CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <title>01 | March | 2025 | croaking cassandra</title> <link rel="profile" href="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11"> <link rel="pingback" href="https://croakingcassandra.com/xmlrpc.php"> <meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' />  <script id="wpcom_remote_login_js"> var wpcom_remote_login_extra_auth = ''; function wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_id( element_id ) { var dom_node = document.getElementById( element_id ); if ( dom_node ) { dom_node.parentNode.removeChild( dom_node ); } } function wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_classes( class_name ) { var dom_nodes = document.querySelectorAll( '.' + class_name ); for ( var i = 0; i < dom_nodes.length; i++ ) { dom_nodes[ i ].parentNode.removeChild( dom_nodes[ i ] ); } } function wpcom_remote_login_final_cleanup() { wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_classes( "wpcom_remote_login_msg" ); wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_id( "wpcom_remote_login_key" ); wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_id( "wpcom_remote_login_validate" ); wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_id( "wpcom_remote_login_js" ); wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_id( "wpcom_request_access_iframe" ); wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_id( "wpcom_request_access_styles" ); } // Watch for messages back from the remote login window.addEventListener( "message", function( e ) { if ( e.origin === "https://r-login.wordpress.com" ) { var data = {}; try { data = JSON.parse( e.data ); } catch( e ) { wpcom_remote_login_final_cleanup(); return; } if ( data.msg === 'LOGIN' ) { // Clean up the login check iframe wpcom_remote_login_remove_dom_node_id( "wpcom_remote_login_key" ); var id_regex = new RegExp( /^[0-9]+$/ ); var token_regex = new RegExp( /^.*|.*|.*$/ ); if ( token_regex.test( data.token ) && id_regex.test( data.wpcomid ) ) { // We have everything we need to ask for a login var script = document.createElement( "script" ); script.setAttribute( "id", "wpcom_remote_login_validate" ); script.src = '/remote-login.php?wpcom_remote_login=validate' + '&wpcomid=' + data.wpcomid + '&token=' + encodeURIComponent( data.token ) + '&host=' + window.location.protocol + '//' + window.location.hostname + '&postid=72633' + '&is_singular='; document.body.appendChild( script ); } return; } // Safari ITP, not logged in, so redirect if ( data.msg === 'LOGIN-REDIRECT' ) { window.location = 'https://wordpress.com/log-in?redirect_to=' + window.location.href; return; } // Safari ITP, storage access failed, remove the request if ( data.msg === 'LOGIN-REMOVE' ) { var css_zap = 'html { -webkit-transition: margin-top 1s; transition: margin-top 1s; } /* 9001 */ html { margin-top: 0 !important; } * html body { margin-top: 0 !important; } @media screen and ( max-width: 782px ) { html { margin-top: 0 !important; } * html body { margin-top: 0 !important; } }'; var style_zap = document.createElement( 'style' ); style_zap.type = 'text/css'; style_zap.appendChild( document.createTextNode( css_zap ) ); document.body.appendChild( style_zap ); var e = document.getElementById( 'wpcom_request_access_iframe' ); e.parentNode.removeChild( e ); document.cookie = 'wordpress_com_login_access=denied; path=/; max-age=31536000'; return; } // Safari ITP if ( data.msg === 'REQUEST_ACCESS' ) { console.log( 'request access: safari' ); // Check ITP iframe enable/disable knob if ( wpcom_remote_login_extra_auth !== 'safari_itp_iframe' ) { return; } // If we are in a "private window" there is no ITP. var private_window = false; try { var opendb = window.openDatabase( null, null, null, null ); } catch( e ) { private_window = true; } if ( private_window ) { console.log( 'private window' ); return; } var iframe = document.createElement( 'iframe' ); iframe.id = 'wpcom_request_access_iframe'; iframe.setAttribute( 'scrolling', 'no' ); iframe.setAttribute( 'sandbox', 'allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation' ); iframe.src = 'https://r-login.wordpress.com/remote-login.php?wpcom_remote_login=request_access&origin=' + encodeURIComponent( data.origin ) + '&wpcomid=' + encodeURIComponent( data.wpcomid ); var css = 'html { -webkit-transition: margin-top 1s; transition: margin-top 1s; } /* 9001 */ html { margin-top: 46px !important; } * html body { margin-top: 46px !important; } @media screen and ( max-width: 660px ) { html { margin-top: 71px !important; } * html body { margin-top: 71px !important; } #wpcom_request_access_iframe { display: block; height: 71px !important; } } #wpcom_request_access_iframe { border: 0px; height: 46px; position: fixed; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; min-width: 100%; z-index: 99999; background: #23282d; } '; var style = document.createElement( 'style' ); style.type = 'text/css'; style.id = 'wpcom_request_access_styles'; style.appendChild( document.createTextNode( css ) ); document.body.appendChild( style ); document.body.appendChild( iframe ); } if ( data.msg === 'DONE' ) { wpcom_remote_login_final_cleanup(); } } }, false ); // Inject the remote login iframe after the page has had a chance to load // more critical resources window.addEventListener( "DOMContentLoaded", function( e ) { var iframe = document.createElement( "iframe" ); iframe.style.display = "none"; iframe.setAttribute( "scrolling", "no" ); iframe.setAttribute( "id", "wpcom_remote_login_key" ); iframe.src = "https://r-login.wordpress.com/remote-login.php" + "?wpcom_remote_login=key" + "&origin=aHR0cHM6Ly9jcm9ha2luZ2Nhc3NhbmRyYS5jb20%3D" + "&wpcomid=85004741" + "&time=1742250254"; document.body.appendChild( iframe ); }, false ); </script> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s2.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s1.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s0.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//fonts-api.wp.com' /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="croaking cassandra » Feed" href="https://croakingcassandra.com/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="croaking cassandra » Comments Feed" href="https://croakingcassandra.com/comments/feed/" /> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ function addLoadEvent(func) { var oldonload = window.onload; if (typeof window.onload != 'function') { window.onload = func; } else { window.onload = function () { oldonload(); func(); } } } /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/wpcom-smileys\/twemoji\/2\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/wpcom-smileys\/twemoji\/2\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/s2.wp.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?m=1719498190i&ver=6.7.2-RC1-59780"}}; /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(i,n){var o,s,e;function c(e){try{var t={supportTests:e,timestamp:(new Date).valueOf()};sessionStorage.setItem(o,JSON.stringify(t))}catch(e){}}function p(e,t,n){e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(t,0,0);var t=new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data),r=(e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(n,0,0),new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data));return t.every(function(e,t){return e===r[t]})}function u(e,t,n){switch(t){case"flag":return n(e,"\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f","\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200b\u26a7\ufe0f")?!1:!n(e,"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3","\ud83c\uddfa\u200b\ud83c\uddf3")&&!n(e,"\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f","\ud83c\udff4\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc62\u200b\udb40\udc65\u200b\udb40\udc6e\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc7f");case"emoji":return!n(e,"\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b","\ud83d\udc26\u200b\u2b1b")}return!1}function f(e,t,n){var r="undefined"!=typeof WorkerGlobalScope&&self instanceof WorkerGlobalScope?new OffscreenCanvas(300,150):i.createElement("canvas"),a=r.getContext("2d",{willReadFrequently:!0}),o=(a.textBaseline="top",a.font="600 32px Arial",{});return e.forEach(function(e){o[e]=t(a,e,n)}),o}function t(e){var t=i.createElement("script");t.src=e,t.defer=!0,i.head.appendChild(t)}"undefined"!=typeof Promise&&(o="wpEmojiSettingsSupports",s=["flag","emoji"],n.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},e=new Promise(function(e){i.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",e,{once:!0})}),new Promise(function(t){var n=function(){try{var e=JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(o));if("object"==typeof e&&"number"==typeof e.timestamp&&(new Date).valueOf()<e.timestamp+604800&&"object"==typeof e.supportTests)return e.supportTests}catch(e){}return null}();if(!n){if("undefined"!=typeof Worker&&"undefined"!=typeof OffscreenCanvas&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&URL.createObjectURL&&"undefined"!=typeof Blob)try{var e="postMessage("+f.toString()+"("+[JSON.stringify(s),u.toString(),p.toString()].join(",")+"));",r=new Blob([e],{type:"text/javascript"}),a=new Worker(URL.createObjectURL(r),{name:"wpTestEmojiSupports"});return void(a.onmessage=function(e){c(n=e.data),a.terminate(),t(n)})}catch(e){}c(n=f(s,u,p))}t(n)}).then(function(e){for(var t in e)n.supports[t]=e[t],n.supports.everything=n.supports.everything&&n.supports[t],"flag"!==t&&(n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&n.supports[t]);n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!n.supports.flag,n.DOMReady=!1,n.readyCallback=function(){n.DOMReady=!0}}).then(function(){return e}).then(function(){var e;n.supports.everything||(n.readyCallback(),(e=n.source||{}).concatemoji?t(e.concatemoji):e.wpemoji&&e.twemoji&&(t(e.twemoji),t(e.wpemoji)))}))}((window,document),window._wpemojiSettings); /* ]]> */ </script> <style id='wp-emoji-styles-inline-css'> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 0.07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-2-1' href='https://s2.wp.com/_static/??-eJydzEEOwiAQheELCdMSEtOF8SxAyYSKQGYGDbe37cadC5cvL98P76ZCLRKLQMsdU2HAvk8fCfeHIrzMpCdtwfeUV/C5hofKyZOjASwjRx2YL/AzdCqGLUpzB3ejdlFIaf03QU5SQf7y+/M2X+1slsUYu30AMZRP0A==&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='wp-block-library-inline-css'> .has-text-align-justify { text-align:justify; } .has-text-align-justify{text-align:justify;} </style> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-4-1' href='https://s2.wp.com/_static/??-eJzTLy/QzcxLzilNSS3WzyrWz01NyUxMzUnNTc0rQeEU5CRWphbp5qSmJyZX6uVm5uklFxfr6OPTDpRD5sM02efaGpoZmFkYGRuZGmQBAHPvL0Y=&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='jetpack-sharing-buttons-style-inline-css'> .jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list{display:flex;flex-direction:row;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:0;list-style-type:none;margin:5px;padding:0}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-small-icon-size{font-size:12px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-normal-icon-size{font-size:16px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-large-icon-size{font-size:24px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-huge-icon-size{font-size:36px}@media print{.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list{display:none!important}}.editor-styles-wrapper .wp-block-jetpack-sharing-buttons{gap:0;padding-inline-start:0}ul.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-background{padding:1.25em 2.375em} </style> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-6-1' href='https://s2.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/coblocks/2.18.1-simple-rev.4/dist/coblocks-style.css?m=1681832297i&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='classic-theme-styles-inline-css'> /*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none} </style> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-8-1' href='https://s1.wp.com/_static/??