Friction, at least as a metaphor for real-world inconveniences and minor hassles in doing things, is usually viewed as a bad thing. Something best done away with, if possible. Read more
There is an old joke about a man who visits his doctor complaining of fatigue. The doctor prescribes a course of vitamins and tells him to come back in a month. Read more
Campaign slogans used to sell the future. In 1960, John F. Read more
It’s hard to compete with free. Who wants to pay for something if you can get it for nothing? Read more
The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Flights through the Middle East have been cancelled. Read more
Academic freedom has become a major concern at universities across the English-speaking world in recent years. Speakers have been disinvited, papers retracted, and academics disciplined or even dismissed for things they have said or positions they have taken. Read more
Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey is expected to be a big hit this winter. Closer to home, Kiwis may want to discover another perilous journey: that of at least 80,000 foreign neighbours, through cumbersome bureaucracy, to reach these shores across the wine-dark Tasman Sea. Read more
Brent crude hit $112 a barrel last Friday. Goldman Sachs says it could reach $147 if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed; the futures market predicts it will be $86 in six months. Read more
I was born in West Germany in 1975. Yes, it was still West Germany then. Read more
Peter Smith asks a fair question. In Trump and the Paradox of American Power, I wrote that I had long favoured taking out Iran’s nuclear facilities – but not like this. Read more
KiwiSaver has $110 billion in assets and over three million members. Contribution rates rise from April. Read more
Recently, during a select committee hearing on an infrastructure funding amendment bill, an MP asked for examples of infrastructure financed without government borrowing. “Sure,” our chief economist Eric Crampton replied. Read more
When a story recently emerged about the government getting advice on carless days under the Petroleum Demand Restraint Act, older New Zealanders will have felt a warm flush of nostalgia. The 1979 restrictions brought coloured windscreen stickers announcing the weekday car owners had promised not to drive. Read more
Too many of the world’s urban planners grew up playing the city-planning game SimCity. You may have played it too. Read more
When oil prices spiked after the Strait of Hormuz closed, New Zealand’s ministers lined up to reassure the public. Fuel stocks were “healthy.” There was “no need for panic.” The associate energy minister assured New Zealanders that supplies were not under threat “in coming months.” What the ministers did not dwell on is that government agencies are now briefing them daily on supply disruptions extending well beyond petrol. Read more