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When the smallish Skatbank, a direct bank based in Germany’s east, started charging its wealthy private depositors interest in November 2014, it made international headlines. It was the first German bank to do so, and negative interest rates were still regarded as a ridiculous aberration. Read more

A collegial relationship between Treasury and the Reserve Bank is a good thing in principle. Monetary and fiscal policy remain the most important levers of economic policy, and the two institutions in charge of those levers need to exchange their views. Read more

If there’s one line in the 1967 classic film The Graduate that has aged poorly, it might be Mr McGuire’s advice to a young Dustin Hoffman to find his future in plastics. Now, just over 50 years later, plastics are more commonly cast as retro at best, and an environmental menace otherwise. Read more

The government has released its Road to Zero consultation document, laying out a Vision Zero approach aiming for “no one is killed or seriously injured in road crashes”. A zero-road toll pledge may be a good soundbite, but not a good policy prescription. Read more

Dear Minister of Finance, I am writing to apply for the position of Lead Economic Advisor to the Government, a position held by The Treasury since the 1940s. Please find enclosed my CV with references. Read more

If we could fixing the tangled mess of regulation stymieing new home construction, it would help alleviate real misery. The housing shortage leads directly to rents that take up too much of our paycheques, to overcrowding, and potentially to poor health. Read more

There was a line of ’80s and ’90s motivational posters, often involving pictures of cats, with quips that might help improve spirits around the workplace. One of those, from memory, read something like, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps!” Other variants read, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here; we will train you.” None of them would pass modern sensitivity standards, and they were never really motivational or funny in the first place. Read more