It doesn’t seem to have been the best week for the Reserve Bank since the release of the latest Monetary Policy Statement last Wednesday. Of course, one could make a pretty compelling case that in the Orr years few weeks have been, and especially not any weeks when Bank figures actually say or do anything. […]
Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is really happening is that ministers are stopping the crusade waged by the Ardern/Hipkins…
This article is a continuation of the article Swearing in of new MPs: The constitution versus the Treaty activists. __________________________ On 1 December 2023 Te Pati Maori published an official press release on its Facebook page entitled An Oath to our Mokopuna. It was published in the name of Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke and five others,…
Given his (qualified) support for Israel in their cage fight against Hamas I had wondered over the last few weeks if Chris was feeling the pressure from the New Left who hate Israel and have grown to outnumber he and his kind here in New Zealand over the last couple of decades. I noticed that […]
Winston Peters has suggested that mainstream media were “bribed” by the previous Labour government. Members of the media are outraged. Peters, true to form, is being provocative. I don’t think Peters’ strident tone helps. If Peters wants to get through, then a more diplomatic approach may be better. Aggressiveness merely gets people’s backs up and…
In my post yesterday on the new OECD Economic Outlook fiscal numbers I included this chart Even if you leave off the last two observations (OECD projections based on current – Labour government – fiscal policy) recent trends have hardly been something to take any comfort in. But at least we were still a bit […]
But first a correction. As I noted on Twitter and very briefly on the post itself on Saturday, it seems that the gist of my post on Friday was wrong. The repeal of Labour’s tobacco de-nicotinisation legislation – whatever motivated the parties that championed the change – will leave the flow of tobacco excise revenue […]
Seymour’s proposed referendum has made discussion seem a very attractive alternative. Graham Adams writes — After the revolutionary He Puapua report was brought to public attention for the first time in April 2021, Judith Collins and David Seymour did their best to spark discussion about its implications — especially with regard to the threat that […]
Act wants a referendum to define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The principles do need redefining and that redefinition will almost certainly result in a reset that reverses a lot of the insertion of the undefined principles in areas which many think have nothing to do with the Treaty. It is 23 years […]
I’m frankly astonished at the scale, frequency and anger of protests held in solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza, which variously call for a ceasefire, call for “freedom” for Palestine and which variously accuse Israel of atrocities, using the language and statistics issued by the Gazan totalitarian theocrats. It is driven by a coalition of communists,…
Bari Weiss, head of the Free Press, just published this article on her website, but it appeared in Tablet, in identical form, a few days ago. You can click on the headline below to read it, or go here to see it on her site. As the subheader on her FP article says, “It’s not […]
LIKE THE WAR in Ukraine, the war in Gaza is serving as a remarkable litmus test for the Left. It is testing its moral compass, its understanding of international law, its grasp of geopolitical realities and, not least, its awareness of what the PR mavens call “the optics”. A substantial portion, even, perhaps, a majority,…
My column in Newsroom this week makes a few guesses about where NZ local water policy may be headed. Labour forced the amalgamation of water services into new entities that National promised to throttle before they can get going. What happens next?No election platform survives contact with post-election coalition negotiations.But one outcome seems rather obvious –…
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
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