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
Everyone knows the expression, ‘you have to be cruel to be kind’. A suggestion to shorten the school holidays might well be perceived as cruel. Read more
The situation was dire as the country went to the polls. Certainly so, according to a pamphlet produced by the opposition leader. Read more
A time traveller from the end of the last millennium could be forgiven for thinking the 21st-century world has lost its way. At the end of last century, even the most uncharitable could only marvel at humanity's progress. Read more
A friend who worked in one of the Ministries years ago called it “Hiding the cheese”. It’s a fun game for the Ministries, hiding the cheese. Read more
You load 16 tons and what do you get? You get one day older and deeper in debt. Read more
Politicians are recently pushing for a large-scale adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEV; currently <1% of vehicles in NZ) to reduce the emissions generated by the transport sector. The emissions reduction plan supports this with $1.2bn of spending, of which $569m are used for the “Clean Car Upgrade” programme. Read more
The world is in a mess. According to psychoanalyst Carl Jung, that’s because human psychology is messy. Read more
In Frank Hebert’s classic Dune series, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood’s supernatural abilities extended only so far. There was a place where their powers could not see – a place that repelled and terrified them. Read more
The year is AD2022. The West is united against its many foes. Read more
In Douglas Adams’s classic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, Wonko the Sane realised that the world had gone mad. He had seen the instructions on the side of a packet of toothpicks. Read more
We all know the old joke that an economist would look for his keys under a lamp post not because that’s where he’d dropped them, but because that’s where the light is. But sometimes new lamp posts add the necessary extra bit of illumination. Read more
Historians can be a tedious bunch. As someone who frequently hijacks dinner parties with history lectures, I would know. Read more
