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Don’t leave law to the lawyers
One day, a man called John Entick was at home when in walked Nathan Carrington and three other government agents….
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Sabotaging the lifts in New Zealand’s tower of wealth
If you haven’t seen the 2018 Side Eye Inequality Tower by Toby Morris and Max Rashbrooke, it’s well worth a…
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Generational perspective necessary to do policy well
Our view of human nature makes a big difference on which policies we devise and support. “If men were angels,…
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Getting serious about loneliness
As Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera sang: “Nobody wants to be lonely.” But loneliness is more than just missing spending…
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TOP goes for a walk
Gareth Morgan has a point. I know this may be an unpopular view, but hear me out. Last week Morgan…
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Booming cities, struggling nations
As a football tragic, I’ve been watching many of the World Cup games at ungodly hours these past few weeks….
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Irresponsible lenders on borrowed time
While borrowing money at an annualised interest rate of up to 693% wouldn’t appear at the top of anyone’s wish…
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The age of misinformation
“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?” lamented the poet T.S. Eliot. “Where is the knowledge we have…
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The $64,000 question
As my colleague discussed in a recent column, we have to be careful that our desire to punish offenders and…
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Sir John Graham Lecture 2018 |Towards Justice
REFLECTIONS ON THE SYSTEM AND SOCIETY delivered by Chief Justice Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias Across her 46 year career,…
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Housing Panel – Live Q+A
THREE PERSPECTIVES ON HOW WE MOVE FORWARD A decent, affordable place to live is a basic need for every person,…
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Is there demand for a tourist tax?
I’m no economist, but even I know that basic economic theory says that as the price for a product increases,…
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End of Life Choice Bill contains flaws that are impossible to fix
This column was published in Fairfax newspapers on Wednesday 20 June 2018 and on stuff.co.nz Parliament has started hearing submissions…
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When AI goes wrong
You may have heard that the robots are coming to take our jobs, thanks to artificial intelligence. But a…
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Does punishment prevent crime?
Benjamin Franklin once wrote to a friend that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and…
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Beware the consequences of the waka-jumping bill
Like many, my first introduction to politics was through a class election. My group decided our key campaign promise was…
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Curing and caring
“It has become taboo to mention dying,” says Kathryn Mannix, a leading palliative care specialist from the UK. I know…
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“Stay woke”
In a recent video, Barack Obama warned voters about “fake news,” telling us “to be more vigilant with what we…
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Time to take a risk for the regions – Newsroom column
To lay out an explanation for the recommendations in our Taking the Right Risks policy paper on regional development, Alex Penk…
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Alex Penk talks with Mike Hosking – Regional development policy paper
Upon the release of our regional development paper, Taking the Right Risks, Alex Penk was interviewed by Mike Hosking on…
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