/wp-content/mu-plugins/core-compat/wp-mediaelement.css,/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-bbpress-premium-themes.css?m=1432920480j&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='global-styles-inline-css'> :root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square: 1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3: 4/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4: 3/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2: 3/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3: 2/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9: 16/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16: 9/16;--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: #7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan: #00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue: #8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue: #0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple: #9b51e0;--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--font-size--small: 13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium: 20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large: 36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large: 42px;--wp--preset--font-family--albert-sans: 'Albert Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--alegreya: Alegreya, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--arvo: Arvo, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--bodoni-moda: 'Bodoni Moda', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--bricolage-grotesque: 'Bricolage Grotesque', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--cabin: Cabin, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--chivo: Chivo, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--commissioner: Commissioner, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--cormorant: Cormorant, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--courier-prime: 'Courier Prime', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--crimson-pro: 'Crimson Pro', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-mono: 'DM Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-sans: 'DM Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-serif-display: 'DM Serif Display', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--domine: Domine, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--eb-garamond: 'EB Garamond', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--epilogue: Epilogue, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fahkwang: Fahkwang, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--figtree: Figtree, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fira-sans: 'Fira Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fjalla-one: 'Fjalla One', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fraunces: Fraunces, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--gabarito: Gabarito, system-ui;--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-mono: 'IBM Plex Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-sans: 'IBM Plex Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--ibarra-real-nova: 'Ibarra Real Nova', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--instrument-serif: 'Instrument Serif', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--inter: Inter, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--josefin-sans: 'Josefin Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--jost: Jost, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--libre-baskerville: 'Libre Baskerville', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--libre-franklin: 'Libre Franklin', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--literata: Literata, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--lora: Lora, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--merriweather: Merriweather, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--montserrat: Montserrat, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--newsreader: Newsreader, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--noto-sans-mono: 'Noto Sans Mono', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--nunito: Nunito, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--open-sans: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--overpass: Overpass, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--pt-serif: 'PT Serif', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--petrona: Petrona, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--piazzolla: Piazzolla, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--playfair-display: 'Playfair Display', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--plus-jakarta-sans: 'Plus Jakarta Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--poppins: Poppins, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--raleway: Raleway, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--roboto: Roboto, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--roboto-slab: 'Roboto Slab', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--rubik: Rubik, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--rufina: Rufina, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--sora: Sora, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--source-sans-3: 'Source Sans 3', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--source-serif-4: 'Source Serif 4', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--space-mono: 'Space Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--syne: Syne, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--texturina: Texturina, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--urbanist: Urbanist, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--work-sans: 'Work Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--spacing--20: 0.44rem;--wp--preset--spacing--30: 0.67rem;--wp--preset--spacing--40: 1rem;--wp--preset--spacing--50: 1.5rem;--wp--preset--spacing--60: 2.25rem;--wp--preset--spacing--70: 3.38rem;--wp--preset--spacing--80: 5.06rem;--wp--preset--shadow--natural: 6px 6px 9px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--deep: 12px 12px 50px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);--wp--preset--shadow--sharp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--outlined: 6px 6px 0px -3px rgba(255, 255, 255, 1), 6px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);--wp--preset--shadow--crisp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);}:where(.is-layout-flex){gap: 0.5em;}:where(.is-layout-grid){gap: 0.5em;}body .is-layout-flex{display: flex;}.is-layout-flex{flex-wrap: wrap;align-items: center;}.is-layout-flex > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}body .is-layout-grid{display: grid;}.is-layout-grid > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;}.has-black-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important;}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important;}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important;}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important;}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important;}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important;}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important;}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important;}.has-small-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important;}.has-medium-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important;}.has-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important;}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important;}.has-albert-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--albert-sans) !important;}.has-alegreya-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--alegreya) !important;}.has-arvo-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--arvo) !important;}.has-bodoni-moda-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--bodoni-moda) !important;}.has-bricolage-grotesque-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--bricolage-grotesque) !important;}.has-cabin-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--cabin) !important;}.has-chivo-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--chivo) !important;}.has-commissioner-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--commissioner) !important;}.has-cormorant-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--cormorant) !important;}.has-courier-prime-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--courier-prime) !important;}.has-crimson-pro-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--crimson-pro) !important;}.has-dm-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-mono) !important;}.has-dm-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-sans) !important;}.has-dm-serif-display-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-serif-display) !important;}.has-domine-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--domine) !important;}.has-eb-garamond-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--eb-garamond) !important;}.has-epilogue-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--epilogue) !important;}.has-fahkwang-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fahkwang) !important;}.has-figtree-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--figtree) !important;}.has-fira-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fira-sans) !important;}.has-fjalla-one-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fjalla-one) !important;}.has-fraunces-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fraunces) !important;}.has-gabarito-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--gabarito) !important;}.has-ibm-plex-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-mono) !important;}.has-ibm-plex-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-sans) !important;}.has-ibarra-real-nova-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibarra-real-nova) !important;}.has-instrument-serif-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--instrument-serif) !important;}.has-inter-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter) !important;}.has-josefin-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--josefin-sans) !important;}.has-jost-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--jost) !important;}.has-libre-baskerville-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--libre-baskerville) !important;}.has-libre-franklin-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--libre-franklin) !important;}.has-literata-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--literata) !important;}.has-lora-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--lora) !important;}.has-merriweather-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--merriweather) !important;}.has-montserrat-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--montserrat) !important;}.has-newsreader-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--newsreader) !important;}.has-noto-sans-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--noto-sans-mono) !important;}.has-nunito-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--nunito) !important;}.has-open-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--open-sans) !important;}.has-overpass-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--overpass) !important;}.has-pt-serif-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--pt-serif) !important;}.has-petrona-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--petrona) !important;}.has-piazzolla-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--piazzolla) !important;}.has-playfair-display-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--playfair-display) !important;}.has-plus-jakarta-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--plus-jakarta-sans) !important;}.has-poppins-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--poppins) !important;}.has-raleway-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--raleway) !important;}.has-roboto-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--roboto) !important;}.has-roboto-slab-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--roboto-slab) !important;}.has-rubik-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--rubik) !important;}.has-rufina-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--rufina) !important;}.has-sora-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--sora) !important;}.has-source-sans-3-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--source-sans-3) !important;}.has-source-serif-4-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--source-serif-4) !important;}.has-space-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--space-mono) !important;}.has-syne-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--syne) !important;}.has-texturina-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--texturina) !important;}.has-urbanist-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--urbanist) !important;}.has-work-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--work-sans) !important;} :where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;} :root :where(.wp-block-pullquote){font-size: 1.5em;line-height: 1.6;} :where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;} </style> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-10-1' href='https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/big-brother/style.css?m=1513292499i&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='big-brother-gentium-css' href='https://fonts-api.wp.com/css?family=Gentium+Basic%3A400%2C700%2C400italic%2C700italic&subset=latin%2Clatin-ext&ver=6.7.2-RC1-59780' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='big-brother-open-sans-css' href='https://fonts-api.wp.com/css?family=Open+Sans%3A400%2C800&subset=latin%2Clatin-ext&ver=6.7.2-RC1-59780' media='all' /> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-14-1' href='https://s1.wp.com/_static/??/wp-content/mu-plugins/jetpack-plugin/sun/_inc/genericons/genericons/genericons.css,/wp-content/themes/pub/big-brother/inc/style-wpcom.css?m=1685112397j&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='akismet-widget-style-inline-css'> .a-stats { --akismet-color-mid-green: #357b49; --akismet-color-white: #fff; --akismet-color-light-grey: #f6f7f7; max-width: 350px; width: auto; } .a-stats * { all: unset; box-sizing: border-box; } .a-stats strong { font-weight: 600; } .a-stats a.a-stats__link, .a-stats a.a-stats__link:visited, .a-stats a.a-stats__link:active { background: var(--akismet-color-mid-green); border: none; box-shadow: none; border-radius: 8px; color: var(--akismet-color-white); cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Roboto', 'Oxygen-Sans', 'Ubuntu', 'Cantarell', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-weight: 500; padding: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; } /* Extra specificity to deal with TwentyTwentyOne focus style */ .widget .a-stats a.a-stats__link:focus { background: var(--akismet-color-mid-green); color: var(--akismet-color-white); text-decoration: none; } .a-stats a.a-stats__link:hover { filter: brightness(110%); box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06), 0 0 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.16); } .a-stats .count { color: var(--akismet-color-white); display: block; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.4; padding: 0 13px; white-space: nowrap; } </style> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-16-1' href='https://s1.wp.com/_static/??