Year: 2014

Insights

‘A’ for Adam Smith

28/02/2014
Two hundred and thirty eight years after The Wealth of Nations, Smith’s timeless ideas are still relevant and inspirational – both for policymakers and for economists. Smith remains the best teacher for anyone aspiring to understand how altruism and self-interest belong together in society.

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National Business Review

Is the boom here to stay?

28/02/2014
The New Zealand economy is undoubtedly in good shape but not all the factors behind the boom can or should be sustained indefinitely. This raises two questions: How much is temporary? What are the prospects once these one-off factors disappear?

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Business Spectator

A Swiss crevasse for EU relations

20/02/2014
The EU always had a strange relationship with democracy, not least because it does not always generate the results EU officials would like to see. The Swiss referendum is a case in point.

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Business Spectator

Will the euro die in the courts?

13/02/2014
Admittedly, judgements by the German constitutional court can sometimes be hard to understand. Last week’s ruling to pass on the matter of the European Central Bank’s bond purchases to the European Court of Justice is no exception. It is certainly a decision that is easy to misinterpret.

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Insights

Showering cash is no substitute for policy

31/01/2014
There is no shortage of issues in New Zealand that need to be tackled: the housing affordability crisis, or the challenges to our superannuation system, to name just two examples. But the opposition did not provide any game-changing policy ideas on either of them.

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Insights

Why ferries should not be a political issue

24/01/2014
A privatised Interislander would face the pressures of the market without any obstacles or lifelines from politics. It would also spare us from politicians judging or prescribing what ought to be commercial decisions of Interislander’s management.

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