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Dilbert creator Scott Adams likened knowing a bit of economics to having a mild superpower. High among economists’ mild superpowers is the ability to use formal mathematics to define what words mean. Read more

George Orwell would have had fun with the terms of reference of the Government’s Fair Pay Agreement Working Group. Practically none of these terms can be taken at their literal value, starting with the stated purpose. Read more

“You New Zealanders don’t know how lucky you are,” said virtually every Australian I met at the recent Friedman Conference in Sydney. New Zealand, they pointed out, had a better tax system with GST across the board rather than at different rates on different products. Read more

Having a change in government is a bit like moving house. When you pack up the house for a move, you get to take a hard look at a lot of stuff that’s accumulated over the years – things that might have been a mistake to buy in the first place and almost certainly should have been gotten rid of ages ago. Read more

If politicians could make companies more productive and innovative by decree, they would have done so a long time ago. That did not stop the previous government from actively trying to steer companies’ research and development activities. Read more

The candles have barely dimmed since his last birthday and we’re already celebrating Karl Marx’s 200th birthday, capitalism’s arch-critic. Over the past couple of centuries, capitalism has come to dominate a large part of the Western world. Read more

The two most exciting items in this year’s budget barely even made it into the budget tables. Both point toward better fiscal futures. Read more

Government spending decisions can be popular or unpopular; they can be justified and unjustified. We all like to criticise the government for unjustified spending to increase its popularity. Read more