Rightly or wrongly, Britain and its former Antipodean colonies are obsessed with property – it’s imperative that you get that critical first step on the housing ladder. Given this level of obsession, it’s easy to see why housing has become a political football in all three countries, with politicians regularly trotting out new policies to help people buy a first home. Read more
New Zealanders are an irascible lot when it comes to recreational fishing. Around 50,000 people have made submissions opposing options for tightening recreational snapper fishing limits. Read more
Ahrensburg is not the place where great political announcements are made. Usually, the small town in the North German state of Schleswig-Holstein does not generate any headlines relevant beyond the city boundaries. Read more
If there is one word that best describes the current state-owned asset sales programme, it would probably be ‘compromise’. In 2008, when the Government was faced with the challenge of tackling rising levels of public debt (projected at 36 per cent of GDP for 2013) in a low-growth economy, all the while nursing a balance sheet heavily overweight on A-rated electricity assets, the choice was clear: sell one to pay the other. Read more
If you are young and ambitious you should leave New Zealand. This was the moot for the New Zealand Initiative’s Next Generation Debates grand final, held at the City Gallery in Wellington last night. Read more
Auckland is often described as a city of urban sprawl. Currently, the Auckland City Council is debating whether a more dispersed, or more condensed city is more efficient in the face of an ever-growing population, increasing fuel costs and environmental concerns. Read more
Whether you like Canberra or not, there is no doubt it properly fulfils its functions as Australia’s capital. The federal government, parliament and the High Court all operate in close proximity to each other. Read more
If a week is a long time in politics, two years is an eternity. In 2011, Wayne Swan was named the Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year. Read more
When RBA governor Glenn Stevens recently gave a speech on “Economic Policy after the Booms”, he was asked a seemingly innocuous question about macro-prudential regulation. Reserve banks around the world are increasingly citing the need for such regulation to help and stem “systemic risk”. Read more
At the National Party conference last weekend there were a number of announcements around housing; some were helpful, and some were less helpful. The well-reported aspects of the housing announcement have been an increase in the availability of Kiwisaver subsidies and the expansion of ‘Welcome Home’ loans. Read more
The National-led government is introducing changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) and fears are being expressed that they will favour economic development ‘at the expense of the environment’. The Prime Minister implicitly acknowledged this fear last weekend when he referred to the need to strike the right ‘balance between our environmental responsibilities and our economic opportunities’. Read more
Remember the days when economic news coverage of Europe wasn’t about its impending collapse? After years of doom and gloom about the eurozone’s economy, figures released this week from Eurostat suggest that the dark stormy recession cloud may soon be lifted. Read more
On July 25, a Dominion Post article (Consent proposals upset rural residents) asserted that, under a proposed district plan, rural landowners might face new requirements if their property includes dominant dune ridge lines, outstanding landscapes, amenity landscapes or ecological and geological sites. Owners in possession of such land may now require a resource consent to work on farm fences, culverts and farm tracks. Read more
Every few years a new buzz-word concept springs up and becomes fashionable in business. A decade or so ago it was "corporate social responsibility" and, more recently, "sustainability". Read more
Rejoice! The European economic crisis is over (again). Read more