Latest Posts
Improving education
There’s an interesting article in a recent Economist about some McKinsey research on improving school performance. I couldn’t find the original McKinsey research (presumably they charge governments a lot of money for it), but even the bits summarised in the Economist are different from most of what you will read aboutContinue Reading
Pork barrelling
I live in the electorate of North Sydney, a very safe Liberal seat on Sydney’s North Shore (10% swing required for Labor to win). It has been held by Independents in the past (the legendary Ted Mack), but there isn’t one around at the moment with the right level ofContinue Reading
Book Review: John Curtin, A great leader
An alcoholic, manic-depressive, plagued with self doubt, he spent all but three years of his working life working for the unions before being elected to parliament. Alternatively, the man regarded by many as Australia’s greatest leader – wartime Prime Minister John Curtin. After watching the miniseries Curtin six months ago,Continue Reading
Celebrity
Tonight, I got the chance to see Al Gore speak live. He was spruiking his investment company, Generation _, which is being launched (via a platform) to retail investors in Australia. I’m not usually seduced by celebrity, but this felt like an opportunity you don’t get every day. I readContinue Reading
Books I’m reading
I’ve put up a new page on the books I’ve read this year – since I seemed to have lost the ability to actually do a proper review of them. I’ll add to it from time to time.Continue Reading
The Language of Clothes
With APEC visiting this week, my team took the opportunity to dress in casual clothes. The theory is that we are less likely to be pelted with fruit by ratbag protesters. My team, as befits a bunch of actuaries, is not much into dressing especially well. So the chance to dressContinue Reading
The Last Gasp
Michael Duffy had a column in the Sydney Morning Herald today with some (I hope) last gasp global warming denial. Before I got into blogging, I suspect I would have read it as making some valid points. Unfortunately, for Michael Duffy, I had already read the comprehensive demolition from theContinue Reading
Walkability
Via Elizabeth, at Half Changed World, I found this index of walkability of where you live. It works on google maps, which unfortunately isn’t populated for my local part of Sydney, so I don’t know where my house comes out on the scale. To see how the scale works, here’s whereContinue Reading
Mr Chairman
Once a month, I spend the best part of two days in a series of Board meetings. Occasionally, the topic of conversation drags, particularly if it is a paper that I’m not expecting to be questioned about, and I watch the interactions play out in the meeting. Our meetings areContinue Reading
Divorce rates
Elizabeth at Half Changed World has a post up about divorce myths – in particular the myth that half of all marriages end in divorce. In the US, it turns out, around 40% of all marriages end in divorce (if you track divorce rates by duration). Coincidentally, reading the paperContinue Reading