One way of examining the government’s actions in response to COVID-19 – by no means the most important way, but still of moment – is through a legal lens. Where are we at with that examination?
Read MoreThe lockdown and the law – where are we now?
Gagging order is double dumb: Disrespecting public sacrifice & damaging Brand Ardern
The email from the 9th floor telling ministers to ‘dismiss’ interview requests about thousands of pages of Covid-19 related decisions wasn’t just bad for government transparency, it was politically stupid
Read MoreDistribution and the Budget
It is too easy to stick to conventional thinking when we are in a totally new economic environment. Thinking about distributional issues allows us to think deeper.
Read MoreHow New Zealand saved the world
How the little country that could somehow did it again
Read MoreCovid19 and History
Isolation and PPE in 1918
I have been asked what my book, Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, out this month, says about the Covid Crisis. The short answer is nothing ... and everything.
Read MoreNo Public Policy is Costless
It may be some time before we can truly count the cost of the Covid-19 decisions. But whatever approach we take and whatever new normal we build, there will be a cost
Read MoreCome home ... we still need you ... ?
The Ministry of Health proposed closing New Zealand’s borders to returning New Zealand citizens. It really shouldn’t have done that.
Read MoreAbout the Economic Future: Good Questions – Uncertain Answers
An uncertain attempt to explain what is going on in the economy. If you confidently know the answers to any of these questions, you have not been following closely enough.
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The New Zealand Media: A few modest proposals
New Zealand media were in trouble before Covid-19. But in a matter of weeks the situation has become much worse. Getting the media through the crisis will not be enough. Change is required.
Read MoreFighting Covid-19 in the African diaspora
African communities in countries such as Sweden as being hard hit by Covid-19, in part due to cultural traditions. The government would do well to reach out to ethnic communities here to minimise risks here
Read MoreHow Much Unemployment?
While we cannot eliminate the impending unemployment; we have to flatten the curve.
Read MoreChurchill beat Hitler, but Attlee won the election: Election strategies in a post-crisis world
New Zealanders are due to elect a Government in September. Will it be the way the Covid-19 crisis was handled or the creation of a new normal that will determine who wins?
Read MoreWhy Cabinet's decision on when to lift lockdown is like plate spinning
The outcome will be Level Three or Level Four, but the decision itself is not a simple binary. The government has to balance many factors, not least the public’s state of mind
Read MoreContra Damien: what libertarians get wrong about preserving freedom
A short, sharp curtailment of freedom might be better than a protracted, dull one.
Read MoreThe King is dead, long live the (Hos)king
I kind of miss the days when Matthew Hooton was the designated bogeyman.
Read MoreWhere is the New Zealand Economy Going?
The economy may not follow any of the just released Treasury scenarios, but they provide a basis for a discussion on our economic track. (The graph above is from the Treasury report.)
Read MoreLevel three and three-quarters: it’s not a holiday
This is going to suck
Read MoreThe five things to do for a radical recovery
To pull our society from the brink, we will need unprecedented economic change.
Read MoreThe cost of lockdown: Lives now vs lives later
The indirect costs of the lockdown are seldom discussed in New Zealand. You will not hear the Government talk about it much. These costs need to be weighed against the benefits of a strict Level 4 lockdown.
Read MoreA Child's Introduction to Quantitative Easing
This paper demonstrates the truism that for every financial liability is matched by an asset. A fiscal deficit creates a liability of the government. Somewhere outside government – somewhere in the private sector – there is a private asset matching this public liability.
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