Nicola Willis delivered exactly what she promised at Election 2023 (more or less). But with the election in the rearview mirror, voters may be in for a less careful Willis in the years ahead as she promises cuts will be “business as usual”
Read MoreThe 2018 Social Security Act suggests that Labour may have retreated to the minimalist (neo-liberal) welfare state which has developed out of the Richardson-Shipley ‘redesign’.
Read MoreThere are more whio (blue ducks; hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) on our banknotes than in the wild.
Read More‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ Goethe
Read MoreIs the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?
Read MoreIt is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines.
Read MoreOne Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal Cost
Read MoreThere is a constant theme from the economic commentariat that New Zealand needs to lift its economic growth rate, coupled with policies which they are certain will attain that objective. Their prescriptions are usually characterised by two features. First, they tend to be in their advocate’s self-interest. Second, they are unbacked by any systematic empirical evidence using, instead selective anecdote. Well, yes; there is always an example to confirm one’s prejudice. But rarely will it stand up in a court of science. (The conversation is not helped by those who cannot discriminate between productivity growth is slowing down and productivity is falling.)
Read MoreDo we treat the government finances with the common sense that household’s manage theirs?
Read MoreBudget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government.
Read MoreIs she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?
Read MoreWhat seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.
Read MoreThe Government says it will give localities more control over healthcare decisions. But how?
Read MoreNot so much from a lack of nominal income but from rising mortgage interest rates
Read MoreThe Sorry Story of Earthquake-Prone Buildings.
Read MorePublic policy towards tobacco consumption remains politically sensitive.
Read MoreInterpreting the agreement made at Waitangi as a social contract is a way to move forward on treaty issues.
Read MoreThe debate this Waitangi Day is urging us to certainty and resolution, but we should resist the temptation. History cannot be carved in stone and those trying risk dividing the country
Read MoreWhy try to stop that evolution?
Read MoreACT leader David Seymour spoke of generational change in his state of the nation speech. Yet this government is built more for tweaking than transformation, so what’s a determined change-maker to do?
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