The election of Argentinian Cardinal Jose Mario Bergoglio to the papacy may not matter much to non-Catholics. But the public’s reaction to Pope Francis’ display of humility has a lot to say about our times. Read more
When I last wrote about Cyprus, the eurozone faced a political and economic dilemma in its smallest member state (The spectre protecting a sinful little Cyprus, January 24). With last weekend’s bailout, Europe’s politicians have once again managed to make a bad situation worse. Read more
If you filled in your census forms last week, you would have had to answer question number 13: "In which language(s) could you have a conversation about a lot of everyday things?" The wording of the question is clumsy. I wonder how our statisticians define ‘a lot of’, what they mean by ‘everyday’, and whether ‘things’ could have been more specific. Read more
Driving around Houston, Texas, several things strike you immediately: the number of pickup trucks, the proliferation of ‘Nobama’ bumper stickers, and the widest freeways. Houston is in many ways a typical post-War city. Read more
On Wednesday, Labour MP Louisa Wall’s private members bill passed its second reading in Parliament. If passed into legislation, the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill will allow same-sex couples to marry. Read more
While it was still busy sorting out the mess that is the European economy, the European Commission last week could at least score a small victory: it issued a €561 million fine to Microsoft for breaching undertakings given in the software giant’s long-running antitrust dispute with the EU. The new fine brings Microsoft’s total contribution to the EU budget over the years to a total of €2.2 billion. Read more
While not wishing to perpetuate cultural stereotypes, proverbs can say a lot about how our cultural values can influence student achievement. In Japan there is a famous saying: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” And the Japanese classroom is the best place to observe young students being hammered down to size. Read more
Most New Zealanders probably know little about Switzerland. Until this week, my own knowledge certainly didn’t extend far beyond cheese, watches, and knives. Read more
I had the occasion last week to browse through the Proposed District Plan of a certain local authority in New Zealand in order to see how it assessed the costs and benefits to the community of its multitudinous restrictive provisions. The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) requires local authorities to “take into account the benefits and costs of policies, rules, or other methods” it puts into such plans. Read more
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Back in December last year, there was a growing sentiment that the worst of the European crisis could be behind us. I did not believe these claims then, and few would believe them now. Read more
To those of us in the Anglo world, Germany can seem an odd place. Corduroy suits are in vogue and pretty news presenters look like they have quickly thrown on their boyfriend’s shirt after a night of passion. Read more
Governments use the minimum wage to keep workers with the least skills or work experience out of work, albeit as an undesired consequence rather than a direct intent. School-leavers have the least work experience – in addition, the lack of basic standards of literacy and numeracy is an enormous handicap for 10% to 20% of school-leavers. Read more
Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch’entrate (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”) is written above the gates of hell in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Following last weekend’s elections, this gloomy admonishment might fit Italy as well. Read more