The Minister of Health is one of the toughest jobs in Cabinet. In comparison, being Prime Minister or Minister of Finance is easy. Recovering from an emergency operation, unable to move with all the tubes stuck in me, stomach in turmoil, unable to sleep, I thought the Prime Minister had asked me to be Minster of Health. My maiden speech.

If there is a major shock, New Zealand has not got a lot of fiscal room to move.

The proposal to reduce the number of public servants is not well worked out.

Nicola Willis has leaned into National Party traditions but without the ruthless rationing of Ruth Richardson or Jenny Shipley. Still, she’s placed her bet for the election that people will vote for better days to come

The outlook is gloomy.

We are facing difficult challenges from the likely rise in import prices.

In too many areas we are avoiding thinking about or preparing for oncoming changes.

The US is throwing away its world leadership; will China fill the gap?

Aside from its Orwellian doublespeak, the proposed legislation to change how we count New Zealand requires an expert review.

The turmoil in the world economy from Trump’s attack on Iran will delay New Zealand’s economic recovery.

Andrew Sorkin’s new book, 1929: The Greatest Crash in Wall Street History sheds light on how financial markets work.

Industrial policy is once more on the agenda of many governments.

Christopher Luxon has spent two days misspeaking his way through the nuanced world of foreign affairs, but in doing so stumbled upon a key question surrounding the bombings of Iran - what limits are there when the powerful will go to ‘any’ lengths?

It is more than a four-letter word exercise.

Shane Jones is committed to state-led economic development.

How successful are Trump’s measures at making America great again?

There are politicians who are more than a comms team.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney outlines an architecture

Why we want the Reserve Bank to operate independently.

Free trade deals can be complicated; so is their analysis.

New Zealand is a small, isolated nation and needs to design itself accordingly. We should avoid uncritically imitating larger nations.

US foreign policy, especially in Latin America, has often been at the point of a gun. But the Trump Doctrine is going places previous US administrations haven’t. Let’s not miss what’s new

This column is a response to the complaint that we have poor economic performance because we have summer holidays. It praises them

The government is still borrowing for consumption.

How we connect economically with the world is critical.

The Minister of Finance says it is but, parochialism aside, are we doing anything to ensure it really is?

The tensions between different approaches to the economy are surfacing as the election nears.

Pragmatic analysis says maybe we should, but we should also consider nationalisation. We should certainly consider better regulation.