Waiting for the release of the official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures has become more exciting since I launched GDPLive. It is like watching the lotto draw when the numbers drop, and you keep checking your ticket. Read more
If punters at Australia’s Betfair are right, there’s an eighty-nine percent chance any government formed after Saturday’s election will have a National Party Prime Minister. But the things Betfair can’t tell us makes me miss our missing election stock market. Read more
In Amusing Ourselves to Death, the American cultural critic and media commentator Neil Postman argued that television had debased public discourse. His central thesis rested on the idea that television, with its emphasis on soundbites and sensationalism, reduced even the weightiest of matters to mere trivialities. Read more
Winston Churchill is often wrongly credited with saying that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. If a modern-day Churchill sought an argument against democracy, he could easily find one in New Zealand’s election campaigns. Read more
With only a few days left until New Zealand’s general election, you might think the outcome should be easy to predict. Many polls have shown that New Zealanders think the country is on the wrong path. Read more
Pro-housing policy generally tries to find ways of outflanking NIMBYs – the Not In My BackYard objectors to new development. It’s an approach well-supported in academic research and reflected in New Zealand policy. Read more
October 15 cannot come soon enough, and not just because of a potential Rugby World Cup showdown between the All Blacks and Ireland. Like many, I have found Election 2023 a tedious affair. Read more
In 1981, the German electronic band Kraftwerk released a song called Pocket Calculator. At the time, affordable calculators were a recent phenomenon. Read more
As a proud Canadian, I am occasionally compelled to draw Kiwis’ attention to the wonderful service that my homeland provides to the world. The election here has been tedious. Read more
What is the purpose of televised leaders’ debates? Ideally, these staples of the political calendar should inform, educate and entertain. Read more
As we prepare for another election under the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system, it is worth noting that New Zealand is one of the few nations to have adopted this electoral model. The majority of countries still either opt for First-Past-the-Post or purely proportional systems. Another country that uses MMP is my native Germany. Read more
Elections are the classic zero-sum game. In a zero-sum game, one person’s gains are necessarily another’s losses. Read more
At the Initiative, we have consistently stood up for the rights of random bureaucrats to stop people making harmless choices in their everyday lives. That’s why we were strong supporters of John Key’s decision to ban pseudoephedrine from pharmacies. Read more
How big is the fiscal deficit problem and how long will it take for our governments to turn it around? Do not be fooled by rosy scenarios of painless correction. Read more
Political campaigns often hinge on promises, and the art of selling a vision for the future is a crucial skill for any politician. But what happens when that vision strays deep into the realm of fantasy? Read more