Monthly Archives: April 2015

PMs just wanna have fun …

Posted on 25th Apr, 2015 by Puddleglum

According to John Key it was all just innocent “horsing around“. It wasn’t, of course – as John Armstrong in the New Zealand Herald understands. And Key knew that too. All his protests to the contrary amount to him pulling our collective … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Human Nature, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Seven Sharp, Campbell Live and TV Ratings – The ‘Nudge’ Factor

Posted on 10th Apr, 2015 by Puddleglum

University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler and Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein  wrote a generally well-received book in 2008 called ‘Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness‘. It was an accessible assemblage of very well known work in psychology … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Free Market, Human Nature, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The politics of the empty tomb – Part II

Posted on 9th Apr, 2015 by Puddleglum

[In Part I of this post I suggested that – even for the non-religious – there’s some interesting social, economic and political insights to be gained from considering the ubiquitousness of religion. More specifically, I claimed that the myth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The politics of the empty tomb – Part I

Posted on 9th Apr, 2015 by Puddleglum

An advantage of a few days holiday is that it allows time to let the mind reflect and run free from the routine daily tasks it has to perform in work-a-day life. Given the last few days holiday (‘Holy-day’) were about … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom, Human Nature, Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics, Philosophy | 3 Comments