The first management book I ever read, back in the late 1980s, was the sequel to In Search of Excellence, the book that established Tom Peters as the world’s leading management guru. A friend had given it to me. Read more

The Prime Minister visited Europe this week. After meetings with European Union leaders, John Key announced that – finally – a free trade deal between New Zealand and the EU was on the table. Read more

Given the troubles of Europe’s welfare states, it is hard to deny that large public sectors have a negative impact on economic growth. Where government grows too big it crowds out private activity, redirects resources from productive to unproductive uses, and stifles the economy with extra regulation and bureaucracy. Read more

Over the past decades, being a shareholder in Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG, one of Europe’s largest utility companies, was a pleasurable thing. Recessions and upswings came and went, but one thing was certain: each financial year, RWE would post a decent profit. Read more

Malta must be an exceptionally well-governed country. In the latest Eurobarometer opinion poll, only 53 per cent of Maltese said they tended not to trust their political parties. Read more

The New Zealand economy is undoubtedly in good shape but not all the factors behind the boom can or should be sustained indefinitely. This raises two questions: How much is temporary? Read more

There are a few relationships in economics that are almost set in stone, with the odd exception to the rule. If supply increases, prices fall. Read more

On Tuesday, I spoke at a conference organised by our sponsor, PortfolioConstruction Forum. The audience were mainly Australian and New Zealand investment advisors and wealth managers and my topic was the state of their respective economies. Read more

No, it was not a good start to the year for the European Union by any account. The French President had to spend more time sorting out his own private affairs than his country’s ailing economy, Italy managed to kick out the third Prime Minister in as many years, and the German Constitutional Court effectively killed the European Central Bank’s main policy to save the Euro. Read more

Admittedly, judgements by the German constitutional court can sometimes be hard to understand. Last week’s ruling to pass on the matter of the European Central Bank’s bond purchases to the European Court of Justice is no exception. Read more

Before becoming Foreign Secretary in the British government, William Hague was one of the most sought-after celebrities on the speaking circuit. That was not least due to his wit and sense of humour. Read more

When the Prime Minister delivered his State of the Nation speech last week, the ideas on education reform were bold and substantial. Even the teachers’ unions, not the government’s most natural ally, were impressed. Read more

For a long time, the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, has enjoyed a reputation as Europe’s eternal naysayer. Whatever measures were being discussed to save the euro or revive the European economy, the Bundesbank was usually opposed – and increasingly isolated. Read more

It was sad to see not one but two Interislander ferries docked in Wellington Harbour last weekend. But should that really make it a political issue? Read more

The European debt and growth crisis has seemingly divided the continent into saints and sinners. On the one hand, there are the profligate, lazy, unproductive countries of the European periphery, unflatteringly abbreviated as the PIIGS. Read more