-eJzTLy/QTc7PK0nNK9HPLdUtyClNz8wr1i9KTcrJTwcy0/WTi5G5ekCujj52Temp+bo5+cmJJZn5eSgc3bScxMwikFb7XFtDE1NLExMLc0OTLACohS2q&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='print-css-17-1' href='https://s1.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/global-print/global-print.css?m=1465851035i&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='print' /> <style id='jetpack-global-styles-frontend-style-inline-css'> :root { --font-headings: unset; --font-base: unset; --font-headings-default: -apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif; --font-base-default: -apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;} </style> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-20-1' href='https://s2.wp.com/wp-content/themes/h4/global.css?m=1420737423i&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <script type="text/javascript" id="wpcom-actionbar-placeholder-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var actionbardata = {"siteID":"85004741","postID":"0","siteURL":"https:\/\/croakingcassandra.com","xhrURL":"https:\/\/croakingcassandra.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"c01b64d357","isLoggedIn":"","statusMessage":"","subsEmailDefault":"instantly","proxyScriptUrl":"https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/js\/wpcom-proxy-request.js?ver=20211021","i18n":{"followedText":"New posts from this site will now appear in your <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\/reader\">Reader<\/a>","foldBar":"Collapse this bar","unfoldBar":"Expand this bar","shortLinkCopied":"Shortlink copied to clipboard."}}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-mu-wpcom-settings-js-before"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var JETPACK_MU_WPCOM_SETTINGS = {"assetsUrl":"https:\/\/s1.wp.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/jetpack-mu-wpcom-plugin\/sun\/jetpack_vendor\/automattic\/jetpack-mu-wpcom\/src\/build\/"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script crossorigin='anonymous' type='text/javascript' src='https://s1.wp.com/wp-content/js/rlt-proxy.js?m=1720530689i'></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="rlt-proxy-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ rltInitialize( {"token":null,"iframeOrigins":["https:\/\/widgets.wp.com"]} ); /* ]]> */ </script> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://croakingcassandra.wordpress.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> <meta name="generator" content="WordPress.com" />  <meta property="og:type" content="website" /> <meta property="og:title" content="March 1, 2025 – croaking cassandra" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="croaking cassandra" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://s0.wp.com/i/blank.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:alt" content="" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />  <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://s1.wp.com/i/favicon.ico" sizes="16x16 24x24 32x32 48x48" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://s1.wp.com/i/favicon.ico" sizes="16x16 24x24 32x32 48x48" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://s2.wp.com/i/webclip.png" /> <link rel='openid.server' href='https://croakingcassandra.com/?openidserver=1' /> <link rel='openid.delegate' href='https://croakingcassandra.com/' /> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="https://croakingcassandra.com/osd.xml" title="croaking cassandra" /> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="https://s1.wp.com/opensearch.xml" title="WordPress.com" /> <meta name="theme-color" content="#f5f6f7" /> <style type="text/css"> .recentcomments a { display: inline !important; padding: 0 !important; margin: 0 !important; } table.recentcommentsavatartop img.avatar, table.recentcommentsavatarend img.avatar { border: 0px; margin: 0; } table.recentcommentsavatartop a, table.recentcommentsavatarend a { border: 0px !important; background-color: transparent !important; } td.recentcommentsavatarend, td.recentcommentsavatartop { padding: 0px 0px 1px 0px; margin: 0px; } td.recentcommentstextend { border: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 2px 10px; } .rtl td.recentcommentstextend { padding: 0px 10px 2px 0px; } td.recentcommentstexttop { border: none; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; } .rtl td.recentcommentstexttop { padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px; } </style> <meta name="description" content="1 post published by Michael Reddell on March 1, 2025" /> </head> <body class="archive date customizer-styles-applied jetpack-reblog-enabled custom-colors"> <div id="page" class="hfeed site"> <a class="skip-link screen-reader-text" href="#content">Skip to content</a> <header id="masthead" class="site-header clearfix" role="banner"> <div class="site-branding"> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/" class="site-logo-link" rel="home" itemprop="url"></a> <h1 class="site-title"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/" rel="home">croaking cassandra</a></h1> <h2 class="site-description">Economics, public policy, monetary policy, financial regulation, with a New Zealand perspective</h2> </div> <nav id="site-navigation" class="main-navigation nav-horizontal" role="navigation"> <button class="menu-toggle" aria-controls="primary-menu" aria-expanded="false">Menu</button> <div id="primary-menu" class="menu"><ul> <li ><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/">Home</a></li><li class="page_item page-item-1"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/about/">About Michael Reddell’s blog</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-66509"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/book-reviews/">Book reviews</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-58338"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/china-prc/">China (PRC)</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-71258"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/early-mpss-and-economic-projections/">MPSs & Economic Forecasts from early-mid 90s</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-8395"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/papers-and-speeches/">Papers and speeches</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-70350"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/reserve-bank-of-new-zealand-superannuation-scheme/">Reserve Bank of New Zealand Superannuation Scheme</a></li> </ul></div> </nav> </header> <div id="content" class="site-content clearfix"> <div class="breadcrumbs"> <a class="breadcrumbs-root" href="https://croakingcassandra.com/">Home</a><span class="breadcrumbs-ancestor"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/">2025</a></span><span class="breadcrumbs-ancestor"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/">March</a></span><span class="breadcrumbs-current">01</span> </div> <section class="primary content-area"> <main id="main" class="site-main" role="main"> <header class="page-header"> <h1 class="page-title"> Day: <span>March 1, 2025</span> </h1> </header> <div class="article-wrapper"> <article id="post-72633" class="post-72633 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-exchange-rate category-monetary-policy category-new-zealand-economic-history"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/" rel="bookmark">Forty years of floating</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2025-03-01T14:42:42+13:00">March 1, 2025</time><time class="updated" datetime="2025-03-01T17:15:04+13:00">March 1, 2025</time></a></span> <span class="byline"><span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://croakingcassandra.com/author/mhreddell/">Michael Reddell</a></span></span> <span class="entry-categories"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/category/exchange-rate/" rel="category tag">Exchange rate</a>, <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/category/monetary-policy/" rel="category tag">Monetary policy</a>, <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/category/new-zealand-economic-history/" rel="category tag">New Zealand economic history</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>Last year there was an interesting new book out, made up of 29 collected short papers by (more or less) prominent economists given at a 2023 conference to mark <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Floating-Exchange-Rates-at-Fifty/dp/0881327492">Floating Exchange Rates at Fifty</a>.</em> The fifty years related to the transition back to generalised floating of the major developed world currencies in 1973 (think USD, JPY, GBP, and the West German deutschemark, plus the Canadian and Swiss currencies). It was quite an interesting collection and even has some discussion of emerging markets. What was striking, reading it at this end of the world, was the almost complete absence of any discussion of the experience of smaller advanced countries – this isn’t just a matter of places like New Zealand or Norway or Israel or Iceland, but not even Australia gets a mention in the index. </p> <p>As it happens, this weekend marks 40 years since New Zealand floated our exchange rate. It was announced at 10:30am on Saturday 2 March 1985 (timing set for after the Friday close of the New York foreign exchange market), and trading commenced on Monday 4 March. </p> <p>I was working in the Monetary Policy Section (all 3 or 4 of us) of the Reserve Bank’s Economics Department at the time but although there had been talk of floating for months (pretty much since the devaluation in July 1984) and real policy challenges around maintaining the fix, the actual timing of the move was successfully kept very tight (I was never quite sure even whether my boss had known), and I learned of the news when later that afternoon I wandered down to the Hataitai dairy to buy my Evening Post. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1934.jpeg"><img data-attachment-id="72637" data-permalink="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/img_1934/#main" data-orig-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1934.jpeg" data-orig-size="3018,2577" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone SE (3rd generation)","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1740824826","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"25","shutter_speed":"0.0082644628099174","title":"","orientation":"1","latitude":"-41.331352777778","longitude":"174.77751111111"}" data-image-title="IMG_1934" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1934.jpeg?w=300" data-large-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1934.jpeg?w=700" width="1024" height="874" src="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1934.jpeg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-72637" /></a></figure> <p>It was the same day as David Lange’s Oxford Union debate on nuclear issues, and the Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor, Rod Deane, had had to fly to London to brief Lange and secure his final agreement to the move (my diary the following week records him telling us that he had been most impressed with Lange’s questioning etc).</p> <p>The Evening Post’s journalists must have been pretty busy as they’d managed to get comment from all manner of people in the couple of hours they had. Some of them are still commenting today</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1935.jpeg"><img data-attachment-id="72639" data-permalink="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/img_1935/#main" data-orig-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1935.jpeg" data-orig-size="3024,1396" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone SE (3rd generation)","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1740824862","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"25","shutter_speed":"0.0082644628099174","title":"","orientation":"1","latitude":"-41.331363888889","longitude":"174.77749722222"}" data-image-title="IMG_1935" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1935.jpeg?w=300" data-large-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1935.jpeg?w=700" width="1024" height="472" src="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_1935.jpeg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-72639" style="width:718px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <p>Bob Jones was another whose views were reported, claiming that by floating “New Zealand has now joined the rest of the world as a sophisticated economy” which wasn’t really true as by this point there were still lots of smaller advanced countries who weren’t floating at all (Australia had done so only a year or so previously), and many of the European countries were running their collective Exchange Rate Mechanism, designed to severely limit fluctuations.</p> <p>The comments in that old paper that most caught my eye ((bottom right story in the first photo above) were from my old macro lecturer Merv Pope who was very critical, stating that in his view “the economy would suffer severely”. </p> <p>There are books and articles that discuss the politics and bureaucracy of the period leading up to the float, and I know there are some people who read this blog who were closely involved in it all (who are welcome to add comment/context), so I’m not going to attempt to cover that. </p> <p>The journey to floating mainly dates to the events around the July 1984 devaluation and the early days of the 4th Labour government. The establishment view in early-mid 1984 was that the New Zealand dollar was seriously overvalued in real terms, and in that sense the mid 1984 devaluation had been welcomed. All that said, as was perhaps necessary in the market circumstances, the extent of the devaluation – 20 per cent – had been set to eliminate the likelihood of further downward pressure, and thus to some extent probably represented an adjustment larger than the medium-term macroeconomics might have warranted.