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In 1996, Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash highlighted the political importance of speed in the 1980s reform agenda. Drawing on an earlier speech by Sir Roger Douglas, he noted that “opponents’ fire is much less accurate if they have to shoot at a rapidly moving target.” Policy over the past two years have moved at similar pace, but rather less coherently, and in the middle of a global pandemic that also requires at least some minor attention from the ministries. Read more

They say you can’t fight City Hall. And pity the developer who tries. Read more

House prices have risen to all-time highs. According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, prices have risen by 30.6 percent in the last year. Read more

A Berkeley professor once said that if you are Minister of the Environment, you are eventually Minister of Everything. The professor’s prediction is set to become real if the government’s Natural and Built Environments Act, or “NBA,” passes in anything like its current form. Read more

When Judith Collins and Julie-Anne Genter argue about expensive Auckland transport projects, I worry that they’re both right about the problems in the other’s preferred alternative. And it points to the need for better ways of deciding on transport investments. Read more

Dear International Olympic Committee, Please find attached our bid to host the 2036 Olympics Games in Wellington. We noticed that at US$25 billion, Tokyo Olympics are the most expensive Games ever. Read more

What happens to even the best juggler when ball after ball is added to his load? Sooner or later, collapse is inevitable. Read more

Governments and councils have two basic levers for achieving policy objectives. They can spend money on programmes aimed at providing the desired outcome. Read more