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Next month, I will be presenting my new book at three functions hosted by The New Zealand Initiative. Democracy in Decline is part lament and part call to arms. It is about the decline of democracy in five of the oldest democracies on earth, countries that, before just about anywhere else, worked out how to count everyone as equal and then let the numbers count as a way to resolve debatable and contested social policy line-drawing disputes. Read more

If there was a ranking for the most self-righteous nation in Europe, Germany would have a good chance of topping the list. Sure, without Germany’s support the euro may have already gone under, but the Germans are extremely good at coupling such help to their neighbours with unrequited advice on how to run their countries. Read more

New Zealand’s supermarket chains often get bad press and are suspiciously eyed by the public because, allegedly, they form a duopoly. With this characterisation comes the innuendo that they might be ripping off either their customers, their suppliers or both. Read more

It’s tough for parties in the opposition benches. They have been stripped of a major rod with which to beat National in an election year. Read more

In that faraway wonderland that it is the eurozone, nothing is quite what it seems. It is a strange place where half-bankrupt governments can plan a return to capital markets at moderate yields, and a central bank is able to impress analysts by talking about things it cannot do. Both instances are patently absurd, but just because something is absurd has never stopped it from happening in Europe. Read more

If we want to grow our businesses, whether by market share, profit, or offering customers better value, we need to grow our people - and growing people means growing big brains. Management guru Tom Peters, speaking at the New Zealand Initiative's annual retreat dinner recently, gave a resounding and impassioned speech on the importance to business of investing in people, first and foremost. Read more

If you are familiar with Harry Enfield’s legendary BBC television series, there was a character called Jürgen the German. A tourist to London, he started every conversation with an apology “for my country’s disgraceful behaviour during ze war” – only to then rant on about what’s wrong with Britain. Read more

By all measures, it was a defeat of historic proportions for President François Hollande and his Socialist Party. Last weekend’s French local elections have turned the country upside down, or rather shifted it to the political right. Read more

The Prime Minister visited Europe this week. After meetings with European Union leaders, John Key announced that – finally – a free trade deal between New Zealand and the EU was on the table. Read more

It is election year and political opponents will soon take the gloves off to cast the usual aspersions on each other based on which side of the political spectrum they sit on. Right-leaning politicians are likely to be cast as devotees of Wall Street arch-villain Gordon Gekko and his “greed is good” ethos, the left drafted into the poor-and-jealous brigade, and more environmentally minded parties cast as caring more about trees than people. Read more