The proposal to organise fresh water, storm water and waste water into four entities reflects the contempt that New Zealand’s central government has for local communities.
Read MoreThe carbon, energy and dollar cycles do not integrate well.
Read MoreThe aim of a decent liberal Russia is still there; its achievement is likely to be a long way off.
Read MoreUpon the death of Queen Elizabeth II we can reflect on a life devoted to principles that are no longe popular, but which we need to learn to value again
Read MoreWe should try to to evaluate our social policies systematically. But big data has limitations.
Read MoreWhy is the British Economy in Greater Trouble Than Most Others?
Read MoreWhat to do when they do.
Read MoreEconomic history alerts us to long term trends, so that we are not trapped into thinking today’s circumstances will be forever.
Read MoreTwo-and-a-half years on, the Government’s merged mega-polytechnic, the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology – Te Pūkenga, is facing a deficit which is double the planned one. Will Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) be facing similar troubles in December 2024?
Read MoreSam Uffindell’s confession to being a bully is admirable, but it creates some major political problems for National and will raise questions for victims of bullying, including me
Read MoreToo many commentators on current price pressures have not understood that this time it is very different from the 1970s. Their prescriptions may accelerate inflation.
Read MoreAndrea Vance’s ‘Blue Blood: The Inside Story of the National Party in Crisis’ provides broader insights about how Parliament works than just National’s troubles.
Read MoreAre We Keeping Up With the Changing Global Trade Patterns?
Read MoreA stunning day of testimony at the January 6 committee hearings in Washington DC has corroborated the key, but under-reported, part of Cassidy Hutchinson’s damning evidence against Donald Trump
Read MoreThe ongoing decline in market income inequality stopped in the 1980s. Since then it has been stable, while 1990 public policy actively increased disposable income inequality.
Read MoreWe cannot be sure, but the answer matters even in the short term.
Read MoreNew alliances are cropping up in the Pacific, but in whose interests? Are New Zealand and its partners willing to walk the walk required to achieve genuine peace and development or will we fail to learn lessons from elsewhere?
Read MoreBehavioural economics challenges our assumptions about the relevance of rational economic man.
Read MoreToday’s US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade is a lesson to non-American’s that abortion remains the deepest, most divisive, most defining issue in US politics. And its impact will be felt far beyond the realm of reproductive rights
Read MoreThe takeaways from the just released data are:
1. Any estimate of GDP is subject to error.
2. The 0.2 percent decrease in the March 2022 quarter is not precise and will be revised, with the mild likelihood that it will eventually be higher.
3. New Zealand has no ‘official' definition of a recession.
4. The New Zealand economy seems to be stagnating. Whether we are in a recession (or going into one) or it is something more structural we cannot yet tell.
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