</p> <p>Going pretty much hand in hand with the devaluation was the removal of the interest rate controls that the previous government had put in place over the past year, combined with a new willingness to fund the government’s deficit primarily by wholesale domestic debt sales, taking whatever price the market charged. With the prospect of rising inflation (if only from the devaluation itself) and large fiscal deficits, it had the makings of considerable difficulties in achieving effective monetary control. Exchange controls on capital transactions were still in place but they were porous (and more designed to limit outflows than inflows) and one of my tasks in August 1984 had been to sift carefully through the records of foreign exchange inflows looking for evidence of capital inflows drawn by the combination of high interest rates and a, possibly, undervalued exchange rate. A fixed exchange rate meant that we – the RB – were committed to buying whatever foreign exchange was offered at the fixed (against the TWI) rate, and all those purchases immediately added to domestic liquidity.</p> <p>In an <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/07/10/the-real-exchange-rate-mattered-in-1985-and-it-still-does/">earlier post</a> some years ago I noted</p> <blockquote> <p>One of the starkest memories of my first year at the Reserve Bank, fresh out of university, was being minute secretary to a meeting in late 1984 attended by the top tiers of the Reserve Bank and The Treasury. It was a just a few months after the big devaluation that ushered in the reform programme: senior officials were explicitly united in emphasising how vital it was to “bed-in” the lower exchange rate, and ensure that the real exchange rate stayed low.</p> </blockquote> <p>The risk was that if we didn’t succeed in getting monetary conditions under control, all the pain of the devaluation might go for nothing (ending up with no real devaluation at all, as in a number of past devaluations here and abroad). And yet with high market-determined interest rates, it was going to be difficult to stop capital coming in. We still had tools like reserve ratios but (a) the goal was to move away from them not become more reliant, and b) they became much less effective in a deregulated interest rate market. We sold government debt aggressively, aiming to mop up the excess liquidity, but the more debt we sold, the more tended to come in (those yields were attractive, and the exchange rate was fixed). </p> <p>Among the various Ministers of Finance (Douglas and associates) there was a desire to float, but when? It didn’t make a lot of sense to contemplate floating the exchange rate while exchange controls were still in place (although the UK had in the 1970s), and exchange control removal didn’t happen until the Friday before Christmas 1984. And no one really had a good sense as to what the market would deliver (particularly in terms of liquidity and volatility) when the float happened (I’m pretty sure no countries as small as New Zealand were floating were by then, and although Switzerland wasn’t hugely larger it was home to a fairly major banking and financial centre).</p> <p>Short-term interest rates began 1985 in the mid-teens (the Reserve Bank’s data has the overnight cash rate at 13.4 per cent and the 90 day bill rate at 15.3 per cent in early January. Capital inflows tended to dampen rates, while our monetary policy actions sought to underpin them or push them up (the medium-term goal being to consolidate fairly low and stable inflation, after 10-15 years of high and volatile inflation).</p> <p>But the backdrop turned fairly quickly. This is from the Bank’s June 1985 <a href="https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/-/media/project/sites/rbnz/files/publications/bulletins/1985/1985june48-6quarterlyreviewofmonetaryconditions.pdf">review</a></p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image.png"><img data-attachment-id="72642" data-permalink="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/image-361/#main" data-orig-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image.png" data-orig-size="507,366" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image.png?w=507" width="507" height="366" src="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image.png?w=507" alt="" class="wp-image-72642" /></a></figure> <p>Pressures built further in February and by 15 February short-term rates had increased by another full percentage point. But it was in the final week of February that things culminated, with significant foreign exchange outflows, reflecting at least in part a sense that a float was likely sooner rather than later, and that when it happened the exchange rate was likely to fall. As the Bank’s Bulletin article records, foreign exchange outflows had been particularly heavy on 28 February and 1 March, transactions due for settlement two working days later. By Friday 1 March, overnight cash rate were at 38 per cent and the 90 day bill rate was at 25 per cent. If you really thought the exchange rate was going to depreciate quite a bit in short order, paying interest rates of under 10bps a day to fund a position taken on the back of that view wasn’t too much of a problem.</p> <p>(Meanwhile in the Monetary Policy Section we were hard at work devising projections and policies designed to keep inflation in check, all based on a continuation of a fixed rate.)</p> <p>While the exchange rate was fixed, the Bank was committed to buying and selling whatever it took to maintain the rate, and each such transactions had counterpart domestic liquidity consequences (the Bank was not then doing routine daily open market operations to stabilise the level of settlement cash). Those fx outflows just prior to the float sharply lowered liquidity in the banking system. And once the float happened, the door was closed.</p> <p>On the first day of trading (4 March) the exchange rate did fall (down around 2 per cent against the USD, which itself was stable against the JPY and DEM) but the dynamic changed pretty quickly. Those liquidity pressures really started to bite, and anyone who wanted to bring funds back to New Zealand needed to find a market seller of NZD, rather than a fixed price central bank. Short-term interest rates skyrocketed</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image-1.png"><img data-attachment-id="72644" data-permalink="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/image-362/#main" data-orig-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image-1.png" data-orig-size="1063,427" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="image" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image-1.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image-1.png?w=700" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="411" src="https://croakingcassandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/image-1.png?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-72644" /></a></figure> <p>and although the official data has a peak cash rate of 265 per cent, my memory (and my contemporary diary records) suggests peaks in excess of 500 per cent (still only around 1 per cent day per day). Within a couple of days the NZD exchange rate was 4 per cent higher than it had been just prior to the float, and probably would have jumped even further had the Bank not eventually intervened. By 20 March, short-term rates were down to about 24 per cent. It had been a wild ride.</p> <p>Could the float have been avoided back on 2 March. Most likely it could have. The big problem in July 1984 had been a combination of a) perceptions that the exchange rate was fundamentally overvalued, b) perceptions that Roger Douglas, likely finance minister if Labour won, wanted to devalue, and c) the fact that interest rates were controlled, and so sales of foreign exchange by the Bank had no countervailing interest rate effect. But the broad direction of economic policy was to free up financial market prices, and so there would have been little good reason to delay further. </p> <p>It is interesting to ponder what might have happened had the government decided instead to a) liberalise interest rates, and b) remove exchange control but c) to keep on with a fixed exchange rate, at the post July 1984 level. The monetary policy trilemma says that in the world you lose control of domestic monetary conditions (and thus the ability to control your own inflation outcomes). By 1984/85, the inflation rates in most major western economies were already more or less in check (think UK, US, West Germany, Japan), and with a fixed exchange rate we might have been expected to have seen New Zealand converge in time to around the average of our trading partners. But I suspect it would have been a wild ride, and would not have ended well. For example, in March 1985 the effective Fed Funds rate was 8.5 per cent and three month rates in Germany were about 6 per cent. With those sorts of interest rates in New Zealand through that period – and that is what a credible exchange rate peg would have delivered – the credit boom, commercial property boom, sharemarket boom etc might well have been even larger, and ultimately messier to resolve, than what we were actually to experience a few years later (the Nordics, for example, went that sort of route, only to float some years later). (It also isn’t wildly different that what Ireland and Spain experienced in the 00s, except that – in adopting fit-for-Germany interest rates they may have been less badly prepared than New Zealand firms/banks might have been in the mid 80s.)</p> <p>This isn’t a post to review New Zealand’s experience with floating. Perhaps I will attempt something like that over the next few weeks. There have been persistent critics, even beyond the Day 1 ones cited above, perhaps most notably the economist Brian Easton. There were endless debates in the late 80s under the broad heading of “sequencing”: there were models under which things might have been less messy if the order of liberalisation had been different: external trade and labour markets before financial markets (and particularly the capital account and exchange rate). We’ll never know, although (as just one illustrative example) it was never plausible that even the 4th Labour government was ever going to lead with labour market reform, so perhaps there was never a real choice.</p> <p>Back in one of those early quotes, Rob Campbell commented critically about the increased room for “speculative moves” around the New Zealand dollar. I suspect that many of those who broadly supported the move to floating will still have been taken by surprise by the amplitude of the cyclical fluctuations in the exchange rate, and the incidence of large single day movements over the following few years. Then again, another mystery of the New Zealand experience is why an exchange rate that was so variable until about 15 years ago hasn’t been since. Perhaps that will be the topic for another exploratory (because I don’t think I know the answer) post</p> <p></p> </div> <footer class="entry-meta"> <span class="comments-link"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/#respond">Leave a comment</a></span> </footer> </article> </div> </main> </section> <div class="secondary widget-area" role="complementary"> <aside id="block-2" class="widget widget_block"> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions"> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container is-not-subscriber"> <form action="https://wordpress.com/email-subscriptions" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" data-blog="85004741" data-post_access_level="everybody" data-subscriber_email="" id="subscribe-blog" > <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form-elements"> <p id="subscribe-email"> <label id="subscribe-field-label" for="subscribe-field" class="screen-reader-text" > Type your email… </label> <input required="required" type="email" name="email" class="no-border-radius " style="font-size: 16px;padding: 15px 23px 15px 23px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 1px;" placeholder="Type your email…" value="" id="subscribe-field" title="Please fill in this field." /> </p> <p id="subscribe-submit" > <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe"/> <input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="85004741"/> <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/"/> <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="subscribe-block"/> <input type="hidden" name="app_source" value=""/> <input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="subscribe-blog"/> <input type="hidden" name="lang" value="en"/> <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="71ab1196df" /><input type="hidden" name="_wp_http_referer" value="/2025/03/01/" /> <button type="submit" class="wp-block-button__link no-border-radius" style="font-size: 16px;padding: 15px 23px 15px 23px;margin: 0; margin-left: 10px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 1px;" name="jetpack_subscriptions_widget" > Follow </button> </p> </div> </form> </div> </div> </aside><aside id="calendar-3" class="widget