The economy may not follow any of the just released Treasury scenarios, but they provide a basis for a discussion on our economic track. (The graph above is from the Treasury report.)
Read MoreWhere is the New Zealand Economy Going?
Level three and three-quarters: it’s not a holiday
This is going to suck
Read MoreThe five things to do for a radical recovery
To pull our society from the brink, we will need unprecedented economic change.
Read MoreThe cost of lockdown: Lives now vs lives later
The indirect costs of the lockdown are seldom discussed in New Zealand. You will not hear the Government talk about it much. These costs need to be weighed against the benefits of a strict Level 4 lockdown.
Read MoreA Child's Introduction to Quantitative Easing
This paper demonstrates the truism that for every financial liability is matched by an asset. A fiscal deficit creates a liability of the government. Somewhere outside government – somewhere in the private sector – there is a private asset matching this public liability.
Read MoreBob Dylan, COVID-19, Trump and Murder Most Foul
COVID-19 has exposed Trump as not up to the job and America as a failing state. None of this is good for America or the world. Bob Dylan’s Murder Most Foul captures the mood of the times.
Read MoreAfter Covid-19: Towards a New Normal
Covid-19 is a crisis. Everyone agrees there is going to be a new normal. It is time to start saying what we want the future to look like.
Read MoreWhat is the Real economy?
Well paid salaried progressives in Wellington should be prepared to share in the nation’s pain for their own self-preservation.
Read MoreThe biggest challenge for a generation ahead – covid-19. Defeat and Recovery
Last month I wrote my blog on covid-19 pointing out the in our pre Alert Level 4 days that a subject no one had heard here months ago was now dominating the media. An amazing feature of this crisis is how quickly it has swept every other issue aside worldwide. It is now the only focus.
Read MoreObituary for The New Zealand Listener (1939-2020)
The vast majority of tributes to the Listener hearken back to its glory days, with little reflection on the magazine as it was at its end.
Read MoreAnd God spake all these words, saying
We’re over a week into Level Four lockdown. The Government has just told us more precisely what that means for our daily lives.
Read MoreMaybe axing Clark would be unfair. But what about any of this is fair?
It is imperative that government ministers not be the only people immune from the inevitable vicissitudes of the lockdown.
Read MoreBackstage and Theatre
The swan politicians may be gliding on the water, occasionally snapping at one another. Meanwhile, as the Covid19 crisis illustrates, the officials are desperately paddling below providing the real locomotion.
Read MoreRIP The Listener, New Zealand's pioneering voice
Today Bauer Media announced it was pulling out of New Zealand, closing down magazines such as The Listener, North & South, Next and NZ Women’s Weekly. The media is changing and the loss of The Listener cuts deep
Read MoreOK, Britney: stop sniping at National for doing its job
If we don’t have unity we must have sharp, focussed and vigorous opposition.
Read MoreTime for Grant Robertson to reveal package #2?
Two weeks ago Grant Robertson announced the coalition government’s $12.1 billion rescue package as “just the beginning”. So when do we get the next bit?
Read MoreA place of greater safety?
We have handed over extraordinary powers to state officials to keep us safe. But if that is going to work, and to be tolerable for us over the weeks and months to come, we really need to know quite clearly just what it is that we need to do and why.
Read MoreWhy timing is everything: 'A time to refrain from embracing' starts today
Timing is key in politics and behind all the decisions, the government has had to consider not just the right moves but the right time to make those moves
Read MoreDealing with the Covid-19 Tsunami.
Not a grand coalition, but a government of national salvation
Loyal opposition is no longer possible, so national unity is now required.
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