Now is the time for all good Jedi to come to the aid of their country. In the classic Cold War film, Dr Strangelove reminded us that it is pointless for a country to have a doomsday device if it is kept secret. Read more
We all want a New Zealand where citizens can enjoy a healthy and prosperous life. But, there is still a long way to go. Read more
If monetary policy is the Reserve Bank’s smash hit, its prudential regulation of financial markets is its B-side track. Yet the bank’s role as prudential regulator deserves scrutiny. Read more
The housing supply shortage is worse than expected. That makes it even more important that government focuses on the key barriers to getting more houses built. Read more
Imagine buying a house, or choosing a spouse without knowing anything about them. You wouldn’t do it. Read more
When I was a lad, Treasury was a home for bean counters. Many a fine public servant did an accounting degree part-time at evening classes at Vic. Read more
For cynics, it would be easy to denounce the government’s provincial growth programme as a slush fund. However, I am not cynical about the government’s intentions. Read more
New Zealand is blessed with substantial rainfall. But, the pressure of population and agriculture is pushing some catchments to their limits. Read more
Sunday's "Save our charter schools march" was a moving experience. It wasn't just the hundreds of people who turned up in torrential rain to protest. Read more
Almost a century ago, the great sociologist Max Weber defined the ideal politician in his lecture Politics as a Vocation. As Bill English just announced his retirement from politics, we may well measure his record by Weberian standards. Read more
New Zealand exports about 95 percent of its dairy production. The receipts make it a major overseas earner. Read more
Week 1- After years of campaigning, I knew it was only a matter of time before our government ramped up its efforts tackling child obesity. Like my counterparts in Chile, I will be offering the government my technical expertise to crack down on junk food advertising to children. Read more
In the 1940s, a different Lipson (that one an English political scientist) famously remarked that if Wellington or Auckland harbours were ever to have a statue akin to that in New York, it would assuredly be a statue of Equality. The ideal of a fair-go runs deep in the New Zealand psyche, and rightly so. Read more
I love Perpetual Guardian's experiment with a four-day work-week, but that does not mean I think it will work. The great thing about flexible labour markets is that it does not matter whether I think it will work, whether you think it will work, or whether the labour regulators at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) think it will work. Read more
The Global Financial Crisis now seems such a distant memory, it is easy to think of it as an historical episode. But this week’s stock market troubles are a timely reminder that the world economy is not in a healthy state. Read more