Articles by Kyle Hargraves

It is worth pointing out that the recent (2021) study of inequality in New Zealand undertaken by Max Rashbrooke relies, by Rashbrooke’s admission, upon Piketty’s “Capital” or Capital in the Twenty First century (2014) which examines economic global growth (what might be considered as GDP) and the (global) return on capital assets for a millennia or so. The difference, as Piketty…

Once upon a time, the southern Pacific was deemed the province of Australia and New Zealand with regard to cultural and educational exchanges and, of course, aid. Yet aid to Fiji from China (i.e., the PRC) can be traced to 19752 Then there is a general anxiety displayed by the press and the electorate in regard to the PRC, from 5G communications equipment to influence on NZ…

In part the inclination might be explained by the tendency to place greater prominence on the present than the past but it typically the past that conditions the present in business or personal relationships and particularly in global politics. As to how Putin regards the Ukraine is somewhat by the way because the attitude with regard to Iraq over eight years from 2003 was…

An alternative title might have been: “The Ukraine adjusted 90 years from the 1930s” but the good thing about political forecasts is that they are a bit like the weather; one is either right or wrong and the most in error one can be is wrong. However one may be wrong in regard to a conclusion but not in terms of motive or effects. The curtailing of NATO expansion is one (obvious)…

If the Winter Olympics, this year to be hosted by Beijing (04-20 Feb), were solely about sport then the only logistical issue would be in regard to Covid-19. However, from the one-day event until 684 BC, when the games were extended to three days, the games were always about more than the games otherwise it would have been deemed unnecessary to extended the games to five days…

One could say that the events in the Ukraine and the reaction of Russia has removed the topic of Covid-19 from the front page or, in some instances, perhaps from page three as well. As with any matter of significance, the issue is considerably more complicated than a case of freedom and the big bad Ruskies. By way of comparison the situation is not altogether unlike that of China…

Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans and they have been in existence (as any search will yield) since the origin of Homo sapiens 200,000 years ago or, roughly, since Adam. Given a globally increasing population density, where the current total is 7.9 billions, one ought to anticipate an increase in zoonotic diseases of which coronavirus 2…