If the definition of madness is ‘doing something over and over again while expecting a different result’, then Europe is certainly going mad. At the same time that European integration is heading for the rocks, the leaders of France and Germany are calling for more of the same. Read more

Budget 2015 was delivered yesterday, and my colleagues below take a look at this mixed bag of good and questionable decisions. But what about the overall direction of the government? Read more

At a time when Britain is considering whether to leave the EU, Greece still teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, and Brussels cannot find a response to the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, many ordinary Europeans will question what European integration has ever done for them. For Europeans concerned about the value of the EU, one project has always been cited as exemplifying what is so good about it. Read more

One of the greatest advances of civilisation is also one of the least obvious: branded products. We take brands for granted because they are everywhere. Read more

There is no question that the British Conservatives’ election result is way better than any pollster had predicted. Achieving an absolute majority of the seats is a major feat for Prime Minister David Cameron – and one that probably not even Cameron himself would have thought possible. Read more

Britain went to the polls yesterday but it could be a while until we know the result. It may take even longer until we know what the result means. Read more

Should Australian residence visas be for sale? That is the question the Productivity Commission has to investigate now as outlined in a paper it released last week. Read more

Since the free trade agreement with China came into effect in 2008, exports to China have soared. The trading relationship with China has been helping the New Zealand economy navigate through the past years of global uncertainty. Read more

Imagine the following scenario. A large company’s 78-year-old chairman and former chief executive, who also happens to be a major shareholder, fails in his bid to oust the current chief executive. Read more

Talk about a capital gains tax (“CGT”) as a solution for the Auckland housing market has heated up again over the past couple of weeks. The Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor, Grant Spencer, suggested that the tax treatment of housing needed to be changed. Read more

The UK elections are only two weeks away and typically, at this stage of the campaign, one should have at least a rough idea what is going to happen. Not so this time. Read more

Last week, the Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor Grant Spencer signalled that he favours more demand-side interventions in the housing market. In a speech and in a radio interview he argued that increasing housing supply, though highly desirable, may take too long to have an effect on house prices. Read more

Last week, I wrote about Ben Bernanke’s critique of Germany’s exorbitant trade surplus (Bernanke’s misguided fix for Germany, April 9). My conclusion may have surprised a few readers: The best way to deal with the German surplus would be to take Germany out of the eurozone. Read more