An apparent pause grips the political scene in the quiet days after New Zealand’s election. The old government remains in caretaker mode. Read more
How sweet is the sound of victory! On Sunday morning, the All Blacks won against the Irish team. Read more
We made it – or at least, we thought we had. After a tiring and often dispiriting election campaign, New Zealand has voted for a new centre-right government. Read more
Join Dr Oliver Hartwich and Dr Matthew Birchall as they continue their conversation from last week. Listen to their reaction to the election results so far, and what they think might happen next. Read more
The true state of public finances is not meant to surprise any incoming government. The Public Finance Act 1989 aimed to prevent any outgoing government from handing an incoming government the kind of horrors David Lange and Roger Douglas found in the books in 1984. Read more
Hamas’ attacks on Israel have repercussions that extend beyond the Middle East. These events have also magnified the social and political consequences of large-scale migration from Muslim nations to Europe. Read more
On his podcast NZ Everyday Investor, Darcy Ungaro talks to Dr Oliver Hartwich about our report Prescription for Prosperity and our recommendations for the incoming government. To listen to their discussion The Wealth Script We NEED, Ep 378 Oliver Hartwich on Spotify, click here. Read more
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. At least according to the Sage of Baltimore, journalist and essayist H.L. Read more
Hamas’s actions last weekend were abhorrent, vile, and unjustifiable. It does not matter if your sympathies lie with Palestine or Israel. Read more
With the New Zealand election just a day away, the closeness of the race is astonishing. It is especially so when one considers the social and economic turmoil the country faces. Read more
If punters at Australia’s Betfair are right, there’s an eighty-nine percent chance any government formed after Saturday’s election will have a National Party Prime Minister. But the things Betfair can’t tell us makes me miss our missing election stock market. Read more
Waiting for the release of the official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures has become more exciting since I launched GDPLive. It is like watching the lotto draw when the numbers drop, and you keep checking your ticket. Read more
It's the final week before the election. So, to cap it off, Dr Oliver Hartwich talks to Dr Matthew Birchall about the 2023 NZ general election. Read more
In Amusing Ourselves to Death, the American cultural critic and media commentator Neil Postman argued that television had debased public discourse. His central thesis rested on the idea that television, with its emphasis on soundbites and sensationalism, reduced even the weightiest of matters to mere trivialities. Read more
Winston Churchill is often wrongly credited with saying that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. If a modern-day Churchill sought an argument against democracy, he could easily find one in New Zealand’s election campaigns. Read more