In trying to defend their decision not to make a special extension of the ACC scheme to include victims of the mosque attacks, the government seems to be pushing a narrative that the ACC scheme is about physical injuries. I have two objections to this. First, it’s ahistorical. Second, the physical/mental divide is dubious and problematic.
Read MoreNewsroom’ recalled Édith Piaf’s ‘je ne regrette rien’ to head an article in which Don Brash expressed much the same sentiment.
Read MoreThe Black Caps won the hearts of a nation this week with one of the great sporting triumphs. Another supposedly proud New Zealand sports team… not so much
Read MoreProviding for the redundantly unemployed is admirable but difficult and expensive to implement.
Read MoreChild Poverty Levels Are only Slowly Coming Down, What Next?
Read MoreWhat was the big change the Treasury saw in its budget 2021 forecasts? (Treasury GDP graph Shown above.)
Read MoreIf you know the answer to how much public debt New Zealand should bear, you do not understand the issue.
Read MoreDo some offshore trends presage the future of New Zealand politics?
Read MoreJoin the dots from 1991 to election night 2020 to today… This is the day that Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern entered politics to deliver
Read MoreThe poverty indicators are coming down but, oh, so slowly.
Read MoreMight the drift to the north be resisted?
Read MoreThe proposed health redisorganisation seeks to markedly centralise the health system. Is this grab for power justified; will it work?
Read MoreThe recognition that there is a media problem is correct, but the chosen solution is likely to be disastrous.
Read MoreNanaia Mahuta’s speech on China used some pretty plain language, but the words that resonated were not just about our largest trading partner. Others about some of our oldest allies were just as controversial
Read MoreNow is about the time that the Government is getting its Budget Strategy together
Read MoreWhatever the damage, especially to the British economy, Brexit has done us a service by illustrating the complexity of trade.
Read MoreThe government’s recent housing package may work; will it do enough?
Read MoreThe Climate Change Commission should immediately publish the details of its economic models and enable the public to access them.
Read MoreMigration patterns provide further evidence that wellbeing is not simply measured by income.
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