widget_calendar"><div id="calendar_wrap" class="calendar_wrap"><table id="wp-calendar" class="wp-calendar-table"> <caption>March 2025</caption> <thead> <tr> <th scope="col" title="Sunday">S</th> <th scope="col" title="Monday">M</th> <th scope="col" title="Tuesday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Wednesday">W</th> <th scope="col" title="Thursday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Friday">F</th> <th scope="col" title="Saturday">S</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="6" class="pad"> </td><td><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/" aria-label="Posts published on March 1, 2025">1</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td><td><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/03/" aria-label="Posts published on March 3, 2025">3</a></td><td>4</td><td><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/05/" aria-label="Posts published on March 5, 2025">5</a></td><td><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/06/" aria-label="Posts published on March 6, 2025">6</a></td><td><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/07/" aria-label="Posts published on March 7, 2025">7</a></td><td><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/08/" aria-label="Posts published on March 8, 2025">8</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>9</td><td><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/10/" aria-label="Posts published on March 10, 2025">10</a></td><td>11</td><td>12</td><td>13</td><td>14</td><td>15</td> </tr> <tr> <td>16</td><td>17</td><td id="today">18</td><td>19</td><td>20</td><td>21</td><td>22</td> </tr> <tr> <td>23</td><td>24</td><td>25</td><td>26</td><td>27</td><td>28</td><td>29</td> </tr> <tr> <td>30</td><td>31</td> <td class="pad" colspan="5"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table><nav aria-label="Previous and next months" class="wp-calendar-nav"> <span class="wp-calendar-nav-prev"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/">« Feb</a></span> <span class="pad"> </span> <span class="wp-calendar-nav-next"> </span> </nav></div></aside> <aside id="recent-posts-9" class="widget widget_recent_entries"> <h1 class="widget-title">Recent Posts</h1> <ul> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/10/on-the-way-ahead/">On the way ahead</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/08/a-letter/">A letter</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/07/bernanke-on-inflation-targeting/">Bernanke on inflation targeting</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/06/11-billion-and-out/">$11 billion and out</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/05/australias-pandemic-exceptionalism/">Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/03/or-not/">Or not</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/forty-years-of-floating/">Forty years of floating</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/27/why-is-such-rank-dishonesty-tolerated/">Why is such rank dishonesty tolerated?</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/26/is-compulsory-saving-the-answer/">Is compulsory saving the answer?</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/21/orr-at-it-again/">Orr at it again</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/20/the-mpc-returns-from-its-summer-holiday/">The MPC returns from its summer holiday</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/19/really-3/">Really?</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/18/willis-and-rennie-speaking/">Willis and Rennie speaking</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/03/going-for-growth-perhaps/">Going for growth…..perhaps</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/01/30/reviewing-covid-experiences-and-policies/">Reviewing Covid experiences and policies</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/01/22/inflation-but-not-that-sort/">Inflation (but not that sort)</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/31/2025-and-what-might-have-been/">2025 and what might have been</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/27/the-secretary-to-the-treasury-defending-govt-fiscal-policy/">The Secretary to the Treasury defending govt fiscal policy</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/23/fiscal-failure-and-indifference/">Fiscal failure and indifference</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/04/orr-on-qa-part-ii/">Orr on Q&A – Part II</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/04/more-outright-dishonesty-from-orr/">More outright dishonesty from Orr</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/03/where-were-the-central-agencies/">Where were the central agencies?</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/02/the-pm-and-economic-performance/">The PM and economic performance</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/11/19/what-does-reciprocity-mean-in-new-zealand-laws/">What does “reciprocity” mean in New Zealand laws?</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/10/25/pretty-illegal/">Pretty (il)legal</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/10/24/fiction-and-spin/">Fiction and spin</a> </li> </ul> </aside><aside id="archives-7" class="widget widget_archive"><h1 class="widget-title">Archives</h1> <label class="screen-reader-text" for="archives-dropdown-7">Archives</label> <select id="archives-dropdown-7" name="archive-dropdown"> <option value="">Select Month</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/' selected='selected'> March 2025  (7)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/02/'> February 2025  (7)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/01/'> January 2025  (2)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/12/'> December 2024  (7)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/11/'> November 2024  (1)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/10/'> October 2024  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/09/'> September 2024  (4)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/08/'> August 2024  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/07/'> July 2024  (8)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/06/'> June 2024  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/05/'> May 2024  (9)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/04/'> April 2024  (2)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/03/'> March 2024  (1)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/02/'> February 2024  (3)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2024/01/'> January 2024  (4)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/12/'> December 2023  (11)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/11/'> November 2023  (10)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/10/'> October 2023  (16)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/09/'> September 2023  (15)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/08/'> August 2023  (24)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/07/'> July 2023  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/06/'> June 2023  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/05/'> May 2023  (8)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/04/'> April 2023  (11)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/03/'> March 2023  (7)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/02/'> February 2023  (5)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2023/01/'> January 2023  (2)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/12/'> December 2022  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/11/'> November 2022  (10)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/10/'> October 2022  (11)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/09/'> September 2022  (5)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/08/'> August 2022  (8)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/07/'> July 2022  (7)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/06/'> June 2022  (5)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/05/'> May 2022  (5)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/04/'> April 2022  (1)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/03/'> March 2022  (2)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/02/'> February 2022  (9)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2022/01/'> January 2022  (4)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/12/'> December 2021  (8)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/11/'> November 2021  (13)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/10/'> October 2021  (4)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/09/'> September 2021  (8)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/08/'> August 2021  (9)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/07/'> July 2021  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/06/'> June 2021  (7)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/05/'> May 2021  (11)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/04/'> April 2021  (8)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/03/'> March 2021  (9)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/02/'> February 2021  (4)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2021/01/'> January 2021  (1)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/12/'> December 2020  (3)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/11/'> November 2020  (3)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/10/'> October 2020  (6)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/09/'> September 2020  (13)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/08/'> August 2020  (8)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/07/'> July 2020  (10)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/06/'> June 2020  (10)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/05/'> May 2020  (26)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/04/'> April 2020  (27)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/03/'> March 2020  (31)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/02/'> February 2020  (20)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/01/'> January 2020  (13)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/12/'> December 2019  (17)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/11/'> November 2019  (23)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/10/'> October 2019  (30)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/09/'> September 2019  (25)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/08/'> August 2019  (17)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/07/'> July 2019  (17)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/06/'> June 2019  (25)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/05/'> May 2019  (27)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/04/'> April 2019  (32)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/03/'> March 2019  (39)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/02/'> February 2019  (28)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/01/'> January 2019  (17)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/12/'> December 2018  (27)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/11/'> November 2018  (40)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/10/'> October 2018  (33)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/09/'> September 2018  (30)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/08/'> August 2018  (35)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/07/'> July 2018  (22)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/06/'> June 2018  (30)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/05/'> May 2018  (35)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/04/'> April 2018  (31)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/03/'> March 2018  (29)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/02/'> February 2018  (21)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/01/'> January 2018  (22)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/12/'> December 2017  (15)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/11/'> November 2017  (32)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/10/'> October 2017  (33)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/09/'> September 2017  (39)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/08/'> August 2017  (30)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/07/'> July 2017  (22)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/06/'> June 2017  (31)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/05/'> May 2017  (31)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/04/'> April 2017  (28)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/03/'> March 2017  (30)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/02/'> February 2017  (21)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/01/'> January 2017  (7)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/12/'> December 2016  (15)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/11/'> November 2016  (13)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/10/'> October 2016  (21)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/09/'> September 2016  (9)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/08/'> August 2016  (25)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/07/'> July 2016  (23)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/06/'> June 2016  (29)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/05/'> May 2016  (29)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/04/'> April 2016  (32)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/03/'> March 2016  (32)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/02/'> February 2016  (32)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2016/01/'> January 2016  (14)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/12/'> December 2015  (26)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/11/'> November 2015  (29)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/10/'> October 2015  (17)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/09/'> September 2015  (25)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/08/'> August 2015  (47)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/07/'> July 2015  (49)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/06/'> June 2015  (45)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/05/'> May 2015  (44)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/04/'> April 2015  (43)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/03/'> March 2015  (12)</option> <option value='https://croakingcassandra.com/2015/02/'> February 2015  (3)</option> </select> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ (function() { var dropdown = document.getElementById( "archives-dropdown-7" ); function onSelectChange() { if ( dropdown.options[ dropdown.selectedIndex ].value !