This was an introduction to a presentation by Stephen Jacobi: "TPP – Where to from Here (And How Did We Get Here Anyway)?" To a NZIIA lecture, 2 September 2015. (Some editing)
Read MoreWe can do something right now - refugee crisis
There are ninety towns in New Zealand with a population between 5,000 and 20,000. If each of those towns took ten refugees, and our larger cities took 100 each, we’d triple our quota to nearly 3000 without any going to Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington.
New Zealand would be a proud example of practical, no-nonsense compassion.
We all need to see Aylan Kurdi
The job of the media is to tell, and sometimes show, truth to power and also the public. Editors and journalists who made the conscious decision to publish the photos of the drowned Syrian refugee toddler did just that. The question is will this image be the catalyst to change history as others have in the past?
Read MoreGuts, guts, got no guts
New Zealand is a country that stands up for its values - unless it involves the inconvenience of bringing a few more desperate people into New Zealand for a new life.
Read MoreWhen 'throwing money at the problem' might just work
Talk to social workers and experts trying to get New Zealand's most troubled kids safely through to adulthood and the impression left is that the best thing to do may also be the thing that's most politically anathema to this government
Read MoreFlagging Design
The flag debate tells us something about the quality of design in New Zealand
Read MoreShamubeel is right - Get @X!@ real about immigration!
Blaming the Auckland housing bubble on immigrants is like saying 'cars are too expensive in New Zealand because the Chinese are buying all our cars.’
Read MoreRiot police, razor wire and refugees
Europe takes in only a small proportion of the world's refugees yet when you consider the dog whistle politics and lack of human decency towards the men, women and children desperately trying to reach its shores, you'd think it was being wiped out by an alien species.
Read MoreMy sole contribution to the great flag debate
Apparently, we have to vote twice to decide whether we prefer the current flag to something else. So why was one vote enough when we were voting on our electoral system?
Read MoreAre the banks fleecing us? Ask a Shearer
A bit of anger over credit cards could earn Labour a bit of credit with voters, but there's a risk for a party that is still trying to prove its economic bona fides
Read MoreThe State of the Economy: August 2015
Notes for Radio NZ Nights with Brian Crump: 11 August, 2014
Read MoreHow to avoid a ‘Sexit’
Solid Energy has a basically sound business that is being crushed by debt. If Greece’s debt sent it hurtling towards a ‘Grexit', Solid Energy can avoid a Sexit.
Here’s how.
More milk, less honey
As the milk price falls, Fonterra needs to react by rethinking its strategy
Read MoreOn Smalley: a bit of back & forth
I wasn't going to, but here are a few thoughts on the debate around Rachel Smalley's comments about John Campbell's new job and the dominance of white male broadcasters in primetime.
Read MoreSelling the Iran deal hits new lows in nasty...
With still a month to go before US lawmakers vote on the Iran nuclear deal, the pro and anti sales pitching is officially very ugly....and there's time and energy for more.
Read MoreConfusion about TPP
Trust Us?
Read More"Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power"
The only reason that makes any sense for giving a Saudi sheep breeder an $11 million farm is because we thought it might buy us a Free Trade Agreement with his country. It's a good thing that we're not a corrupt nation, isn't it?
Read MoreTPP: The true cost of negotiations
The Trans-Pacific Partnership could yet be sealed in the next few weeks, and if it is we need to think hard about the cost of signing up... and the cost of staying out
Read MoreOutsourcing.
Why does it occur, when does it work?
Read MoreA murdered Palestinian toddler won't change the 'facts on the ground'
The latest Palestinian death should be a hideous wake-up call for ordinary Israelis to do some serious soul searching over the policies of the government they elected, and the damage it is doing to them all.
Read More