I have a good relationship with my parents. However, when the subject of visiting them for Christmas came up, their answer was: “You’d better not come!” In every respect, Germany is expecting a miserable winter. Read more
Joseph Heller invented one of literature’s better paradoxes. In his classic World War II novel, Catch-22, only a madman would be willing to fly nearly suicidal missions. Read more
Like a slowly downloading webpage, is a whole-of-government strategy to solve the interminable housing crisis starting to take shape? Recent reports predict house prices nationwide could fall from their late 2021 peaks by up to 20%. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative has been a trenchant critic of the way literacy is currently taught in New Zealand’s schools. The Ministry of Education has, for far too long, promoted manifestly ineffective approaches. Read more
Accurate diagnosis is vital in medicine. Patients want better outcomes. Read more
If a workplace relations system requires armies of HR people and lawyers to work, it is too complicated. At least that was the conclusion, jointly reached by the ACTU and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, with the support of the Albanese government. Read more
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr coined this well-known aphorism in his 1848 novel Les Guêpes (The Wasps). Read more
Last month, Ireland taught the All Blacks a thing or two about rugby. Yet New Zealand has even more to learn from the Irish about productivity and prosperity. Read more
We can learn a lot from Australia. Routinely ranked among the best places in the world to call home, the lucky country has a climate to die for, a robust economy, and a culture that celebrates winning. Read more
Have you heard of Leonardo's masterpiece, The Muppets' Last Supper? Or Kandinsky's colourful Swirling Music Notes? Read more
The Royal Society of New Zealand exists, so its website proclaims, to further and promote “the pursuit of knowledge”. But is knowledge now taking a back seat to politics? Read more
During the European sovereign debt crisis, I contributed a regular column to the Australian magazine Business Spectator. One week, I noticed a tiny bit of hope, which I wanted to write about. Read more
A dinner game Gather round, children. I have a sad fable to tell. Read more
“The ownership of these [water] entities sits with local bodies and government. … Local government retains ownership. Read more
There is an old tradition in academia to publish a Festschrift to honour significant birthdays of eminent scholars. It is not something we do in think tank land, so we should at least celebrate Bryce Wilkinson’s 75th birthday in Insights. Read more