The Newshub Nation debate airing today revealed a king of fight-backs arguing with ghosts and seemingly coming to the end of his reign… and the rise of a new crown prince
Read MoreWinston Peters: The king is dying, long live the king
Jacinda Ardern's popularity is saving Labour from its 1st term track record
Crisis management and an unimpeachable personal reputation have been the features of Jacinda Ardern’s first term. Which is lucky for her because her track record on housing, poverty and climate hasn’t come close to her promises
Read MoreWhat a Performance
The Covid Crisis provides insights into how critical global connectedness has become to our lives.
Read MoreWhy I am still voting for National this year...
A centre right voter weighs the options
Read MoreA plucking good night for Judith Collins, but promises will be hard to deliver
Judith Collins plucks votes from the low hanging trees in the second leaders’ debate, but also makes promises she may live to regret
Read MorePREFU: The State of Government Accounts
‘The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update’ (PREFU) tells us something about the future of the Public Sector but it requires careful analysis to assess how it is going.
Read MoreA rabbit-hole election debate: So do you want more avocado orchards?
The first Election 2020 leaders debate bounced from rabbit hole to rabbit hole, as a flat Jacinda Ardern and grinning Judith Collins fumbled their way though a contest that struggled to find a focus
Read MoreNotes about the 2020 Second Quarter GDP Figure
Much of the commentariat’s reporting of the most recent GDP figure was misleading and unhelpful.
Read MoreGreat Waves Washing Over New Zealand
Always to islanders danger
Is what comes over the seas
‘Landfall in Unknown Seas’ (Allen Curnow)
Six economic issues external to New Zealand, which will greatly impact upon us.
Read MoreDysfunctional Design
Windows 95 is famous for requiring the shutting down the system by clicking ‘start, like stopping your car by turning the ignition key on. Why are so many interfaces so user-unfriendly?
Read MoreLabour's tax trauma victims and how they might help the Greens
Labour’s come out as a lamb on tax policy but a lion on negotiations. Is its tentative tax policy really a bottomline? Has it given up on tax? And what does it mean for the Greens?
Read MoreThe Third World War
The standard trope of the war of the worlds is of extraterrestrial human-like aliens, perhaps from Mars, invading earth and waging an unrelenting war against its inhabitants. The source of Covid-19 is this earth and it is certainly not human-like. Even so, the entire earth is facing a universal invader which takes no prisoners. How have we responded to the new world war?
Read MoreThe naughty prefect & the 'single source of truth'
Greens leader James Shaw has been under the cosh for his Green School decision, but what's going on behind the scenes and will it cost votes? Social media rears it's sulky head, vaccination lies and debate over 'the single source of truth'. Plus, is Winston Peters in cabinet or not?
Read MoreWhither Nationalism?
The nation-state continues to thirve despite the pressures of globalisation and social diversity.
Read Moredon't let our youth go to waste
Why is it that someone magically is “old enough” to vote at 18, but not at 16? That’s something the High Court will have to consider over the next week.
Read MoreGovernment as an Unconnected Pronoun
Muddled thinking about how the government functions – or even what the government is – confuses public understandings of what is going on.
Read MoreTest Fail: Is Labour bordering on trouble?
National and New Zealand First have released border policies that try to out-tough each other as they seek to capitalise on Labour’s test failure. And why Jacinda Ardern’s two lines can’t both be true
Read MoreOn The Lockdown's Legality
The High Court has found New Zealand’s original level 4 and 3 lockdown was mostly legal - and the bits of it that weren’t really don’t matter that much. You could tell that was coming from the opening sentence of its decision.
Read MoreThe cannabis referendum: the case against legalisation
Dr James Farmer, a Queen’s Counsel, lays out the case against legalisation.
Read MoreMacroeconomic Questioning
The old ways of thinking about the macroeconomy have been found wanting, but the alternative is not clear.
Read More