== '' ) { document.location.href = this.options[ this.selectedIndex ].value; } } dropdown.onchange = onSelectChange; })(); /* ]]> */ </script> </aside><aside id="search-5" class="widget widget_search"><form role="search" method="get" class="search-form" action="https://croakingcassandra.com/"> <label> <span class="screen-reader-text">Search for:</span> <input type="search" class="search-field" placeholder="Search …" value="" name="s"> </label> <input type="submit" class="search-submit" value="Search"> </form> </aside><aside id="categories-5" class="widget widget_categories"><h1 class="widget-title">Categories</h1><form action="https://croakingcassandra.com" method="get"><label class="screen-reader-text" for="cat">Categories</label><select name='cat' id='cat' class='postform'> <option value='-1'>Select Category</option> <option class="level-0" value="21635095">Adrian Orr  (83)</option> <option class="level-0" value="14572">agriculture  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="153909">APRA  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="18939">Argentina  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="38350">Auckland  (18)</option> <option class="level-0" value="4330">Australia  (59)</option> <option class="level-0" value="292059">Balance of payments  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="34348051">bank capital requirements  (47)</option> <option class="level-0" value="26653">Banking  (20)</option> <option class="level-0" value="580413696">BNZ & Wheeler  (7)</option> <option class="level-0" value="56901951">BusinessNZ  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="92788">Cash  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="23741298">CBDC  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="130789">Central banks  (6)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1470">China  (133)</option> <option class="level-0" value="16897">Climate change  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="3226">Commodities  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="40676">conflicts of interest  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="18174">Crime and punishment  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="123802">Currency  (4)</option> <option class="level-0" value="385984558">Current New Zealand data  (5)</option> <option class="level-0" value="8614">Dairy  (8)</option> <option class="level-0" value="384954">deposit insurance  (8)</option> <option class="level-0" value="5845156">e-cash  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="10371">Earthquakes  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="21836336">Eastern and central Europe  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="897444">economic geography  (4)</option> <option class="level-0" value="40690">Economic history  (8)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1342">Education  (13)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1478456">Emissions reduction  (15)</option> <option class="level-0" value="4275644">Emissions targets  (12)</option> <option class="level-0" value="956274">Euro area  (10)</option> <option class="level-0" value="554062">Exchange rate  (19)</option> <option class="level-0" value="9328045">Exchange rate regimes  (4)</option> <option class="level-0" value="153816">expectations  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="36354">Exports  (41)</option> <option class="level-0" value="487861005">Financial literacy/capability  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="478705">Financial stability  (56)</option> <option class="level-0" value="14235576">Financial stabilty  (52)</option> <option class="level-0" value="40680">Fiscal policy  (123)</option> <option class="level-0" value="421050">FMA  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="21060">Foreign investment  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1345125">FTAs  (6)</option> <option class="level-0" value="16505">Governance  (49)</option> <option class="level-0" value="2756">Greece  (6)</option> <option class="level-0" value="3392">Greens  (5)</option> <option class="level-0" value="63941">Guest  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="299">Housing  (155)</option> <option class="level-0" value="32297">IMF  (15)</option> <option class="level-0" value="4363">Immigration  (201)</option> <option class="level-0" value="35003271">indexed bonds  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="161717">inflation  (71)</option> <option class="level-0" value="118871">Institutions  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="12498">insurance  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="37048">Interest rates  (29)</option> <option class="level-0" value="5142">International  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="9937">Israel  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="2062">Japan  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="514849">Kiwibank  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="227869">labour market  (18)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1954">labour party  (36)</option> <option class="level-0" value="763119044">Land taxes and land value rating  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="5839">Latin America  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="51806">local government  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="10748672">LSAP  (14)</option> <option class="level-0" value="25014752">MBIE  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1016696">MMT  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="57663">Monetary policy  (311)</option> <option class="level-0" value="763458482">Monetary Policy Remit  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="692874">Money supply  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="152589">MPC  (36)</option> <option class="level-0" value="434521">National Party  (22)</option> <option class="level-0" value="357514217">New Zealand economic history  (52)</option> <option class="level-0" value="363932892">New Zealand economic performance  (285)</option> <option class="level-0" value="174584263">New Zealand Initiative  (26)</option> <option class="level-0" value="11104">Norway  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="2041145">NZ First  (8)</option> <option class="level-0" value="804607">NZ history  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="11968">NZ politics  (170)</option> <option class="level-0" value="39978909">NZSF  (8)</option> <option class="level-0" value="101584">OCR  (12)</option> <option class="level-0" value="486600629">OCR leak  (15)</option> <option class="level-0" value="160151">OECD  (5)</option> <option class="level-0" value="788723">OIA  (35)</option> <option class="level-0" value="49370">pandemic  (129)</option> <option class="level-0" value="132985">Population  (10)</option> <option class="level-0" value="9379">Poverty  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="217321">Privatisation  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="2704">Productivity  (136)</option> <option class="level-0" value="13458928">Productivity Commission  (18)</option> <option class="level-0" value="18215394">Prudential regulation  (5)</option> <option class="level-0" value="107562">PSC  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="10020874">PTAs  (17)</option> <option class="level-0" value="560265">Public finance  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="26024">R&D  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="776129899">RBNZ Superannuation Fund  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="448379">Regional development  (8)</option> <option class="level-0" value="5566">Regulation  (9)</option> <option class="level-0" value="64182849">Rennie review  (7)</option> <option class="level-0" value="222096">Reserve Bank  (238)</option> <option class="level-0" value="595757147">Reserve Bank Act reforms  (76)</option> <option class="level-0" value="337262525">Reserve Bank Board  (30)</option> <option class="level-0" value="323052881">Rodger Finlay  (6)</option> <option class="level-0" value="24167">Savings  (11)</option> <option class="level-0" value="774271644">Settlement account remuneration  (1)</option> <option class="level-0" value="5849">Statistics  (19)</option> <option class="level-0" value="3201950">Stress tests  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="360948">Superannuation  (16)</option> <option class="level-0" value="8120">Switzerland  (3)</option> <option class="level-0" value="52105">Taxation  (28)</option> <option class="level-0" value="79333">TPP  (12)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1595">Trade  (10)</option> <option class="level-0" value="636">Transparency  (11)</option> <option class="level-0" value="76133">Treasury  (73)</option> <option class="level-0" value="8199">UK  (16)</option> <option class="level-0" value="1">Uncategorized  (564)</option> <option class="level-0" value="9986">unemployment  (18)</option> <option class="level-0" value="699">USA  (10)</option> <option class="level-0" value="256088">wages  (15)</option> <option class="level-0" value="12314">Welfare  (2)</option> <option class="level-0" value="70643">Wellington  (23)</option> <option class="level-0" value="27590543">zero lower bound  (30)</option> </select> </form><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ (function() { var dropdown = document.getElementById( "cat" ); function onCatChange() { if ( dropdown.options[ dropdown.selectedIndex ].value > 0 ) { dropdown.parentNode.submit(); } } dropdown.onchange = onCatChange; })(); /* ]]> */ </script> </aside><aside id="twitter_timeline-2" class="widget widget_twitter_timeline"><h1 class="widget-title">Follow me on Twitter</h1><a class="twitter-timeline" data-theme="light" data-border-color="#e8e8e8" data-tweet-limit="5" data-lang="EN" data-partner="jetpack" href="https://twitter.com/@MHReddell" href="https://twitter.com/@MHReddell">My Tweets</a></aside> </div> </div> <footer id="colophon" class="site-footer" role="contentinfo"> <div class="site-footer-wrapper"> <div class="site-info"> <a href="https://wordpress.com/?ref=footer_blog" rel="nofollow">Blog at WordPress.com.</a> </div> <div id="social-links"> <div class="social-links"><ul id="menu-contents" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-8396" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-8396"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/papers-and-speeches/"><span class="screen-reader-text">Papers and speeches</span></a></li> <li id="menu-item-58340" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-58340"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/china-prc/"><span class="screen-reader-text">China (PRC)</span></a></li> <li id="menu-item-66510" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-66510"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/book-reviews/"><span class="screen-reader-text">Book reviews</span></a></li> <li id="menu-item-70355" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-70355"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/reserve-bank-of-new-zealand-superannuation-scheme/"><span class="screen-reader-text">Reserve Bank of New Zealand Superannuation Scheme</span></a></li> <li id="menu-item-71259" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-71259"><a href="https://croakingcassandra.com/early-mpss-and-economic-projections/"><span class="screen-reader-text">MPSs & Economic Forecasts from early-mid 90s</span></a></li> </ul></div> </div> </div> </footer> </div>  <script type="text/javascript" src="//0.gravatar.com/js/hovercards/hovercards.min.js?ver=2025127d8bf6c02970a26c6b0c26b0fcfc89796aa30f84307cffd8fd28d2bcca53dd7a" id="grofiles-cards-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="wpgroho-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var WPGroHo = {"my_hash":""}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script crossorigin='anonymous' type='text/javascript' src='https://s2.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/gravatar-hovercards/wpgroho.js?m=1610363240i'></script> <script> // Initialize and attach hovercards to all gravatars ( function() { function init() { if ( typeof Gravatar === 'undefined' ) { return; } if ( typeof Gravatar.init !