Global debt is now higher relative to global income than in 2009 according to the latest International Monetary Fund statistics. This is despite the imposition of much more stringent financial regulation since the 2008 financial crisis. Read more
Well prior to the Christchurch earthquakes, the Earthquake Commission warned the Government it would not be up to the task of assessing damage to tens of thousands of homes following a major disaster. It lived up to its own expectations following the Christchurch earthquakes. Read more
Oil prices rising, the Kiwi dollar falling: these are the economic issues dominating our domestic headlines. It is understandable that New Zealanders follow such developments with eagerness. Read more
Minister for Climate Change James Shaw this week announced that a package of incentives to buy electrical vehicles will arrive soon. The package will join other climate change measures, including a recent proposal to tighten up New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Read more
This week, a beloved piece of public art was destroyed. On a warm spring day in Wellington (yes Aucklanders, you read that right), a young man decided to climb the expensive Len Lye sculpture on the waterfront until it snapped. Read more
Something of enormous global significance has just occurred but it has slipped past almost without notice. According to a report just released by the Brookings Institute, for the first time in history a majority of humanity is no longer poor or vulnerable to falling into poverty. Read more
Few politicians reach influence and status like Angela Merkel. Leader of her Christian Democrat Party for 18 years and German Chancellor since 2005, Merkel has topped the Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women for seven consecutive years. Read more
It does not happen too often that politicians do what I want them to do. It is even stranger when this almost makes me change my mind. Read more
It would take a humbug not to feel proud seeing our Prime Minister on the world stage last week. Coinciding with the 125th anniversary of New Zealand becoming the first country in the world to grant women the vote, her appearance was a profound affirmation of New Zealand’s openness, diversity and inclusiveness. Read more
Erwin Schrödinger never actually put cats into boxes that might or might not kill them, depending on a radioactive isotope’s random decay. It was only a thought experiment designed to show that the unseen cat could simultaneously be considered both dead and alive, until the box was opened. Read more
There are many things only the government can do. When it fails to excel, no one else can step in. Read more
After Fraser High School principal Virginia Crawford read her students the riot act about truancy, linking it to a host of social ills from criminal activity to being a victim of crime, and from illiteracy to unemployment, her offended students staged a walkout. It is easy to see why the students were offended. Read more
Today we offer thanks and praise to those undertaking the most thankless of bureaucratic tasks, forever rolling good policy advice uphill only to watch it roll back down again, seemingly ignored. The country would be far worse in the absence of their labours. Read more
It is a sure sign I am getting old. At age 43, I am still working and I do not think it is a problem. Read more
Students who skip school are more likely to experience adverse life outcomes. This is a fact. Read more