The choice between politicos and wonks is that the politicos are better at attaining and maintaining office, but their policy ...

The Starmer-Reeves Government plans to fund the concessions they made to their revolting caucus have been deferred to the end ...

This column started out to explain how the proposed structural outsourcing of public surgery was partly a consequence of the peculiarities of our fiscal borrowing practices. In summary, the ...

Following the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families ...

The untimely passing of Act’s candidate for the Port Waikato electorate throws an unexpected spanner into the 2023 election machinery. Maybe it’s time to think about how the law responds to such ...

Was another IT debacle inevitable given the management arrangements? In February 20022, Archives New Zealand (ANZ) switched its electronic access to the nation’s public records from ‘Archway’ to the ...

One option is to cut back on maintenance of your capital – say, to delay repainting the house or keeping the car in tip-top condition. The government does the same. Hence our three water systems ...

Property rights – which enable decisions over tangible and intangible assets – are critical to an economy as Why Nations Fail pointed out.

The book I am currently working on – tentative title ‘In Open Seas’ – looks at the current and future New Zealand. One chapter describes the policy towards Covid using the trope of warfare. It covers ...

Do we treat the government finances with the common sense that household’s manage theirs? It is a commonly held view that we should treat the government as if it is a prudent household. We don’t when ...

Does the Autumn 2024 British budget point to a change in fiscal strategies? Many countries found their fiscal position was unsustainable, following the 2008 Global Financial Crash. Their public ...

Should we pursue a ‘Golden Rule’ where any public borrowing for consumption is temporary? This columnist is a fiscal conservative who is cautious about government borrowing for public consumption. I ...