Archive

Keith Rankin

Keith Rankin is an economics and statistics lecturer, recently retired from Unitec, Auckland, New Zealand.

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Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Pandemic-era Deaths: Interpretation of the Facts

March 8, 2023

Analysis by Keith Rankin. On 7 March 2023 I published a summary table of death tallies in a wide range of countries, comparing 2019‑2022 with 2015‑2018. (Covid19 Pandemic-era Facts: Irrefutable, Inconvenient, Important, Evening Report.) I let the data stand on its own, largely without interpretation. The most important findings to explain are the reasons why Sweden ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Pandemic-era Deaths: Interpretation of the Facts" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/03/08/keith-rankin-analysis-covid19-pandemic-era-deaths-interpretation-of-the-facts/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Pandemic-era Deaths: Interpretation of the Facts">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Pandemic-era Facts: Irrefutable, Inconvenient, Important

March 7, 2023

Analysis by Keith Rankin. The most important question about the Covid19 pandemic of the early 2020s is ‘how many people died?’. (The second-most important question relates to the impact of the pandemic on people’s ‘quality of life’.) The data here, available since last week, is the starting point for an answer to the first question. ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Pandemic-era Facts: Irrefutable, Inconvenient, Important" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/03/07/keith-rankin-analysis-covid19-pandemic-era-facts-irrefutable-inconvenient-important/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Pandemic-era Facts: Irrefutable, Inconvenient, Important">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid19 pandemic: Mortality in the 2020s, Australasia, Sweden and elsewhere

March 3, 2023

Analysis by Keith Rankin. Quantity of Life With mortality data now available for many countries to the end of 2022 (and, for a few countries, for a month into 2023), we are now able to properly assess the demographic cost of the Covid19 pandemic. There is a proviso, in that for a number of countries, ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid19 pandemic: Mortality in the 2020s, Australasia, Sweden and elsewhere" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/03/03/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-covid19-pandemic-mortality-in-the-2020s-australasia-sweden-and-elsewhere/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid19 pandemic: Mortality in the 2020s, Australasia, Sweden and elsewhere">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid19 pandemic: European Countries’ Epidemic Deaths to the end of 2022

February 10, 2023

Analysis by Keith Rankin. Those countries which are most efficient at reporting demographic information now have complete deaths’ data for last year. Some information revealed is worth noting. (With the exception of Poland, further below, all countries’ charts have a scale of excess deaths ranging from -10% to +70%.) Most of these are countries that ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid19 pandemic: European Countries’ Epidemic Deaths to the end of 2022" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/10/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-covid19-pandemic-european-countries-epidemic-deaths-to-the-end-of-2022/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid19 pandemic: European Countries’ Epidemic Deaths to the end of 2022">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Essay – To Be a Good Cancer

December 9, 2022

Essay by Keith Rankin. “Antlers grow through a mechanism that is very similar to cancer. But, because deer can keep that growth in check, they are extremely resilient to cancers. … “Sardinia’s own dwarf deer, a relative of Ireland’s giant elk, was eradicated within a hundred years of human colonization, some 9,000 years ago.” Thomas ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – To Be a Good Cancer" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/12/09/keith-rankin-essay-to-be-a-good-cancer/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – To Be a Good Cancer">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Essay – Predicting the Coming Quarter Century

December 6, 2022

Analysis by Keith Rankin. On 29 October 2022, the New Zealand Listener published 10 Billion reasons to be cheerful, an article by Greg Dixon summarising “futurologist” Hamish McRae’s 2022 book The World in 2050: How to think about the future. (Note also the accompanying article, A blast from the past; and the letters responses.) The ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Predicting the Coming Quarter Century" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/12/06/keith-rankin-essay-predicting-the-coming-quarter-century/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Predicting the Coming Quarter Century">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Essay – Using the Sex Industry to Critique Textbook Economics

December 2, 2022

Analysis by Keith Rankin. Economics is a profound and important discipline. But its practice is prone to self-censorship, and still reflects in large part its (Victorian era) glory days and the sensibilities of that era. The father and mother of today’s textbook economics were Alfred Marshall and Mary Paley who published The Economics of Industry ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Using the Sex Industry to Critique Textbook Economics" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/12/02/keith-rankin-essay-using-the-sex-industry-to-critique-textbook-economics/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Using the Sex Industry to Critique Textbook Economics">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Essay – How do Left-Wing Elites Make their Money?

November 30, 2022

Analysis by Keith Rankin. The academic study of history, more than anything else, is about the relationships between social elites and the lower classes. Yet, when it comes to the present, the relationships between elites and wider society is under-discussed, both popularly and academically. (In academia, it is the province of sociology, a social ‘science’ ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – How do Left-Wing Elites Make their Money?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/11/30/keith-rankin-essay-how-do-left-wing-elites-make-their-money/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – How do Left-Wing Elites Make their Money?">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Essay – Extending Democracy and the Age of Voter Entitlement

November 25, 2022

Essay by Keith Rankin. Earlier this week, in the wake of a decision by the Supreme Court of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Government announced it would draft a Bill which would extend the franchise in New Zealand to sixteen- and seventeen-year-old citizens and permanent residents. (See this press release on Scoop from the ‘Make it ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Extending Democracy and the Age of Voter Entitlement" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/11/25/keith-rankin-essay-extending-democracy-and-the-age-of-voter-entitlement/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Extending Democracy and the Age of Voter Entitlement">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Excess Deaths: Some Countries to Note

November 24, 2022

Analysis by Keith Rankin. The first of the above charts shows excess seasonal deaths in the United Kingdom as winter approaches. While the huge mortality peaks of the pandemic in Britain are long past, we do see significant excess mortality in the United Kingdom since April. And October 2022 excess mortality rates are higher than ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Excess Deaths: Some Countries to Note" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/11/24/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-excess-deaths-some-countries-to-note/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Excess Deaths: Some Countries to Note">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Essay – Population Imbalances in a World of Eight Billion

November 22, 2022

Analysis by Keith Rankin. Last week the world population reached eight billion people, at least according to some sources. See these world population clocks, which do not agree: refer Worldometer and the US Census Bureau. The growth rate of the world population is slowing. Indeed, there is a possibility that it will never reach nine ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Population Imbalances in a World of Eight Billion" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/11/22/keith-rankin-essay-population-imbalances-in-a-world-of-eight-billion/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Population Imbalances in a World of Eight Billion">Read more</a>

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Keith Rankin Essay – Science, and the Benefits and Costs of Nose-Picking

November 17, 2022

Essay by Keith Rankin. If … gets up your nose, picket.* This month, Radio New Zealand listeners were treated to not one but two science stories about nose-picking! They make good fodder for a discussion about the practice of science. Self-Vaccination? The first item – Science: Fun-seeking bees, nose-picking primates, death-telling smartphones – was on ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Science, and the Benefits and Costs of Nose-Picking" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2022/11/17/keith-rankin-essay-science-and-the-benefits-and-costs-of-nose-picking/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Science, and the Benefits and Costs of Nose-Picking">Read more</a>