King Canute eh? What an arrogant tosser, thinking he could command the tide not to come in. Except I already knew he wasn't - that he had (probably) pulled the stunt - if he ever did- to get some of his more over-enthusiastically sycophantic courtiers to knock it off. What I didn't know was that... Continue Reading →
“Laws and PhD theses are like sausages - it does not pay to look too closely at how they are made…” Marc Hudson 21 December 2016. Buy me a beer. I'll tell you about it.
Goering is alleged to have said that whenever he heard the word culture he reached for his revolver. For me, whendver I hear the word 'trap' I think of my Elvis. Specifically, 'We're caught in a trap. I can't walk out....' Meanwhile, this from an article Nair, S. and Howlett. 2015. From robustness to resilience:... Continue Reading →
I went to a meeting (won't say if it was activist or academic or whatever - that's not the point). There was explicitly 'no agenda'. And we were then, without warning, asked to introduce ourselves (say what we had done, were doing and what we wanted to do around this particular issue/topic). And did they give... Continue Reading →
"A new science of politics is indispensable to a new world. This, however, is what we think of least; launched in the middle of a rapid stream, we obstinately fix our eyes on the ruins which may still be described upon the shore we have left, whilst the current sweeps us along, and drives us... Continue Reading →
What happened? This week the government executed a massive policy backflip and its backbenchers weakened a leader who they despise and will probably knife quite soon. The opposition rolled its eyes and sighed and secretly squealed with delight. There were assurances that Australia is on track to meet its international obligations on emissions reductions when in... Continue Reading →
From here. In a phone call a couple of weeks later, I press Streeck again. “If I look 10 or 20 years out, I don’t like what I see,” he says. Nor is he alone: he quotes a new book by the former head of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, and his projection of... Continue Reading →
The policy oscillations around a price on carbon in Australia are one of the few sources of reliable and seemingly endlessly renewable political energy. This article tries to answer the following questions How did we get here (a quick run through Australian climate policy debacles - skip this if you are familiar with the sorry... Continue Reading →
Former US vice-president Walter Mondale once observed that political image is like mixing cement. When it's wet you can move it around and shape it, he said. But at some point it hardens, and then there is almost nothing you can do. Oakes, L. 2011. Like concrete, lie could sink Gillard. The Australian, 12 March.... Continue Reading →
When I was in Australia, I ended up with a smartphone (the handset was as cheap as the cheapest non-smart model, so I thought 'why not?'). There were two consequences a) I met up with someone who I'd have otherwise missed because I was able to check email on the move b) I freaked the... Continue Reading →
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