Once upon a time, “Yes Minister” gave us Sir Humphrey Appleby, scheming, obstructive, magnificently verbose, but above all, competent. He could bury a reform in procedure without breaking a sweat. Read more
Grades have been inflating at universities across the English-speaking world, including in New Zealand. That was the message of my first two columns in this series. Read more
More than half of New Zealanders think the country is going in the wrong direction. Trust in Parliament, the courts and the Reserve Bank has fallen sharply since 2021. Read more
Who is responsible for defending liberal democracy when its norms come under attack? Karl Popper, writing as fascist armies swept Europe, understood this was not an abstract question. Read more
| GDP Quarterly Change: | 0.48% |
|---|---|
| GDP Annual Change: | 0.11% |
| Inflation: | 2.35% |
| Optimal OCR: | 2.90% |
| Optimal OCR Gap: | -0.30% |
| Forecasted OCR Change: | -0.25% |