Policy analysis is like a lot of other project work. It can be good, it can be fast, and it can be cheap – but it cannot be all three. Read more

Parliament deserves better advice about the policies it is being asked to consider. Imagine that you and your partner agreed that you would buy a house together after the wedding – and you both had your eyes on a particular property. Read more

Now is the time for all good Jedi to come to the aid of their country. In the classic Cold War film, Dr Strangelove reminded us that it is pointless for a country to have a doomsday device if it is kept secret. Read more

The housing supply shortage is worse than expected. That makes it even more important that government focuses on the key barriers to getting more houses built. Read more

I love Perpetual Guardian's experiment with a four-day work-week, but that does not mean I think it will work. The great thing about flexible labour markets is that it does not matter whether I think it will work, whether you think it will work, or whether the labour regulators at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) think it will work. Read more

James Shaw’s State of the Planet speech called for a new economic model – sustainability economics – to meet environmental and equity challenges ahead. While his call comes from the left, it reminded me of earlier criticisms of mainstream economics from the right. Read more

It’s too easy to take things for granted. In Monty Python’s classic Life of Brian, John Cleese’s Reg asked what the hated Romans had ever done for the people of Judea – and was rather annoyed to hear a long list of things like medicine, sanitation, education, wine, irrigation and more. Read more

On February 3, the timer counting down Labour’s first hundred days will pop. There’s been a lot of urgency about pushing through important parts of Labour’s election manifesto before that hundred-day timer runs out. Read more