== 'function' ) { return; } Gravatar.profile_cb = function ( hash, id ) { WPGroHo.syncProfileData( hash, id ); }; Gravatar.my_hash = WPGroHo.my_hash; Gravatar.init( 'body', '#wp-admin-bar-my-account', { i18n: { 'Edit your profile →': 'Edit your profile →', 'View profile →': 'View profile →', 'Contact': 'Contact', 'Send money': 'Send money', 'Sorry, we are unable to load this Gravatar profile.': 'Sorry, we are unable to load this Gravatar profile.', 'Profile not found.': 'Profile not found.', 'Too Many Requests.': 'Too Many Requests.', 'Internal Server Error.': 'Internal Server Error.', }, } ); } if ( document.readyState !== 'loading' ) { init(); } else { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', init ); } } )(); </script> <div style="display:none"> </div> <div id="actionbar" dir="ltr" style="display: none;" class="actnbr-pub-big-brother actnbr-has-follow actnbr-has-actions"> <ul> <li class="actnbr-btn actnbr-hidden"> <a class="actnbr-action actnbr-actn-follow " href=""> <svg class="gridicon" height="20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="m4 4.5h12v6.5h1.5v-6.5-1.5h-1.5-12-1.5v1.5 10.5c0 1.1046.89543 2 2 2h7v-1.5h-7c-.27614 0-.5-.2239-.5-.5zm10.5 2h-9v1.5h9zm-5 3h-4v1.5h4zm3.5 1.5h-1v1h1zm-1-1.5h-1.5v1.5 1 1.5h1.5 1 1.5v-1.5-1-1.5h-1.5zm-2.5 2.5h-4v1.5h4zm6.5 1.25h1.5v2.25h2.25v1.5h-2.25v2.25h-1.5v-2.25h-2.25v-1.5h2.25z" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg> <span>Subscribe</span> </a> <a class="actnbr-action actnbr-actn-following no-display" href=""> <svg class="gridicon" height="20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20"><path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16 4.5H4V15C4 15.2761 4.22386 15.5 4.5 15.5H11.5V17H4.5C3.39543 17 2.5 16.1046 2.5 15V4.5V3H4H16H17.5V4.5V12.5H16V4.5ZM5.5 6.5H14.5V8H5.5V6.5ZM5.5 9.5H9.5V11H5.5V9.5ZM12 11H13V12H12V11ZM10.5 9.5H12H13H14.5V11V12V13.5H13H12H10.5V12V11V9.5ZM5.5 12H9.5V13.5H5.5V12Z" fill="#008A20"></path><path class="following-icon-tick" d="M13.5 16L15.5 18L19 14.5" stroke="#008A20" stroke-width="1.5"></path></svg> <span>Subscribed</span> </a> <div class="actnbr-popover tip tip-top-left actnbr-notice" id="follow-bubble"> <div class="tip-arrow"></div> <div class="tip-inner actnbr-follow-bubble"> <ul> <li class="actnbr-sitename"> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com"> <img loading='lazy' alt='' src='https://s2.wp.com/i/logo/wpcom-gray-white.png' srcset='https://s2.wp.com/i/logo/wpcom-gray-white.png 1x' class='avatar avatar-50' height='50' width='50' /> croaking cassandra </a> </li> <div class="actnbr-message no-display"></div> <form method="post" action="https://subscribe.wordpress.com" accept-charset="utf-8" style="display: none;"> <div class="actnbr-follow-count">Join 1,743 other subscribers</div> <div> <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter your email address" class="actnbr-email-field" aria-label="Enter your email address" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe" /> <input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="85004741" /> <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://croakingcassandra.com/2025/03/01/" /> <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="actionbar-follow" /> <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="71ab1196df" /> <div class="actnbr-button-wrap"> <button type="submit" value="Sign me up"> Sign me up </button> </div> </form> <li class="actnbr-login-nudge"> <div> Already have a WordPress.com account? <a href="https://wordpress.com/log-in?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fr-login.wordpress.com%2Fremote-login.php%3Faction%3Dlink%26back%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcroakingcassandra.com%252F2025%252F03%252F01%252Fforty-years-of-floating%252F">Log in now.</a> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li class="actnbr-ellipsis actnbr-hidden"> <svg class="gridicon gridicons-ellipsis" height="24" width="24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><g><path d="M7 12c0 1.104-.896 2-2 2s-2-.896-2-2 .896-2 2-2 2 .896 2 2zm12-2c-1.104 0-2 .896-2 2s.896 2 2 2 2-.896 2-2-.896-2-2-2zm-7 0c-1.104 0-2 .896-2 2s.896 2 2 2 2-.896 2-2-.896-2-2-2z"/></g></svg> <div class="actnbr-popover tip tip-top-left actnbr-more"> <div class="tip-arrow"></div> <div class="tip-inner"> <ul> <li class="actnbr-sitename"> <a href="https://croakingcassandra.com"> <img loading='lazy' alt='' src='https://s2.wp.com/i/logo/wpcom-gray-white.png' srcset='https://s2.wp.com/i/logo/wpcom-gray-white.png 1x' class='avatar avatar-50' height='50' width='50' /> croaking cassandra </a> </li> <li class="actnbr-folded-follow"> <a class="actnbr-action actnbr-actn-follow " href=""> <svg class="gridicon" height="20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="m4 4.5h12v6.5h1.5v-6.5-1.5h-1.5-12-1.5v1.5 10.5c0 1.1046.89543 2 2 2h7v-1.5h-7c-.27614 0-.5-.2239-.5-.5zm10.5 2h-9v1.5h9zm-5 3h-4v1.5h4zm3.5 1.5h-1v1h1zm-1-1.5h-1.5v1.5 1 1.5h1.5 1 1.5v-1.5-1-1.5h-1.5zm-2.5 2.5h-4v1.5h4zm6.5 1.25h1.5v2.25h2.25v1.5h-2.25v2.25h-1.5v-2.25h-2.25v-1.5h2.25z" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg> <span>Subscribe</span> </a> <a class="actnbr-action actnbr-actn-following no-display" href=""> <svg class="gridicon" height="20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20"><path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16 4.5H4V15C4 15.2761 4.22386 15.5 4.5 15.5H11.5V17H4.5C3.39543 17 2.5 16.1046 2.5 15V4.5V3H4H16H17.5V4.5V12.5H16V4.5ZM5.5 6.5H14.5V8H5.5V6.5ZM5.5 9.5H9.5V11H5.5V9.5ZM12 11H13V12H12V11ZM10.5 9.5H12H13H14.5V11V12V13.5H13H12H10.5V12V11V9.5ZM5.5 12H9.5V13.5H5.5V12Z" fill="#008A20"></path><path class="following-icon-tick" d="M13.5 16L15.5 18L19 14.5" stroke="#008A20" stroke-width="1.5"></path></svg> <span>Subscribed</span> </a> </li> <li class="actnbr-signup"><a href="https://wordpress.com/start/">Sign up</a></li> <li class="actnbr-login"><a href="https://wordpress.com/log-in?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fr-login.wordpress.com%2Fremote-login.php%3Faction%3Dlink%26back%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fcroakingcassandra.com%252F2025%252F03%252F01%252Fforty-years-of-floating%252F">Log in</a></li> <li class="flb-report"> <a href="https://wordpress.com/abuse/?report_url=https://croakingcassandra.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Report this content </a> </li> <li class="actnbr-reader"> <a href="https://wordpress.com/reader/feeds/34600341"> View site in Reader </a> </li> <li class="actnbr-subs"> <a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/">Manage subscriptions</a> </li> <li class="actnbr-fold"><a href="">Collapse this bar</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> <script> window.addEventListener( "load", function( event ) { var link = document.createElement( "link" ); link.href = "https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/actionbar/actionbar.css?v=20250116"; link.type = "text/css"; link.rel = "stylesheet"; document.head.appendChild( link ); var script = document.createElement( "script" ); script.src = "https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/actionbar/actionbar.js?v=20250204"; script.defer = true; document.body.appendChild( script ); } ); </script> <div id="jp-carousel-loading-overlay"> <div id="jp-carousel-loading-wrapper"> <span id="jp-carousel-library-loading"> </span> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-overlay" style="display: none;"> <div class="jp-carousel-container">  <div class="jp-carousel-wrap swiper-container jp-carousel-swiper-container jp-carousel-transitions" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageGallery"> <div class="jp-carousel swiper-wrapper"></div> <div class="jp-swiper-button-prev swiper-button-prev"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskPrev" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="8" y="6" width="9" height="12"> <path d="M16.2072 16.59L11.6496 12L16.2072 7.41L14.8041 6L8.8335 12L14.8041 18L16.2072 16.59Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskPrev)"> <rect x="0.579102" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div> <div class="jp-swiper-button-next swiper-button-next"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskNext" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="8" y="6" width="8" height="12"> <path d="M8.59814 16.59L13.1557 12L8.59814 7.41L10.0012 6L15.9718 12L10.0012 18L8.59814 16.59Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskNext)"> <rect x="0.34375" width="23.8822" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div> </div>  <div class="jp-carousel-close-hint"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskClose" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="5" y="5" width="15" height="14"> <path d="M19.3166 6.41L17.9135 5L12.3509 10.59L6.78834 5L5.38525 6.41L10.9478 12L5.38525 17.59L6.78834 19L12.3509 13.41L17.9135 19L19.3166 17.59L13.754 12L19.3166 6.41Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskClose)"> <rect x="0.409668" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div>  <div class="jp-carousel-info"> <div class="jp-carousel-info-footer"> <div class="jp-carousel-pagination-container"> <div class="jp-swiper-pagination swiper-pagination"></div> <div class="jp-carousel-pagination"></div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-title-container"> <h2 class="jp-carousel-photo-caption"></h2> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-icons-container"> <a href="#" class="jp-carousel-icon-btn jp-carousel-icon-info" aria-label="Toggle photo metadata visibility"> <span class="jp-carousel-icon"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskInfo" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="2" y="2" width="21" height="20"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7537 2C7.26076 2 2.80273 6.48 2.80273 12C2.80273 17.52 7.26076 22 12.7537 22C18.2466 22 22.7046 17.52 22.7046 12C22.7046 6.48 18.2466 2 12.7537 2ZM11.7586 7V9H13.7488V7H11.7586ZM11.7586 11V17H13.7488V11H11.7586ZM4.79292 12C4.79292 16.41 8.36531 20 12.7537 20C17.142 20 20.7144 16.41 20.7144 12C20.7144 7.59 17.142 4 12.7537 4C8.36531 4 4.79292 7.59 4.79292 12Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskInfo)"> <rect x="0.8125" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </span> </a> <a href="#" class="jp-carousel-icon-btn jp-carousel-icon-comments" aria-label="Toggle photo comments visibility"> <span class="jp-carousel-icon"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskComments" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="2" y="2" width="21" height="20"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M4.3271 2H20.2486C21.3432 2 22.2388 2.9 22.2388 4V16C22.2388 17.1 21.3432 18 20.2486 18H6.31729L2.33691 22V4C2.33691 2.9 3.2325 2 4.3271 2ZM6.31729 16H20.2486V4H4.3271V18L6.31729 16Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskComments)"> <rect x="0.34668" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> <span class="jp-carousel-has-comments-indicator" aria-label="This image has comments."></span> </span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-info-extra"> <div class="jp-carousel-info-content-wrapper"> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-title-container"> <h2 class="jp-carousel-photo-title"></h2> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-comments-wrapper"> <div id="jp-carousel-comments-loading"> <span>Loading Comments...</span> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-comments"></div> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-container"> <span id="jp-carousel-comment-form-spinner"> </span> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-post-results"></div> <form id="jp-carousel-comment-form"> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" class="screen-reader-text">Write a Comment...</label> <textarea name="comment" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-textarea" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" placeholder="Write a Comment..." ></textarea> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-submit-and-info-wrapper"> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-commenting-as"> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">Email (Required)</label> <input type="text" name="email" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field" /> </fieldset> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">Name (Required)</label> <input type="text" name="author" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field" /> </fieldset> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">Website</label> <input type="text" name="url" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field" /> </fieldset> </div> <input type="submit" name="submit" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-button" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-button-submit" value="Post Comment" /> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-image-meta"> <div class="jp-carousel-title-and-caption"> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-info"> <h3 class="jp-carousel-caption" itemprop="caption description"></h3> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-description"></div> </div> <ul class="jp-carousel-image-exif" style="display: none;"></ul> <a class="jp-carousel-image-download" href="#" target="_blank" style="display: none;"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="mask0" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="3" y="3" width="19" height="18"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M5.84615 5V19H19.7775V12H21.7677V19C21.7677 20.1 20.8721 21 19.7775 21H5.84615C4.74159 21 3.85596 20.1 3.85596 19V5C3.85596 3.9 4.74159 3 5.84615 3H12.8118V5H5.84615ZM14.802 5V3H21.7677V10H19.7775V6.41L9.99569 16.24L8.59261 14.83L18.3744 5H14.802Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#mask0)"> <rect x="0.870605" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> <span class="jp-carousel-download-text"></span> </a> <div class="jp-carousel-image-map" style="display: none;"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <link crossorigin='anonymous' rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-0-2' href='https://s2.wp.com/_static/??