Kieran Madden
About Kieran Madden
Research Manager
Kieran joined Maxim Institute as a researcher in 2012 after graduating with a Master of Public Policy from the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University.
Prior to this he worked as a researcher for an Australian Senator, following several years as a Project Manager for Hewlett Packard.
Most Recent Activity
The “yeah, nah” government
By Kieran Madden
That gutting feeling of unfulfilled expectations is hard to shake, and the bigger the promise, the bigger the disappointment. The…
Read More
Raising resilient children through healthy relationships
By Kieran Madden
When we hear of the overwhelming, and often heart-breaking challenges that some families face it can be easy to feel…
Read More
This is our home
By Kieran Madden
Vibrant flowers gild the gates of the Christchurch mosques, each bouquet laid with trembling hands, representing a beautiful solidarity amidst…
Read More
Now is the time to take our changing future seriously
By Kieran Madden
The Government is dead-set on improving “wellbeing” as the mark of their leadership, and “long-term intergenerational wellbeing” in particular. This…
Read More
Vocational surgery required
By Kieran Madden
Our vocational educational system is on life support— haemorrhaging badly in desperate need of surgery. Four of New Zealand’s sixteen…
Read More
Killing the cult of consumerism
By Kieran Madden
“Our Gross National Product…measures everything, except that which makes life worthwhile.” Bobby Kennedy’s famous 1968 speech decried how measures like…
Read More
On Common Ground
By Kieran Madden
Illustrations by Anieszka Banks “I could have hit him, I could have hurt him…but something in me said, you know…
Read More
The Politics of Diving
By Kieran Madden
Soccer goalkeepers sure look spectacular with their acrobatic dives during penalties, but studies show that simply standing in the middle…
Read More
Shaking off stardust politics
By Kieran Madden
Famously elusive about her political leanings, pop sensation Taylor Swift recently went beyond her usual neutral get-out-and-vote message to endorse…
Read More
Mana in Mahi isn’t your average work-for-the-dole scheme
By Kieran Madden
Translated to “strength in work,” Labour’s Mana in Māhī scheme shows real potential to make a difference in the lives…
Read More
Generational perspective necessary to do policy well
By Kieran Madden
Our view of human nature makes a big difference on which policies we devise and support. “If men were angels,…
Read More
Booming cities, struggling nations
By Kieran Madden
As a football tragic, I’ve been watching many of the World Cup games at ungodly hours these past few weeks….
Read More
The age of misinformation
By Kieran Madden
“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?” lamented the poet T.S. Eliot. “Where is the knowledge we have…
Read More
Excessive tertiary education sends the wrong signals
By Kieran Madden
The higher education system is a colossal waste of time and money—far more about signaling to future employers than gaining…
Read More
Submission: Child Poverty Reduction Bill
By Kieran Madden
Maxim Institute supports this Bill and proposes amendments to strengthen it. We welcome this Bill and its potential to increase…
Read More
The end of individualism?
By Kieran Madden
In the early nineties, political theorist Francis Fukuyama famously proclaimed the “End of History” was upon us-that western liberal democracy…
Read More
Promises and plans to change poverty in New Zealand
By Kieran Madden
A few weeks ago, my colleague wrote about Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s “courageous move” to introduce the Child Poverty Reduction…
Read More
Kieran Madden on Radio New Zealand
By Kieran Madden
Kieran Madden recently joined Radio New Zealand to discuss the issues of poverty. He argues that the Labour Government must stick…
Read More
Thinking with others
By Kieran Madden
“I thought once everybody could speak freely and exchange information and ideas, the world is automatically going to be a…
Read More
Save Social Investment
By Kieran Madden
National’s Social Investment Approach must stay, but not as we know it. Imagine, for a moment, that policies are cars….
Read More