2014 blogging resolutions

It is a new year and I have plenty of resolutions for 2014. One is to try and write more frequently and more sense. If you are dubious about resolutions, have a look at this post by Alain de Botton at the School of Life's page. He writes:

...we need resolutions - even if we don’t actually manage to carry them through or rather, precisely because we rarely manage to do so.

and why is the public nature of resolutions useful?

...because it can be useful to back up our own resolve with the pressure that stems from the expectation of others.

So, aside from links shared and the odd post about my teaching or research, I have a few ideas for a blogging agenda for 2014.

• Over at the School blog I want to start putting economics resources together for secondary school learners. For almost every topic in their curriculum it is recommended that they also have a look at newspapers, magazines, the internet. I think there is a nice opportunity to translate some academic research for them, share data etc.
• 2014 is an election year and on face value, a bit part of it will be about the economy. For the ANC's manifesto "President Jacob Zuma said the party would continue to focus on job creation, rural development, land reform, food security, education, health and fighting crime and corruption". They aim to create at least 6 million jobs over the next five years! The point is that there is going to be a lot of nonsense out there and it might be useful to translate some academic research to inform the discussion. Is there a place for a voice of reason? I say let's forget the party politics and ask what research has shown about the nature of growth, or unemployment in South Africa.

I think these are big ideas. Let's see how it goes.