Lifeboats are tricky things. If they are overburdened, they can tip and spill everyone out. Read more

A good 2020 Budget would achieve three things. First, it would strengthen the public health response to the pandemic, ensuring that any future outbreaks could be handled through rapid contact tracing, testing and quarantine rather than renewed lockdowns. Read more

The government should have two priorities in this budget. First, and most importantly, the health system needs to be ready for the medium to longer term changes that the pandemic has forced on the country. Read more

Making sense of Wellington Council’s prioritisation of a new convention centre, while the city’s wastewater pipes crumble and streams fill with sewage, is a bit tough. It isn’t how you’d run a household: the new kitchen might take a back seat if the rest of the plumbing is wrecked – and especially if your partner had just been made redundant. Read more

There’s an old short-handled shovel hanging in our garden shed. The plastic handle has split, but the blade and shaft are fine. Read more

Among the more irritating education fads is the idea that schools need to teach a “growth mindset”. It is true that students who think they can improve wind up faring better than those who feel stuck in a hole from which they see no way out. Read more

When the facts of the world change, business models must change to keep up. Legislating the world back to the way it was rarely turns out well, and cobbling together regulatory and tax measures to return the media funding environment to the 1980s seems like a mistake. Read more

Last week, the diligent Epidemic Response Committee was swarmed by a gaggle of head-honcho media types each making their case for a handout. Plenty of other sectors had their time before the committee, but in hour-long slots before being bumped off by the next sector spokesperson. Read more

If the only economics you ever learned was from watching Ben Stein's lecture in the classic film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, you'll still have learned something awfully important for the economic recovery from the pandemic. And it's a lesson that New Zealand and Singapore have taken to heart - as evidenced by the trade agreement Trade Minister David Parker struck last week. Read more

Time flies. Was it only a year ago that New Zealand’s ban on disposable plastic bags at the supermarket came in? Read more

Last week, Forestry Minister Shane Jones warned of impending restrictions on New Zealand’s international trade in logs. Even if you don’t really care much about forestry, the Government’s response here may signal what’s in store for the rest of the economy after lockdown. Read more

All going well, the Alert 4 lockdown will end in two weeks. But life will not return to normal. Read more