Much of the Northern Hemisphere thinks we are in the merry month of May. Here it is budget month with much speculation in the lead up to the May 18 announcements and much superficial commentary after, all largely forgotten by June.
Read MoreMeka Whaitiri’s switch from Labour to Te Pāti Māori raises questions about whose mana is being enhanced - not by the decision itself but how it’s being done. What thought has she given to her public duties as an MP?
Read MoreWe are going into the budget season when economic forecasting becomes especially prominent. There is a huge gap between how professional forecasters think about the exercise and how the commentariat treats forecasts. Here are some insights into the way those forecasters think, even if it is boring compared to what is in the public rhetoric.
Read MoreHow far has the government’s Three Waters policy retreated?
Read MoreThe public service is suffering from the downgrading of the role of professionals, experts and those at the workface with the public.
Read MoreWhen is a cabinet minister not a cabinet minister? The faulty logic of Stuart Nash has landed him and Labour in a heap of trouble but opened the door to serious reform of the Official Information Act
Read MoreThere was great disappointment following the just released poverty figures for the year ended to June 2022. Whatever your take, we are not facing up to the real child poverty problems.
Read MoreEvaluating the recent crashes of Silicon Valley Bank in the US and Credit Suisse in Switzerland plus two other banks (perhaps more by the time you read this) needs to begin with a review of the inevitable instability in the financial sector.
Read MoreChris Hipkins has shown himself to be a quick fix guy in his time as Prime Minister. So why didn’t he take the path of least resistance and sack Stuart Nash? How does that compare to Rob Campbell? And what does it tell us about this year’s election?
Read MoreTwo senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics.
Read MoreCyclonic Storms Raise Economic Questions.
Read MoreWhy I Take the Population Census Seriously
Read MoreSpeculative bubbles have occurred in the New Zealand housing market
Read MoreThe terrible damage of Cyclone Gabrielle has the potential to up-end election year just as it has up-ended so many lives. For National it brings danger (enter Maureen Pugh), for the Greens, opportunity
Read MoreThis column is adapted from a paper I gave to Southland U3A on Friday, February 17. Later I shall post a column which will analyse housing bubbles.
Read MoreKeynes warned us that practical men and women are but slaves of defunct economists. The comment is particularly relevant as we try to understand the prospects for inflation.
Read MoreThe problems inherent in the failed RNZ-TVNZ merger go way back. Bad policy was finished off by bad politics, writes a former Broadcasting Minister
Read MoreAt Chris Hipkins’ first post-cabinet press conference as PM we got introduced to the new language of Chipp-ese. So reading between the lines, what did his words really mean?
Read MoreChristopher Luxon’s description of New Zealand as “a little experiment” prompts questions about the story tell ourselves about our country… and some other history he needs to factcheck
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