Reports & Media

Online shoppers beware: getting that cheap paperback from Book Depository could get a lot harder. But, it will depend on just how the government goes about taxing direct-to-consumer imports. Read more

For reasons that evade me, the New Zealand media seem hell-bent on discussing the flag. Despite describing the referendum as a political distraction and a John Key ego campaign, the same media outlets continue to give the issue oxygen. Read more

With Labour’s bid to cultivate a fear of foreigners buying houses failing to sprout in the polls, the party is now looking to sow the same message to a more fertile field. The farming sector. Read more

Last week, the Prime Minister found words of consolation for people concerned about declining housing affordability. “Aucklanders are getting wealthier,” John Key said as he referred to front page stories about rising house prices in Auckland. Read more

Australians could be forgiven for not closely following the leadership contest of the British Labour Party. After all, what is the point of studying the internal debates of a party that has just suffered a crushing election defeat in a general election and now faces five long years on the opposition bench? Read more

Dr Adrienne Alton-Lee, Chief Education Advisor for the Ministry of Education’s Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis programme, argues that no dollar should be spent on any initiative that does not have a research design linked to student achievement. I concur, especially when the education sector is forecast to spend $13.1 billion in the 2015/16 fiscal year. Read more

If the irate masses on the internet value African conservation efforts and the survival of wild species like lion, they need to sign a petition calling for Ricky Gervais to be shot, stuffed and mounted on a trophy room wall. Although it sounds extreme, it is the only reasonable call to make based on the internet’s need to publicly flagellate anyone deemed to be hurting animals, and the actual economic facts of how trophy hunting works in Africa. Read more

You never really understand an issue until you can argue from the opposing view. Being able to make the best possible case for something you oppose helps you to avoid attacking strawmen and means that your own argument will be stronger for it. Read more

Those in favour of increasing minimum wages often express altruistic motives and concern for those on the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder. But in doing so, they conveniently ignore an obvious flaw in the argument: a rise in the cost of workers will likely reduce demand for labour. Read more

Hipsters are a fascinating species. They dress like they are from the 1950s, listen to music from any era, but have a distinctly millennial attitude. Read more