Today we depart back to LA. Our hotel last night gave us a perfect view of the Sydney Airport’s departure path, which delighted EP. And we write now from the Air New Zealand lounge, which gives us a perfect view…
In our experience, there has been one frustrating thing about this trip: Australian tourist spots are not really set up for young children. As anyone with a kid knows, there are some basic things that are critical for making travel…
Our time here is quickly drawing to a close: today’s our last business day in Canberra, and we leave on Monday afternoon to head home. I (TP) celebrated the last day with a final presentation (which you can watch online…
My mom emailed me yesterday to ask if game theory can help to explain our debt-ceiling crisis. The answer, of course, is yes. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about financial crises and adjustment policy, and it’s obvious to…
As our time in Oz is drawing to a close, it’s time to review Shiraz Viognier blends based on our tasting notes. To start, we were unable to find the wine that we tried so many years ago. That said,…
I (TP) just returned from a quick trip to Perth for a presentation at Murdoch University. Well, the trip itself wasn’t quick (it’s a 4 hour transcontinental flight), but the stay was. Perth is interesting but different than “out east,”…
Forgive us, but today we (by which I mean “I,” that is, TP) will indulge in some sappy reminiscing. The other night I had dinner at the home of Andrew MacIntyre, who’s probably been the most important advocate that I…
Today we took a family trip to the National Zoo here in Canberra. It was a nice trip, it’s a pretty small zoo but the enclosures are really nicely done. Instead of the usual ugly, stagnant pools many zoo exhibits…
Today I (TP) attended a conference for postgraduate students working on all topics Indonesian. The highlights were many (there are some very good Indonesianists in the pipelines here) but two stand out. The first was a plenary presentation by Robert…
Today another short post, as today I fulfilled my second obligation here at ANU, doing a presentation for the Indonesia Studies Group on how to think about the ways in which Indonesians engage with the rest of the world. A…
