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When the government presses ahead with incomprehensible proposals, you have to ask “Why?” A classic example is the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Discussion Paper, Designing a Fair Pay Agreements System. Submissions in response to the Discussion Paper were due earlier this week. Read more

On Monday, Lawyers for Climate Action (LfCA) launched in the New Zealand Parliament. It was the silk-wearing equivalent of protesting school children. Read more

This week, opposition leader Simon Bridges announced he would introduce an elite anti-gang task force if elected. Loosely modelled on Australia’s Strike Force Raptor, such a policy may be appropriate on the other side of the ditch. Read more

It is too easy to convince ourselves of things that are not true. We all do it and it is hard to avoid. Read more

No one has ever accused the Germans of boundless optimism. There is a reason the word Weltschmerz (world-weariness) was once coined in Germany. Read more

Imagine putting $100 in a bank account that earned 2% annual interest but being unable to calculate how much would be there at the end of one year? ($102) As an NBR reader, that question was probably easy to answer. Read more

“For a child in Bluff who might be interested in muttonbirds, they are not going to be interested in the fact that there are seven continents in the world." This statement, made by the elected President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, Whetu Cormick, perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with education in New Zealand. Reported in the Herald in response to a question about our national curriculum, Cormick’s example was prompted by our latest research note Ignorance is not bliss. Read more

If there was one buzzword for 2019, it was “wellbeing”. This year, our government launched the world’s first Wellbeing Budget, Treasury continued developing its Living Standards Framework measuring wellbeing, and Statistics New Zealand established Indicators Aotearoa also to measure wellbeing. Read more

Sometimes, being at the front of the queue isn't a good thing. If you lined countries up in a row, starting with the places least friendly to foreign investment, and ending with the places with the fewest restrictions, New Zealand would be near the front of the queue. Read more