After a wee holiday, some thoughts on how the new government should play its hand... and reflections on some good decisions that laid the ground for the 'coalition of losers'
Read MoreHow Have We Changed?
Rogernomics wanted to change us culturally. Has it succeeded?
Read MoreSimon Bridges thinks that Simon Bridges is eroding parliamentary democracy
Changes to parliamentary procedure that Simon Bridges helped craft and then explicitly championed while in Government now appear to be bad for National in opposition. So Simon Bridges thinks that they are the worst attack on democratic rights we have ever seen.
Read MoreWe can do better than this
A dislike of capitalism is something that unites the partners in the new government. They believe it has done more harm than good. But what do they actually mean? And what is their alternative? Over the next three years we will find out and whether our lives can be better.
Read MoreWhither Coalition Government?
Coalition governments are a consequence of MMP. They may better reflect us and our democratic aspirations than the Winner-Takes-All ones of the past.
Read MoreWell you picked your tree, now bark it up
The Labour-NZ First coalition deal proposes taking our electoral laws back to 2001-2005. I don't think thats a good place to revisit.
Read MorePast Rationality: The 2017 Nobel Award for Economics
Paul Krugman, the 2008 winner, tweeted ‘Yes! Behavorial econ is the best thing to happen to the field in generations, and [Richard] Thaler showed the way.'
Read MoreSchrodinger's cat is Malawi's flag
Winston Peters' announcement that he will enter a coalition with Labour gives the 2017 election its final meaning. But it sounds like it was a very, very close run thing.
Read MoreThis is it - a government - soon - maybe
Maybe there will be a government this week. Maybe not. To fill the vacuum speculation is the only alternative.
Read MoreSue Bradford: Constant Radical
How effective are those who pursue change outside the parliamentary system?
Read MoreWhile we wait, a few lessons from the caretaker days
New Zealand will not fall apart while we wait for a government to be negotiated. But that does not mean we have to just accept a lack of respect for transparency and shouldn't expect better
Read MoreRelax - Winston Peters, Negotiations and getting the best from MMP
It has been 21 years since the first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) election. But we do not seem to be learning how to get the best from the system. We are treating it like First-Past-the-Post (FPP). It is time to relax and play to strengths of MMP.
Read MoreThis much we know: It's a different kind of drag race
Amidst a pletohora of speculation around the government coalition talks, this weekend's final results made one thing very clear and Winston Peters knows it
Read MoreSchrodinger's election
Was the 2017 election a vote for change? Or was it an endorsement of the status quo? The answer is yes ... and no.
Read MoreThe numbers are in, let the politics begin
The official election results finally have been announced. They tell us what we thought they would - so now what will they mean?
Read MoreWhy Voters Will Be Disappointed by the Election Outcome.
New Zealand’s electoral system gives it a parliament which represents voters. Its winner-takes-all executive government, however, remains unrepresentative.* (This is a follow on from the earlier column on coalitions.)
Read MoreIn Praise of Public Servants
This was written before the election outcome is known. It looks at the part of the executive which is not elected: the public servants and advisors.
Read MoreA worry-wort's guide to Election 17 - the Majors
While we wait for the specials to be counted and negotiations to begin, we can review what happened in Election 2017. A determinedly glass half-empty view of the results shows the big two parties have plenty to fret about
Read MoreExclusive: Winston weighs up which way to go
Pundit can reveal an exclusive report from inside Winston's head... We see what he's actually thinking
Read MoreHow governments form under MMP ...
AUT's Julienne Molineaux has written a must-read guide to post-election processes ... anyone wanting to know anything about this should go and read it.
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