Over at the Christchurch Press, I went through the current controversies about an Ashburton water bottling plant. New Zealand allocates water drawing rights through a consenting system. Read more
Chef and television personality Jamie Oliver was a major proponent of a sugar tax in the UK. You would think, then, that a sugar tax would be a real triumph for the chef turned lobbyist. Read more
A few years ago, The New Republic held a contest for most boring news headline. “A Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” won. Read more
Todd Treweek’s had a bad week. As the Herald reported on Wednesday, the Dunedin chef’s just been busted for his tenth parking offence. Read more
Most people would agree that fairness means that equal things get treated equally and different things get treated differently. In the schooling sector, the current funding system by deciles is one such attempt to be fair. Read more
If you don't know what your inputs really cost, it's hard to know the real value of your company's product. Whether you build cars or make milk powder, that can cause problems. When Germany reunified after the fall of the Berlin wall, legend has it that a West German auto executive emerged weeping from a Trabant car plant. Read more
Some New Zealanders are downright idiots when they drink. From couch burning to drunken brawls to smashing bottles in the streets, there is an ugly side to drinking in New Zealand. Read more
A funny thing happened in the last round of American minimum wage increases. The number of people in unpaid internships went up. Read more
A funny thing happened in the last round of American minimum wage increases. The number of people in unpaid internships went up. Read more
As the UK is heading for its referendum on EU membership, one might assume Prime Minister David Cameron’s entire focus would be on this once-in-a-generation vote. What could be more important than finally settling Britain’s uneasy relationship with Europe? Read more
What is the difference between a letter and a pizza? Well, we have become used to receiving the former only three times a week. Read more
Eminent UK economist and Financial Times columnist John Kay reportedly believes that the global financial system is broken and that there is a simple remedy. It is broken because bankers have lost the plot. Read more
We should laud, not vilify, the actions of a Wairarapa school that has taken the brave step to ban students (and presumably staff too) from climbing trees on school grounds. Management have quite correctly noted that trees pose a health and safety risk to those playing in them, and have acted wisely to shut down any possibility of this risk eventuating on their watch. Read more
Steve Keen’s article Could Turnbull be the last of the neoliberal leaders? published on Business Spectator this week deserves a reply. Read more
In principle, a Universal Basic Income, as floated by the NZ Labour Party, sounds great. It’s once you start looking harder at implementation that things quickly become, well, messy, writes Eric Crampton. Read more