After over 16 years as a GP, I can tell you what keeps me up at night. It is not the long hours or the difficult diagnoses. Read more
Earlier this week, teachers’ unions accused Minister of Education Erica Stanford of a “blatant power grab.” This followed Stanford’s announcement that the Teaching Council will no longer set professional standards for teacher training. The Ministry of Education will take over this responsibility. Read more
A commissioned report released this past week revealed a fact you may find surprising. Rules stopping a stadium from hosting many events cause an enormous amount of forgone revenue over time. Read more
When Canadian doctors received reports comparing their prescribing practices with those of their peers, antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections decreased. No new rules. Read more
Sometimes, policy work is like wishing on a cursed wish-granting monkey’s paw. Like the one in the old Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode, later parodied in The Simpsons. Read more
Illicit tobacco might now make up more than a quarter of New Zealand’s tobacco market. There are no wholly reliable numbers on the size of illicit markets. Read more
The annual public hearing of Germany’s intelligence chiefs is normally a tedious affair: Bureaucrats read prepared statements. Politicians ask predictable questions. Read more
This week, we released our latest report, MMP after 30 years: Time for Electoral Reform? Amidst a long list of recommendations to improve our electoral system, one sparked a particularly strong reaction – that Parliament be increased from 120 members to 170. Read more
At the INFINZ Conference this month, the Initiative’s Dr Oliver Hartwich presented some uncomfortable facts. New Zealand lags behind its OECD peers in productivity, capital intensity, and economic complexity. Read more
Last week, at Wellington’s Koru Lounge, I discovered Air New Zealand’s latest contribution to aviation safety. My request was simple: a whisky, neat. Read more
The 2023 election highlighted flaws in New Zealand's electoral system that create uncertainty for business and undermine democratic accountability. My research report MMP after 30 years: Time for electoral reform? Read more
We all know the Greek myth about Sisyphus, condemned to roll his boulder endlessly uphill, only to watch it tumble back down each time he nears the summit. These images come to mind when I look at one of the ministers in New Zealand’s current government: Louise Upston. Read more
In August 2025, the Government announced the biggest reform to New Zealand’s building consent system in two decades. The problem? Read more
Labour wants to funnel Crown dividends into a new sovereign wealth fund restricted to domestic investments. The stated goal is to boost domestic risk capital, but the design is terrible. Read more
For almost all of human history, life was a grind. Most people lived and died poor, generation after generation. Read more