The Reserve Bank has finally acknowledged it must review its controversial 2019 bank capital decision requiring large banks to increase their capital reserves from 10.5% to 18% by 2028. The timing is revealing. Read more
Many economists make international trade seem more complicated than it needs to be. Stephen Landsburg had a simple way of explaining it all. Read more
The primary care package recently announced by Health Minister Simeon Brown tackles our GP shortage with overseas doctor placements, more GP trainees and digital healthcare. These welcome initiatives recognise the critical challenges facing general practitioners nationwide. Read more
One of the pleasures of my job as Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative is hosting events with Ministers explaining their new policies to our members. Last week, we hosted Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden at our annual retreat. Read more
About a quarter century ago, my to-be wife introduced me to a card game called Flux. It was popular among the computer science and engineering students in Pittsburgh. Read more
I am always glad that I am not an economic forecaster. Most people’s exposure to economists is radio or newspaper bits from bank economists making their best guesses about economic growth, the unemployment rate, or the track for interest rates. Read more
My previous columns critiquing President Donald Trump’s constitutional overreach and foreign policy blunders prompted some readers to suggest I had failed to grasp the President’s strategic brilliance. Trump, they insisted, was playing four-dimensional chess while the rest of us fumbled with checkers. Read more
Health Minister Brown's primary care package takes aim at the country's critical GP shortage. He is right to be concerned. Read more
The pendulum theory of politics suggests that policies often swing from one extreme to another without finding a balanced middle ground. Consider New Zealand’s supermarkets. Read more
Struggling to think of a good topic for a humorous column this week, I unexpectedly got a major break when my name was – unbelievably – added to a Signal messaging group of top New Zealand government officials. The texts reveal the magnitude of some of the problems that New Zealand politicians have to deal with. Read more
Imagine that you had to sell your house in a desperate hurry – Melbourne beckons, and the job there starts soon. Some things that would help the sale go ahead would be well worth doing. Read more
Last November, Germany’s “traffic light” coalition collapsed and snap elections were called for February 2025. I dutifully registered to vote as a German living abroad. Read more
Winning an election can still mean losing control. This paradox is playing out in Germany right now. Read more
Trust in New Zealand is fracturing before our eyes. The 2025 Acumen Edelman Trust Barometer reveals a society divided by mistrust. Read more
his week, the Government unveiled its blueprint to replace the Resource Management Act. This is not just another policy tweak – it is a game-changer for New Zealand’s economy. Read more