On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to decry the government’s austerity policies. Trade union leaders called for an end to budget cuts and privatisation. Read more

It's hard for supporters when salaries trump team loyalties. As I was watching Wellington Phoenix beat Sydney FC 2-0, I wasn’t sure which was stranger: seeing legendary Italian striker Alessandro Del Piero play football in New Zealand, or supporting a team dressed in black and yellow? Read more

The story has been going on for so long that it is hard to imagine daily news without Kim Dotcom. Ever since the controversial internet entrepreneur’s arrest on his Auckland estate, which is as oversized as his personality, the Dotcom saga has fluctuated between spy story, political scandal, and soap opera. Read more

Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you very much for the invitation to speak to you today. It’s a great pleasure to be here and present you with “A Global View of New Zealand’s Economy”. Read more

To international observers, Der Spiegel’s current cover must look rather odd. "Attention! Read more

A disclosure: I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. Indeed, I abhor the smell of tobacco and pestered my parents into giving up smoking when I was child. Read more

All of Europe is an economic disaster zone. All of Europe? Read more

The new governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Graeme Wheeler, just signed a slightly revised policy target agreement with a greater focus on financial stability, but for some this is not going far enough. A curious coalition of exporters, newspaper commentators, Labour, the Green Party, and New Zealand First wants the RBNZ to relinquish its traditional focus on inflation. Read more

After three years of the euro crisis, it is surprising how announcements still impress markets. The approval of the European Stability Mechanism by the German constitutional court and the plans of the European Central Bank to purchase unlimited quantities of government debt were enough to calm the markets and reduce yields on euro periphery debt. Read more

When Germany’s Constitutional Court cleared the path for the European Stability Mechanism and the Fiscal Compact, markets and governments joined in a collective sigh of relief. With the last legal hurdle cleared, the €700 billion fund to stabilise Europe’s monetary union, rescue over-indebted governments and struggling banks could be established and the euro saved. Read more

For the past two weeks, I have been attending conferences in Europe. Following the general meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society in Prague, I spoke at the European Resource Bank in Brussels. Read more

Visitors to the EU quarter in Brussels are currently greeted by a giant poster on the faade of the Berlaymont building, the EU’s head office. Proclaiming more economic and political union for the EU, it stands in marked contrast to the constant signs of disunion and conflict on display across Europe. Read more

An economist ponders the deep questions. Being an economist is tough. Read more

I am in Prague attending the general meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society, a network of distinguished liberal academics and intellectuals. One of the best speeches at the conference, however, was delivered by a businessman with no academic affiliation – and contained an implicit warning to countries like New Zealand. Read more

Founded in 1947 by distinguished economists such as Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises, the Mont Pelerin Society has long been a forum for critics of big government, defenders of the free market and believers in individual liberty. As the society’s general meeting in currently being held in Prague (hosted by Vaclav Klaus, the fiercely euro sceptical Czech president), it was clear that the euro crisis would be a dominant theme during the week-long conference. Read more