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When Labour announced its so-called “Monetary Policy Upgrade” this week, their finance spokesperson David Parker was aware of what a radical departure from conventional monetary practice it was. When asked whether one of its key proposals, a compulsory variable savings rate (VSR), was in place anywhere else in the world, Parker had to admit that “nowhere currently” was such a scheme practised. Read more

You may find Russian President Vladimir Putin’s behaviour in the Ukraine crisis objectionable; you may deplore his blatant disregard of international law and condemn his brutal ruthlessness in the pursuit of Russia’s interests. However, one thing Putin’s behaviour is not: irrational. Read more

New Zealand affords itself the luxury of treating overseas investment as a privilege rather than as a necessary and desirable means of better integrating ourselves with the world, so as to make the most of what it has to offer. That blinkered attitude permeates our regulatory regime, which the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development assesses to be more restrictive than the regimes of 47 other countries out of a total of 53 countries. Read more

Since the Living Wage Aotearoa's campaign launched in March last year, there has been no shortage of talk about the feasibility of its implementation, and how it will affect the business of employers and the livelihood of workers. Last week, Jesse Chalmers - treasurer for the Auckland division of the Green Party - waxed lyrical about the positive impact the living wage allegedly had on her small-to-medium enterprise. Read more

After fighting the weakness of its euro currency for the past five years, the European Central Bank now seemingly has an even more fearsome opponent to tackle: the strength of the euro. At least this is the narrative that the ECB is trying to establish. Read more

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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