Talk to a teacher at a state school and most will tell you competition is a dirty word. When it comes to relationships between schools, cooperation rules. Read more
Take a good look at the person sitting next to you at work. They might have a lot more influence on your life than you give them credit for. Read more
The late Ronald Reagan once said “There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination and wonder”. At The New Zealand Initiative we share his optimism. Read more
Is it time to stop measuring poverty, Jenesa Jeram asks. Whenever commentators get stuck debating the numbers on poverty, there are inevitably calls to stop the academic pontificating and "just do something''. Read more
Left-wing blog The Standard veered beyond its usual polemic last week with a guest post that painstakingly laid out how Auckland Council had spent $1.24 billion on a new IT system with little to show for it so far. The piece, written in response to Bernard Orsman’s scoop in the New Zealand Herald, was notable for its familiarity with major IT project processes, and how far Auckland Council had strayed from industry best practice. Read more
More than a few folks have emailed me the latest from The Guardian on the coming intergenerational war. Youth incomes have been going backwards in too many countries. Read more
Too many New Zealanders are walking around with a shameful addiction. Your family members, colleagues or even spouse may be secretly struggling. Read more
How central banks communicate their monetary policy intentions to the market matters. First, central banks must be credible. Read more
Sometimes, the supermarket sticker price is just there to make the sale price look better. Anchoring expectations matters. Read more
Left-wing blog The Standard veered beyond its usual polemic last week with a guest post that painstakingly laid out how Auckland Council had spent $1.24 billion on a new IT system with little to show for it so far. The piece, written in response to Bernard Orsman’s scoop in the New Zealand Herald, was notable for its familiarity with major IT project processes, and how far Auckland Council had strayed from industry best practice. Read more
Recently a group of business people gathered to discuss what exactly is stopping Wellington from reaching its full economic potential (whatever that means) as part of a Trans-Tasman Business Circle event. As you would expect from a panel discussion featuring a bank economist, a major Wellington developer, and the newly appointed head of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA), the conversation rested heavily on modern MBA speak. Read more
Have I really been wrong about gangs all this time? I’d thought their main line of work was almost legitimate. Read more
Last week’s column reckoned that Sir Robert Jones’s economic impact assessment tallying the merits of a five kilometre high statue of Gareth Morgan was sounder than rather a few economic impact assessments. The case for the statue is especially strong where the construction costs would be borne by the population of North Korea. Read more
The festive season is well behind us, but this week I feel like the Grinch who stole Christmas. Like the Yuletide, this strikes annually. Read more
When businesses make investment decisions, they should make them on their own. Taking risks and reaping the rewards: that is what entrepreneurship is all about. Read more