There are election campaigns, there are weird election campaigns, and there are New Zealand election campaigns. I arrived in this beautiful country five years ago, having previously lived in Germany, the UK and Australia. Read more
What do you think is more harmful: Smoking a cigarette and inhaling the hundreds of toxic chemical by-products? Or inhaling a nicotine vapour without them? Read more
Two months ago, the world witnessed something of a horror, well, at least in my mind: The moment the Donald Trump became the new leader of the free world. When I contemplate on the moments before and after that day, I can’t help but think of Shakespeare’s quip: “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t”. Read more
Sometimes it is possible to want something too much. It can cloud your judgment and lead to decisions you will later regret. Read more
A few years ago, British schools got worried about their bad students. Not so much about the fact they were not learning enough. Read more
Last week a joint Labour/Green statement proposed a fiscal agency to keep a Labour/Green coalition government honest. Now where would they get a crazy idea like that? Read more
Economist Alex Tabarrok says prices are a signal wrapped in an incentive. Prices tell us about relative scarcity and provide an incentive to conserve on scarce things. Read more
Water, water, everywhere – or so it has seemed. In the past few weeks we have had a deluge of controversies over water. Read more
Before she became British Prime Minister, Theresa May announced that “Brexit means Brexit.” Ever since, we have been wondering what she meant. It is now nine months after the Brexit referendum. Read more
Einstein once said that we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. The thinking behind the management of New Zealand’s recreational fisheries is a case in point. Read more
I’m a fan of classic episodes of The Simpsons. In Cape Feare, Sideshow Bob sneaks a ride under the Simpsons’ car, with murderous intent. Read more
If you want to know the real value of recreational fishing, the last place you should look is inside an economic impact assessment. People often make fun of economists for knowing the costs of everything and the value of nothing, but when it comes to economic impact assessments, it’s even worse. Read more
Whenever controversial issues are debated, the loudest voices are often the least informed. Nowhere is this more evident than in the gender pay gap debate. Read more
This week business journalist Bernard Hickey took his pen to the subject of housing, listing the factors that have unintentionally conspired to create New Zealand’s housing affordability crisis. It is a piece worth reading because it offers a glimpse into the complex and intertwined regulations and constraints that prevent the housing market from functioning like every other market. Read more
One decent policy rule is never to make the perfect the enemy of the good, but to always keep the perfect in mind anyway. But sometimes there really is the chance to aim for the perfect. Read more