Judging by the excitement the Government’s announcement on social bonds has created, a revolution in social services must be just around the corner. According to critics like Labour’s Annette King, social bonds amount to a covert “privatisation”of the sector. Read more

All eyes are on Greece again this week. The Greek debt crisis was on the agenda of the G7 meeting in Germany last week, and discussed on the sides of a Europe and Latin America summit in Brussels. Read more

This week, the OECD released its economic survey of New Zealand. Its 149 pages provide a comprehensive overview of the New Zealand economy, its strengths and weaknesses. Read more

Once upon a time, television was a different business. Not only was it broadcast in black and white, but you could also count the number of channels on the fingers of one hand (and sometimes on just one finger). Read more

Yesterday, the Initiative launched Un(ac)countable: Why millions on maths returned little. Authored by Rose Patterson, the report shows how changing teaching methods in maths have failed to improve our primary students’ maths performance. Read more

Apparently it is crunch time for Greece -- again. Over the next few days, we will find out whether Greece will stay in the eurozone, whether it will receive more bailout money or whether it will finally default (again). Read more

Here is a brain teaser: Suppose an aeroplane takes an hour to fly from A to B on a calm day. Now imagine that it is a windy so that on the way out, the plane’s speed is reduced by headwinds. Read more