Social democracy is in trouble. Social democratic parties have been annihilated in Greece, reduced to a shadow in France and struggle in Scandinavia. Corbyn in Britian and Sanders in the United States have support but can't get elected. Can New Zealand Labour show that it is not only possible to form a government but also to save social democracy?
Read MoreCommonsense about Measuring Poverty
Treasury made a egregious error in its calculation of the impact of Labour’s tax package on poverty. Can we learn from it?
Read MoreHow Donald Trump helped save the trade deal and enabled Ardern's realism
Labour's willingness to back the new CPTPP owes a lot to the US president, but also shows the rise of the political realists in its ranks. But the hard part is yet to come
Read MoreHow Economically Radical Will Today’s Labour-led Government Be?
These are notes prepared as a background for a ‘Pundit’ interview on RNZ Nights with Bryan Crump on 23 January, 2018.
Read MoreLegalFling - whatever it does, it does not create a legally binding contract
The makers of app LegalFling claim it creates a "legally binding contract" for sex that can result in remedies for breach, including enforcement of penalty clauses. I think it doesn't.
Read MoreImagine - Ardern, Gayford, motherhood and work
The announcement by Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford that they will be parents this year for the first time suggests a Rubicon is about to be crossed. Some progress has been made toward women being able to be mothers and in paid employment but there is some way to go. Given Ardern and Gayford's prominence they may be about to make the tectonic plates of our society shift.
Read MoreContingency and Jim (1938-2018)
A review of some critical decisions in Jim Anderton’s life reminds us of just how contingent politics can be.
Read MoreIs Jacinda a Marxist?
The editor-in-chief of The Lancet said she is
Read MoreWho controls the past now, controls the future
Should NZ reintroduce legislation requiring MPs that leave their parties to also quit Parliament? The debate over that question involves a battle over what happened in the past.
Read MoreJim Anderton's political legacy... & his final win
Jim Anderton has died at a time when the party he fought for, then walked out on, looks more like him than it does his erstwhile opponents.
Read MoreCelebrating New Zealand’s Independent Republics.
How big does a country have to be?
Read MoreThe Fallacy of the Uninformed Celebrity Opinion
Too much of our public discussion is led by those who are have strong opinions based on prejudice and ignorance rather than thorough research and understanding
Read MoreWhat is New with the HYEFU?
December’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) was combined with the Government’s plans for its first 100 days.
Read MoreA snaking line of humanity that NZ can be proud of
What kind of New Zealand might we see in 20 years? Well I saw a snaking line recently and rather than having a nightmarish premonition, I was filled with hope
Read MoreMike Hosking: You do the crime, you do the time
So Mike Hosking has stuck his lower lip out over the BSA ruling against him. But his column attacking the standards body has wider ramifications than just him and his mistake
Read MoreMoko: The first thing we need to do to save lives is...
Oranga Tamariki has a new name, but the same problems and, as we saw in Coroner William Bain's report this week, the same failings. But there is a way to make a difference
Read MoreSocial Investment is Fashionable at the Moment.
But do we have the foggiest idea of what it means or how to do it well?
Read MoreMini-Budget needs to light a fire under 'the optional government'
Incumbency is the super power every politician craves, yet this oddly muted new Labour-led government doesn't seem to have figured out how to use it yet. This week's mini-Budget is now crucial if it wants to position itself as a truly transformational government
Read MoreIs Another Global Fiscal Crisis Imminent?
So claims Niall Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard.
(These are notes prepared for a Radio New Zealand ‘Nights’ Pundits conversation with Bryan Crump. Tuesday 12 December 2017.)
Read MoreOpinion is killing journalism
The 'little men' of the modern media are dragging down a once respected profession because they lack the courage to maintain the standards journalists once held dear
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