Reports & Media

Imagine a management consultancy asked for help with a large company’s performance. At the end the inquiry concludes the company does not measure whether its processes are efficient. Read more

There is a saying about the news media: "If it bleeds, it leads". Not to be crude, but the recent rise in coverage of period poverty is a classic example of such thinking. Read more

Housing Minister Phil Twyford’s address to Infrastructure New Zealand’s Building Nations Symposium last week made it very clear that the current governing coalition is very serious about fixing Auckland’s housing affordability crisis. But the conference also made a few other things clear. Read more

Switzerland, my home country, is often referred to as the poster child of localism. A substantial part of the political decision making, taxation and public spending is done on a sub central level. Read more

At the risk of making myself unpopular, I have absolutely no problem with Simon Bridges’ expenses bill. Except that it was leaked and that some other politicians are trying to turn it into a scandal. Read more

Travelling to New Zealand will be a tremendous shock to the system, a couple of my peers tried to convince me before I left home in Zurich. It was - but not for the reasons everyone told me. Read more

I noted a few problems in Treasury’s staffing in my column a fortnight ago. Among staff whose qualifications are known working as analysts, senior analysts, principal advisors and senior managers, economists are in the minority. Read more

My Insights article, Low Tax Fantasy, on 27 July rebutted the claims that New Zealand was a low-tax country by global standards and that tax is love. The article struck a chord with a number of readers, one of whom said it reminded her of one of Shakespeare’s sonnets about love. Read more

Mohammed Alsahani once had an upholstery business in Damascus. But when civil war broke out in Syria, he and his family were forced to flee. Read more

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Since New Zealand just had to discuss the meaning of free speech, perhaps it is worth defining what free speech is. And what it is not. Read more

Last month France celebrated the storming of the Bastille, an assault that became a flashpoint for the French Revolution. As a fortress and prison, the Bastille was emblematic of the French monarchy. Read more

It’s that time of year again where foodies like me can indulge in Wellington’s best burgers, beer, and if you’re lucky, a degustation or two. That’s right, it’s August already and it’s the first day of Wellington on a Plate (WOAP). Read more