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A funny thing happened in the last round of American minimum wage increases. The number of people in unpaid internships went up. Read more

What is the difference between a letter and a pizza? Well, we have become used to receiving the former only three times a week. Read more

Eminent UK economist and Financial Times columnist John Kay reportedly believes that the global financial system is broken and that there is a simple remedy. It is broken because bankers have lost the plot. Read more

We should laud, not vilify, the actions of a Wairarapa school that has taken the brave step to ban students (and presumably staff too) from climbing trees on school grounds. Management have quite correctly noted that trees pose a health and safety risk to those playing in them, and have acted wisely to shut down any possibility of this risk eventuating on their watch. Read more

It is hard to put a number on some things – like how many refugees the government should admit. If you asked how many software engineers the government should let into the country per year, I would have a hard time coming up with an answer. Read more

Sometimes, the supermarket sticker price is just there to make the sale price look better. Anchoring expectations matters. Read more

Last week’s column reckoned that Sir Robert Jones’s economic impact assessment tallying the merits of a five kilometre high statue of Gareth Morgan was sounder than rather a few economic impact assessments. The case for the statue is especially strong where the construction costs would be borne by the population of North Korea. Read more

The festive season is well behind us, but this week I feel like the Grinch who stole Christmas. Like the Yuletide, this strikes annually. Read more

When businesses make investment decisions, they should make them on their own. Taking risks and reaping the rewards: that is what entrepreneurship is all about. Read more

You can sell just about anything with the right economic impact report. Just consider Sir Robert Jones’s presumably tongue-in-cheek proposal for a magnificent new statue on The Terrace. Read more