The application of Trans-Tasman Resource (TTR) to go looking for heavy minerals off the West Coast captured few headlines when it was announced last month. It quickly sank below notice amid the tack and gybe of business journalism. Read more
No wonder Winston Churchill once won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He had a wonderful way of summing up political affairs, such as this famous quote: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.” We can only wonder what Churchill would make of Europe’s Greek crisis. Read more
On 1 July, smoking in prisons was banned in the Australian state of Victoria, following New Zealand’s lead. But is stripping prisoners of their smokes a benefit to society? Read more
The Kapiti News reported on 17 June 2015 that lower water consumption following the advent of water metering "now means a pricing increase to recover the costs" of piped water supply. Considerable local scoffing ensued. Read more
With the exception of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the Greek referendum did not produce any winners. But it had one big loser: German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Read more
Rapid technological change is more often than not a painful thing, littered with the bodies of those firms and industries that failed to adapt - just ask Kodak, Betamax and former mobile phone giant Nokia. That painful change is brewing again, this time in the form of next generation of transport technologies, such as the Uber. Read more
It is often easy to take for granted the strong institutional backbones supporting highly-developed, western democratic nations like New Zealand. Robust rule of law, separation of powers, governmental accountability, personal freedom, private property protection, bodily autonomy and social safety nets tend to exist with little conscious thought – or even appreciation – by many. Read more
Everybody knows that inequality has been rising in New Zealand since the reforms of the 1980s. We know this because the media and politicians tell us so. Read more
National’s latest social housing announcements have left a lot of low-hanging fruit for critics. There is enough ambiguity for the Opposition to set the expectations of what good evidence-based reform would look like. Read more
Philosopher George Santayana’s quote about those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it is somewhat of cliché, but only because it is damned applicable. But if there is one situation where it seems to be most apt it is with Greece and its debt crisis. Read more
As a researcher at a public policy think tank with a strong focus on economics, it is sometimes easy to take prices, and the influence they have on behaviour and innovation, for granted. Two recent incidents highlighted how powerful this mechanism can be. Read more
For my sins in generally supporting consumer choice in food consumption, and in interests of fostering healthy debate, the Agencies for Nutrition Action invited me to argue with the Morgan Foundation’s Geoff Simmons on the merits of fat taxes and food regulation at his annual conference in Auckland a few weeks ago. The nutritionists put on an excellent conference. Read more
Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ has been both praised and criticised for its focus on the environment. That is indeed what a large chunk of this circular letter sent to the bishops of the Catholic Church is about. Read more
Chris Berg last week made a compelling case against the tyranny of experts. In large part, I sympathise with him. Read more
The postman used to ring at least five days a week. As of the first of July however, New Zealand Post will restrict deliveries to every second day. Read more