OPINION

It’s astounding. Time seems to be repeating. Read more

People have always said, we are creatures of habit. Every day we wake up at the same time, have the same breakfast, go to the same workplace, eat out at the same restaurants and order the same meals. Read more

This week saw the beginning of not one but two separate studies into local government. Speaking at Local Government New Zealand’s annual conference in Christchurch, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced a Productivity Commission inquiry into local government funding and finance. Read more

This year’s football World Cup held a big surprise: England can win a penalty shootout (oh, and please don't mention the German performance - I know). If you are not into football, you might wonder what is so hard about kicking a ball into the goal from short distance. Read more

You should not compare apples with oranges. But what about schools? Read more

Game shows are nothing new. They’re a dime a dozen. Read more

New Zealanders love to grumble about the state of politics. We hold our politicians in roughly the same regard as real estate agents and used car salespeople. Read more

Auckland’s regional fuel tax has been in place for a week. It was in the Labour party’s election manifesto. Read more

Two high-profile cabinet members of the UK’s governing party have resigned in protest at prime minister Theresa May’s position on Brexit. David Davis, the UK’s Brexit Secretary, and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stepped away from their roles, saying their government made too many concessions to the EU in the two-year-old Brexit negotiations Theresa May’s government presented a Brexit plan that in a nutshell equates to free trade with the EU in goods, not in services, using technology to determine which products went where and what tariffs they were subject to. Read more

We are lucky that, last year, economist Aaron Schiff provided us with an excellent collective noun for a grouping of economists. Owls, in concert, form a parliament. Read more

Journalists have a hard job. As well as being underpaid, they are constantly copping an earful from frustrated or confused readers, trolls, and even economists. Read more

While New Zealand is in political Neverland, I am taking refuge in rural France. Just an hour north of the vineyards of Bordeaux, it is no great hardship. Read more

After missing my chance to meet Scarlett Johansson last year, I was distraught and confused over the weekend as I read the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) findings and conclusion on film subsidies in New Zealand. In three reviews commissioned by MBIE, the reports concluded that without the film subsidies (New Zealand Screen Production Grants), the New Zealand film industry would disappear. Read more

"One of the uses of history is to free us of a falsely imagined past”, the late American legal scholar Robert Bork once wrote. One might add that another use is the prevention of repeat mistakes. Read more

In The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, Psychologist Barry Schwartz argues that too much choice can hinder rather than support our decision making. That the validity of this theory has been challenged is beside the point. Read more