Finance minister Bill English is arguing that we shouldn't second guess business decisions made by Solid Energy. His argument happens to be a convenient way to get him off the hook for government failings
asset sales
For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so
In the different stories being told about the sell-off of Mighty River Power, not even numerals mean the same thing to everyone.
Read MoreThe asset sales "trade-off" - a lose-lose
The partial asset sales are a compromise, according to the SOE minister. But why are taxpayers the ones left with the beads and blankets while the other bloke laughs all the way to the bank?
Read MoreBoo for my side. Boo!
Robert Frost once said that "A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel." I guess that makes me a liberal.
Read MoreIf it's just a symbol, why do you care?
Is John Key being advised by Auckland law graduates?
Read MoreMOM … Show me the money!
John Key’s hottest line from the last election campaign could come back to haunt him as he ploughs ahead with the expansion of the “Mixed Ownership Model” by selling shares in a batch of state-owned assets.
Read MoreClever politics leave voters in a vacuum
Fear and greed may be the motivating emotions in the market place, but information is the life-blood of democracy. The voters of 2011 need a transfusion before they visit the polling booth on Saturday.
Read MoreEconomics & asset sales: Why governments get consistently ripped off
Governments are bad negotiators, because democracy demands they tip their hand before going to the bargaining table. That means governments get the short end of asset sale deals
Read MoreThe Standard & Poor's Budget
Bill English's third Budget has laid foundations. For a couple of short-term goals, in particular. But what's the point if those foundations are being undermined even as they are laid?
Read MoreA sign o' the times
Has Labour managed to stuff up even a pretty good idea? [Turns out no - not as much as I prematurely thought.]
Read MoreRandom thoughts on a quiet friday ...
I should be working on a learned article that will set the world of legal academia aflame. But it's Friday.
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