Stamp of Approval?

April 8, 2011
Posted by Jay Livingston

Stamps allow you to learn all about the world. That’s the sort of thing I used to hear as a kid, usually from grown-ups encouraging kids to get involved in a hobby, like stamp collecting.

Here’s the Royal Wedding commemorative stamp that New Zealand Niue issued. It’s worth 5.80 NZ dollars, but conveniently, if your letter requires less postage, you can tear the stamp on the perforation.

It reminds me of those photos (from the pre-Photoshop era) of now-divorced couples, the photo torn in half to remove a husband or wife. The New Zealand Niue stamp is like a pre-nup – we’re not saying you’re going to split up, but in case you do, this will make thing easier.


There’s a second problem, one pointed out by many others (including The Equality Myth, which is where I found this thanks to a link by Philip Cohen): Prince William is worth 3.40, Kate is worth only 2.40.

Those grown-ups of my childhood – maybe they were right. Stamps can tell you something about real world.
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4 comments:

  1. ArnieApril 08, 2011 3:53 PM

    Kate's worth is below the fair market value.

    In June 2009, New Zealand women earned 81% of men’s average weekly earnings, and 87.8% of men’s average hourly earnings. The Statistics New Zealand Quarterly Employment Survey shows that the gap between the average weekly earnings of women working full-time, and men working full-time, fell from 26% to 19% between 1984 and 2009.

    Source:

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  2. AnonymousApril 09, 2011 10:34 PM

    As it says on th stamp, they were issued by Niue, not New Zealand. Completely different country.

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  3. Jay LivingstonApril 09, 2011 10:41 PM

    Ooops. Thanks. My mistake. (I was only off by 1500 miles.)

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  4. ArnieApril 11, 2011 2:36 PM

    Tomorrow is Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how much longer working women need to work to catch up to their male counterparts’ income from the previous year.

    That’s right. A woman has had to work an extra three months this year to match a man’s income in 2010.

    To acknowledge this staggering discrepancy, fair pay supporters nationwide will wear red tomorrow to symbolize that women’s wages are “in the red.”

    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=290345&id=8924408197&l=9d3b61d15a

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