-eJydjEEKgCAQAD+UrR6KLtFbTJfQdJXWxe9HUB/oOMMw0KtyhRpSgyyqJjkCMURs1brzZWAhyMVLQgZnryKMCbiHipfahXzC0TEP8H/2NZ94fltezbxMxkx61vEGx+U/hQ==&cssminify=yes' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='jetpack-block-subscriptions-inline-css'> .is-style-compact .is-not-subscriber .wp-block-button__link,.is-style-compact .is-not-subscriber .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button{border-end-start-radius:0!important;border-start-start-radius:0!important;margin-inline-start:0!important}.is-style-compact .is-not-subscriber .components-text-control__input,.is-style-compact .is-not-subscriber p#subscribe-email input[type=email]{border-end-end-radius:0!important;border-start-end-radius:0!important}.is-style-compact:not(.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__use-newline) .components-text-control__input{border-inline-end-width:0!important}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form-container{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline:not(.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__use-newline) .is-not-subscriber .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form-elements{align-items:flex-start;display:flex}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline:not(.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__use-newline) p#subscribe-submit{display:flex;justify-content:center}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield .components-text-control__input,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form input[type=email],.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield .components-text-control__input,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form input[type=email]{box-sizing:border-box;cursor:pointer;line-height:1.3;min-width:auto!important;white-space:nowrap!important}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button[contenteditable=true],.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button[contenteditable=true]{white-space:pre-wrap!important}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form input[type=email]::placeholder,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form input[type=email]:disabled,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form input[type=email]::placeholder,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form input[type=email]:disabled{color:currentColor;opacity:.5}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form button{border-color:#0000;border-style:solid}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form p#subscribe-email,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form p#subscribe-email{background:#0000;flex-grow:1}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield .components-base-control__field,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield .components-text-control__input,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield input[type=email],.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form p#subscribe-email .components-base-control__field,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form p#subscribe-email .components-text-control__input,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form p#subscribe-email input[type=email],.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield .components-base-control__field,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield .components-text-control__input,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__textfield input[type=email],.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form p#subscribe-email .components-base-control__field,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form p#subscribe-email .components-text-control__input,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form p#subscribe-email input[type=email]{height:auto;margin:0;width:100%}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form p#subscribe-email,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form p#subscribe-submit,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form p#subscribe-email,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline form p#subscribe-submit{line-height:0;margin:0;padding:0}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__show-subs .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__subscount{font-size:16px;margin:8px 0;text-align:end}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__use-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form-elements{display:block}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__use-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__button,.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__use-newline button{display:inline-block;max-width:100%}.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__use-newline .wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__subscount{text-align:start}#subscribe-submit.is-link{text-align:center;width:auto!important}#subscribe-submit.is-link a{margin-left:0!important;margin-top:0!important;width:auto!important}@keyframes jetpack-memberships_button__spinner-animation{to{transform:rotate(1turn)}}.jetpack-memberships-spinner{display:none;height:1em;margin:0 0 0 5px;width:1em}.jetpack-memberships-spinner svg{height:100%;margin-bottom:-2px;width:100%}.jetpack-memberships-spinner-rotating{animation:jetpack-memberships_button__spinner-animation .75s linear infinite;transform-origin:center}.is-loading .jetpack-memberships-spinner{display:inline-block}body.jetpack-memberships-modal-open{overflow:hidden}dialog.jetpack-memberships-modal{opacity:1}dialog.jetpack-memberships-modal,dialog.jetpack-memberships-modal iframe{background:#0000;border:0;bottom:0;box-shadow:none;height:100%;left:0;margin:0;padding:0;position:fixed;right:0;top:0;width:100%}dialog.jetpack-memberships-modal::backdrop{background-color:#000;opacity:.7;transition:opacity .2s ease-out}dialog.jetpack-memberships-modal.is-loading,dialog.jetpack-memberships-modal.is-loading::backdrop{opacity:0} </style> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://s1.wp.com/wp-content/js/mobile-useragent-info.js?m=1609849039i&ver=20241018" id="mobile-useragent-info-js" defer="defer" data-wp-strategy="defer"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="coblocks-loader-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var wpcom_coblocks_js = {"coblocks_masonry_js":"https:\/\/s2.wp.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/coblocks\/2.18.1-simple-rev.4\/dist\/js\/coblocks-masonry.min.js","coblocks_lightbox_js":"https:\/\/s2.wp.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/coblocks\/2.18.1-simple-rev.4\/dist\/js\/coblocks-lightbox.min.js","jquery_core_js":"\/wp-includes\/js\/jquery\/jquery.min.js","jquery_migrate_js":"\/wp-includes\/js\/jquery\/jquery-migrate.min.js","masonry_js":"\/wp-includes\/js\/masonry.min.js","imagesloaded_js":"\/wp-includes\/js\/imagesloaded.min.js"}; var coblocksLigthboxData = {"closeLabel":"Close Gallery","leftLabel":"Previous","rightLabel":"Next"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-carousel-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var jetpackSwiperLibraryPath = {"url":"https:\/\/s2.wp.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/jetpack-plugin\/sun\/_inc\/build\/carousel\/swiper-bundle.min.js"}; var jetpackCarouselStrings = {"widths":[370,700,1000,1200,1400,2000],"is_logged_in":"","lang":"en","ajaxurl":"https:\/\/croakingcassandra.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"4b4b099376","display_exif":"1","display_comments":"1","single_image_gallery":"1","single_image_gallery_media_file":"","background_color":"black","comment":"Comment","post_comment":"Post Comment","write_comment":"Write a Comment...","loading_comments":"Loading Comments...","image_label":"Open image in full-screen.","download_original":"View full size <span class=\"photo-size\">{0}<span class=\"photo-size-times\">\u00d7<\/span>{1}<\/span>","no_comment_text":"Please be sure to submit some text with your comment.","no_comment_email":"Please provide an email address to comment.","no_comment_author":"Please provide your name to comment.","comment_post_error":"Sorry, but there was an error posting your comment. Please try again later.","comment_approved":"Your comment was approved.","comment_unapproved":"Your comment is in moderation.","camera":"Camera","aperture":"Aperture","shutter_speed":"Shutter Speed","focal_length":"Focal Length","copyright":"Copyright","comment_registration":"0","require_name_email":"1","login_url":"https:\/\/croakingcassandra.wordpress.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fcroakingcassandra.com%2F2025%2F03%2F01%2Fforty-years-of-floating%2F","blog_id":"85004741","meta_data":["camera","aperture","shutter_speed","focal_length","copyright"],"stats_query_args":"blog=85004741&v=wpcom&tz=12&user_id=0&subd=croakingcassandra","is_public":"1"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-blocks-assets-base-url-js-before"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var Jetpack_Block_Assets_Base_Url="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/jetpack-plugin/sun/_inc/blocks/"; /* ]]> */ </script> <script crossorigin='anonymous' type='text/javascript' src='https://s0.wp.com/_static/??-eJyVj0kOwjAQBD/EeBRCWA6IpyDbMWEcb/LYgecDUgKIG8dudbVUeEugYygmFEyuDhQYdVQu6pFxLZq9aIDJJ2cgm0lssCcuaD8jcFH2JgtPQVhe4ddfuRpvGFNVqGgAleOzyS84yIkGWSj+wfBICRyFES5RV4YL3X9hX2FxsKYkqcc5I9eAZwoaVSXXo5Y5VjbuPVuKWePkj82ubQ/Ntms7+wBW6Wqw'></script> <script type="text/javascript" crossorigin='anonymous' src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/gutenberg-core/v20.0.4/build/dom-ready/index.min.js?m=1741299224i&ver=222ad38e3e5e302c8bbf" id="wp-dom-ready-js"></script> <script crossorigin='anonymous' type='text/javascript' src='https://s1.wp.com/_static/??-eJydjD0OwjAMRi9E6iKG0gFxFNSmBrl1nCh2GnF7gsTEwMD4vp8HNTkSz2VBhVVhITXYUZaYoVUp8vNOzF0g6VY9vDMfxVAMQnGJy4OkHdHS5LcPgxaBW7PCzNFv2nhWnykZxTbeCesfLqtkhtkZBWQS/KHwU45FkV1NPoYvbL9ruByH03ga+344ry//gmEL'></script> <script type="text/javascript"> (function () { var wpcom_reblog = { source: 'toolbar', toggle_reblog_box_flair: function (obj_id, post_id) { // Go to site selector. This will redirect to their blog if they only have one. const postEndpoint = `https://wordpress.com/post`; // Ideally we would use the permalink here, but fortunately this will be replaced with the // post permalink in the editor. const originalURL = `${ document.location.href }?page_id=${ post_id }`; const url = postEndpoint + '?url=' + encodeURIComponent( originalURL ) + '&is_post_share=true' + '&v=5'; const redirect = function () { if ( ! window.open( url, '_blank' ) ) { location.href = url; } }; if ( /Firefox/.test( navigator.userAgent ) ) { setTimeout( redirect, 0 ); } else { redirect(); } }, }; window.wpcom_reblog = wpcom_reblog; })(); </script> <script src="//stats.wp.com/w.js?68" defer></script> <script type="text/javascript"> _tkq = window._tkq || []; _stq = window._stq || []; _tkq.push(['storeContext', {'blog_id':'85004741','blog_tz':'12','user_lang':'en','blog_lang':'en','user_id':'0'}]); _stq.push(['view', {'blog':'85004741','v':'wpcom','tz':'12','user_id':'0','subd':'croakingcassandra'}]); _stq.push(['extra', {'crypt':'UE40eW5QN0p8M2Y/RE1mNzc2NTVTamdsRWFxcEV3XUtMXVR5aWlmMVNIcUxBaFstUWRrZVpWQ2tORExSfEpUVm05SlpEZzZWOEtlbW5nZHV0dkhDNjhwP35JbkdHLyZqRVk/NTNQOVdPTjYyfFRyYn5PUHNhVWU9T101R3FaM05FM0h3LHpPYlVzLGd0Z1NTan5maWJSLDNQRWpPV21GfGYyKz1zKy0tcDhxJklpMkUmR29kYnFRZ18wdHdIbSwuSX5VUFdzc0N6WV04LSxRaVQvZk5IbXFlQUpifnNKUWhOU3E9ZmguWWdqbmozZEVTZExSOW0saFc0SVZaM0pmL004THFEekJwR051ZnQ1cks2UFZBV1YyUEZVcWI4MHE3RWZOcXk/aGJqMA=='}]); _stq.push([ 'clickTrackerInit', '85004741', '0' ]); </script> <noscript><img src="https://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?v=noscript" style="height:1px;width:1px;overflow:hidden;position:absolute;bottom:1px;" alt="" /></noscript> <script defer id="bilmur" data-customproperties="{"logged_in":"0","wptheme":"pub\/big-brother","wptheme_is_block":"0"}" data-provider="wordpress.com" data-service="simple" data-site-tz="Pacific/Auckland" src="/wp-content/js/bilmur-3-4-combined.min.js?i=12&m=202512"></script><script> ( function() { function getMobileUserAgentInfo() { if ( typeof wpcom_mobile_user_agent_info === 'object' ) { wpcom_mobile_user_agent_info.init(); var mobileStatsQueryString = ''; if ( wpcom_mobile_user_agent_info.matchedPlatformName !== false ) { mobileStatsQueryString += '&x_' + 'mobile_platforms' + '=' + wpcom_mobile_user_agent_info.matchedPlatformName; } if ( wpcom_mobile_user_agent_info.matchedUserAgentName !== false ) { mobileStatsQueryString += '&x_' + 'mobile_devices' + '=' + wpcom_mobile_user_agent_info.matchedUserAgentName; } if ( wpcom_mobile_user_agent_info.isIPad() ) { mobileStatsQueryString += '&x_' + 'ipad_views' + '=' + 'views'; } if ( mobileStatsQueryString != '' ) { new Image().src = document.location.protocol + '//pixel.wp.com/g.gif?v=wpcom-no-pv' + mobileStatsQueryString + '&baba=' + Math.random(); } } } document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', getMobileUserAgentInfo ); } )(); </script> </body> </html>