Is it a coincidence that the Spring 2019 issue of The New Zealand Review of Books reviewed five books concerned about truth in its many guises?
Read MoreWhat to do about the much ado over overseas donations?
Should we care if companies owned by foreign nationals can donate to political parties when foreign nationals can’t do it themselves? And if we do, what can we do about it?
Read MoreSimon Bridges' Treaty settlement tweet may foresee the future – for better or worse
Is the Ihumatao protest a turning point in our race relations, where our understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi – and the promise of ‘full and final’ settlements – gets re-evaluated and overhauled?
Read MorePopulist Versus Liberal Democracy; The Choice Before Us?
Donald Trump is not the end of an era but the beginning of a new long one, argues the celebrated New Zealand economist Robert Wade, who is a professor at the London School of Economics.
Read MoreThe Amazon burns; is New Zealand fiddling?
Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has a list of excuses for the Amazon fires that threaten ‘the lungs of the world’… and they won’t be unfamiliar to those debating the environment here in New Zealand
Read MoreWhat Can We Learn from the 2018 Census Debacle?
The publication of the report reviewing the 2018 Population Census and the resignation of the Government Statistician who presided over the disaster is the beginning, not the end, of a discussion on the role of statistics and the state sector in New Zealand.
Read MoreDo We Need a Fiscal Stimulus?
As the Reserve Bank monetary policy statement might indicate, the answer to the headline question is that as economic growth weakens, we increasingly need some more government spending. The bigger problem is how to manage it.
Read MoreLet's not turn an omnishambles into a clusterf*ck
The 2018 census did not do its job properly. But we shouldn’t use that fact to undermine other important institutions and processes.
Read MoreWill our politicians listen to the Waitangi Tribunal on prisoner voting?
In laying out how poorly conceived was the law banning prisoners from voting and just how negatively it affects Māori in particular, the Waitangi Tribunal presents us with a fierce reminder of the need for change.
Read MoreLabour's obsession with avoiding one trap is leading it fair square into another
Labour is obsessed with not being seen as a ‘tax and spend’ party, but its economic caution means social issues are dominating its agenda and it risks falling into another trap with the election little more than a year away
Read MoreFrom frustration in then UK to vacuousness in the US: Travelling a disgruntled world
The chaos of Boris Johnson, the vacuous response to US gun violence, Harry and Megan’s family size, and the surge of Andrew Yang… overseasia is a curious place right now
Read MoreAbortion debate shows best of politics, which is why Peters' games are so jarring
Jacinda Ardern looks to have delivered a key election promise on a day when MPs showed how honest, civil debate works… except, that is, for Winston Peters
Read MoreScoring the Accountants
Elements of our Public Finance Act are world class, as a recent conference reported. But other parts need to be overhauled.
Read MoreWelcome to the new Pundit, 10 years on
Yes, your eyes aren’t playing games. Things do look a little different round here. Let us explain…
Read MoreThe greying of the Greens
The Greens’ stubborn incrementalism and James Shaw’s ruthlessness with dissent is diluting support inside the party is hastening the day when it faces its own revolution or replacement on the left
Read MoreOpposition to Housing Policy
Housing is one of the hardest meso-economic (between macro and micro) sectors to analyse. In part it is its complexity, but perhaps most fundamentally it is an area where standard market theory applies poorly. And then there is the politics.
Read MoreLet’s do This: A guide to the Third Way. The Giddens Project Part 4
In the minds of most social democratic politicians, the Third Way is yesterday’s news. But it hasn’t been that easy to come up with an alternative vision of progress. Maybe what Giddens had to say might yet be a good starting point – if only to disagree
Read MoreDear ministers, here's a solution for Ihumatao
The debate at Ihumatao has become a battle over whether or not to build houses. What about a third option?
Read MoreLetter to my MP on the End of Life Choice Bill and a Referendum*
I do not recall during the 2017 election thinking about your position, or that of the other candidates in my electorate, in regard to the legislation about assistance for those who choose to end their life. Now Parliament is going to make a decision about it. What do I want you to do for me?
My idealistic position on the role of MPs was articulated by Edmund Burke:
‘Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.’
Read MoreMuddling Over Methane
New Zealand has got itself into a right proper muddle over methane emissions and their impact on climate change. A simple change to the proposed legislation would sort it out.
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. However, methane from livestock is measured gross.
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