economists Do?

Steven Levitt, famous for his Freakanomics, shows that being an economist is not just mouthing supply and demand.

Anyone can call themselves an ‘economist’. Many do, despite having no qualifications in economics and hardly any formal training; they often make elementary errors. That is the result of a conscious decision of the economics profession which resists barriers to exit and entry. In contrast other professions have restrictions, often for good reasons; I am glad my medical advisers are not only qualified but also registered. However, claiming to be expert on economics to contribute to the public commentary without any expertise, is confusing to those with more humble understandings.

On the other hand there are those who have a high reputation in the economics profession but who don’t seem to be really economists. Consider Steven Levitt, who has written of himself, ‘I am having trouble mastering the tools of my own profession. If you ask my students whether I know calculus, they will say “not very well”. I’m not proud of the fact, but I’m a realist. If you ask the really great economic thinkers like Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy how often I’m right when I try to apply Chicago price theory, they will simply tell you that I am showing a lot of improvement, because they are kind.’