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Just a couple of months after the visit of the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge, what do we still remember of their tour? With hindsight, what are the lasting effects, what are the enduring messages, what are the traces they left behind? Read more
It may be an uncomfortable truth, but there are some of us who enjoy rights and privileges above others, simply by virtue of being born. Not by talent, hard work, or any other factor reflecting merit, these people enjoy a privileged status in New Zealand. Read more
Recently my partner and I sat down to watch the Lego movie; a thoroughly entertaining laugh-a-minute watch, typical of the style of today’s animated films that somehow manage to pitch the tone and humour at both adults and children alike. For my partner, who grew up with Lego and can make incredible creations with a thousand tiny colourful pieces (biased as I am) it was a journey of reminiscence. Read more
When the European Central Bank announced its new policy measures last week, most of the commentary focused on the introduction of negative interest rates. From now on, commercial banks depositing funds with the ECB will have to pay a penalty for doing so. Read more
Since the publication of The Spirit Level in 2009, and its ‘devastating critique’, The Spirit Level Delusion, in 2010, debates in the media and among politicians have been gripped by wealth inequality fever. The latest instalment is French economist Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century – a book which is at the centre of its own maelstrom over the accuracy of its analysis. Read more
What is democracy? Well, usually democracy is when the people vote in an election and the winner then happens to form a government. Read more
If markets are anything to go by, last weekend’s elections to the European Parliament delivered a good outcome, promising stability and predictability for the continent. Across Europe, stock indices soared on Monday: up 3.4 per cent in Italy, up 2 percent in Greece. Read more
If a week is a long time in politics, it is an age in business, especially for those sectors of the economy exposed to political volatility. Just ask the listed electricity companies, whose share prices are still wearing the effects of the single buyer policy the Labour and Green parties launched one year ago. Read more
Every corner you turn, there is another nature-loving, compost-making, bike-riding, community-befriending greenie - you know the type - they knit their own yoghurts. Perhaps this is because I live in New Zealand's oldest hippie suburb, Aro Valley in Wellington, but it seems the resurgence of green-thinking is not limited to this one neighbourhood. Read more
20th century German-language novelist, Franz Kafka, said that “every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.” Clearly, the man was not a fan of bureaucracies. In fact, “Kafkaesque” is how we now describe the worst aspects of bureaucracy. Read more