Two years ago, Paul Romer warned the incoming President of the World Bank that the Bank should outsource its research function because “diplomacy and science cannot both thrive under the same roof.” The Bank depends on good relations with member countries. Romer had been World Bank Chief Economist from 2015 through his early 2018 departure, winning the Nobel Prize in Economics later in 2018. Read more

Nobody knows what vaccination rate would allow restrictions to ease safely. But rates need to rise substantially. Read more

If lockdown had a bright side, it was having more time with the kids. Only needing to be online for school by 9, rather than rushing out the door at 7.30, meant bedtimes could be a bit later. Read more

Chittenden is the third most vaccinated county in America’s most vaccinated state: Vermont. As of late last week, 87.3% of Chittenden residents over the age of twelve had been vaccinated –close to New Zealand’s unofficial 90% target. Read more

Politics is hard when every available option is terrible. Get ready for a year of awful choices. Read more

As Auckland struggles, hopefully successfully, to bring the current Delta outbreak under control, let us imagine a future variant – the Iota variant. This hypothetical variant is identical to Delta, except for one detail. Read more

Freshwater politics is a nightmare. Long-term improvements in water quality depend on the development of systems that can withstand government and policy changes. Read more

As the anniversary of the first Covid lockdown approached, the Ministry of Health had some time on its hands. It had issued a new consultation paper and was looking for feedback. Read more

An independent review of the Overseer farm management tool concluded that the software package is far from ideal for Council water quality management. Providing a relatively coarse view of nutrient loss from farms, Overseer can help farms in improving on-farm practice. Read more

The best option in a bad state of the world is not going to be great. But taking it up is still the best response – while working to reduce the risk of it happening again. Read more