As the next round of negotiations to try and keep Greece in the European Union get underway, a tangible solution is still not evident, but the sense of despair locally is palpable.
Read MoreWhat Happened to Peak Oil?
Fracking has changed the energy outlook, with major geopolitical implications
Read MoreRMA: a cautionary tale
Once upon a time, in a land not very far away, there lived a king. True story.
Read MoreBliss was it in that dawn to be alive
A New Zealand High Court has just told Parliament that its law limits rights in a way that cannot be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. In other words, it failed in its basic task as a lawmaker.
Read MoreThe Government's problem with problem gambling
The High Court just gave the Government (in the form of officials in the Ministry of Health) a complete shellacking over the way it decided to remove funding from the Problem Gambling Foundation. It's worth going into the memory hole to recall what was said about that decision at the time it was made.
Read MoreThe extraordinary likeness of Trump and Corbyn
While Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn are blindingly different politicians, their current and probably short-lived attraction to their respective bases is eerily similar in the world of anger politics.
Read MoreGreen and peaceful land
On June 25, Greenpeace New Zealand did an action at Parliament. That afternoon I knew that, were I raising children, it would be as activists
Read MoreBubble, Bubble, Boil and Auckland Housing Trouble.
Treating the Auckland housing bubble as a supply-side problem doesn’t work; neither does blaming some group without a careful analysis of what is happening. What might work?
Read MoreSmith: I can tackle Auckland's housing shortage by 2017
Lots of new houses are being consented in Auckland, but supply is still not keeping up with demand. So why is National so keen to talk about supply?
Read MoreGeneration Rent may yet lead the way
Do we need more regulation in the housing market? Probably not -- existing regulation may be inflaming the problem of lack of supply
Read MoreHistoric Iran nuclear deal…finally...
After a marathon last push, the world's major powers and Iran have agreed on a deal which restricts and inspects Iran's nuclear programme, in exchange for lifting years of crippling sanctions. No surprises in who sees it as true diplomacy at work and who is screaming capitulation and death to the deal.
Read MoreWhat's in a name... and a number?
Cries of "racism" have surrounded Labour's release of data on the impact of foreign buyers on the Auckland property market. But what's really upsetting people?
Read MoreIs the Economy Heading Into a Recession?
Whatever the answer, what are we going to do about it?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday July 10
Greece extends bank closures; Chinese stock market rises after 10 days of falling prices; US and Japanese officials meet ahead of TPP meeting; Syrian refugees top four million; Nigerian troops arrest bombing 'mastermind' responsible for 69 deaths; and more
Read MoreGreece's Tragic Predicament
Within possibly just hours the fate of Greece could be known. Either way - in or out of the EU - the population of this crippled country faces only more hardship. Some players are more to blame than others, but none is exempt.
Read MoreKeep it in perspective, eh?
National's attempt to downplay economic concerns is like telling the All Blacks not to worry about playing without their front row
Read MoreLet’s Not Turn Greek Debt into a Democratic Deficit.
We need to distinguish the sovereign state from the people it governs, and the other political institutions between.
Read MoreAn open letter to Murray McCully
Bad things are happening in Nauru. Some of us think Murray McCully needs to do more in response.
Read MoreDoes Income Inequality Reduce Equality of Opportunity?
Recent publications suggest that the children who live at the bottom in economies with high inequality have reduced life chances.
Read MoreNew twists in the state house sell-off
A start of my post on state housing sales... More to come later, but feel free to start discussing now
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