‘Charles pushes past Wills as preferred successor’, read a headline in the Herald last Sunday. Following a wave of enthusiasm after the Queen’s diamond jubilee and last year’s royal wedding, the question of who will succeed to the British throne continues to capture New Zealanders’ interest. Read more
Saying something genuinely new on the euro crisis is getting more difficult as time passes. The problems never change, only the sums involved. Read more
“A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one.” That’s not a new research finding but a quote by Aristotle (384-322 BC). It opened an event on Dunedin’s Economic Development Strategy on Tuesday, which I attended as a guest speaker. Read more
Budget 2012 continued National’s battle to control government spending by attrition rather than by ground-breaking reforms. This battle will be lost eventually because mere attrition increasingly mobilises thwarted spending interests, while preserving both their privileged positions and the mechanisms they can use to increase spending when attrition fatigue has set in. The Yes, Minister TV series made the point best: entrenched interests and bureaucracies outlast politicians. Read more
Much is being made of the current exodus of New Zealanders to Australia – about a thousand a week at last count. As an indicator of confidence in New Zealand’s economic environment, it is damning. Read more
Newspapers are reporting increasing pressure from Germany for Spain to accept a European bailout. The story is all the more credible as the Spanish government, refusing a bailout, has strongly denied any such bullying. Read more
Analysing the link between the Holocaust and the European crisis is far more interesting than solving the crisis. At least if you are German. Read more
When New Zealand’s budget was handed down yesterday it was business as usual for the National-led coalition government. Prime Minister John Key’s government delivered another cautious, albeit sensible budget edging slowly in the right direction. Read more
As a newcomer to New Zealand, one of the biggest surprises to me was the degree of polarisation I perceived in its political discourse. In the complex world of 21st century globalisation the way in which debates are still conducted as "Left versus Right" is not only anachronistic. Read more
Prime minister John Key observed that the 2011 election was about the economy. Business people are looking to the incoming government to address critical weaknesses in our economy and implement policies to boost economic growth. Read more
Executive pay has been in the news again, with recent reports of the remuneration packages of Sir Ralph Norris, CEO of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and George Frazis, head of Westpac New Zealand. Some claim they are unfair or undeserved. Read more
The select committee considering the bill to set up the referendum on the electoral system is due to report back to parliament next month. It is important that parliament provides voters with the best possible process for deciding on this important issue. Read more
Next month the 2025 Taskforce will be delivering its second report to the government. It is the most important taskforce reporting this year. Read more
Here’s a quick quiz. First question: Name a wealthy country where either party to an employment contract is free to terminate it at any time, provided they give notice. Read more
Last month Rebecca Macfie wrote an article in the Listener entitled “Our slack bosses”. In it she argued that “one of New Zealand’s dirtiest little secrets is that our businesses are not very well managed” and that “the poor quality of New Zealand managers is holding the country back”. Read more