Insights
Time to take action on OECD recommendations
Many of the OECD’s recommendations for New Zealand are textbook economics advice. It is time to implement them.
Year: 2015
Business Spectator
Public broadcasting is poor economics
In a world of hundreds of TV channels, internet streaming services and encrypted broadcasting, why do we still have giant public broadcasters? This is the question that German economists Justus Haucap, Christiane Kehder and Ina Loebert ask in a new paper for the Berlin-based think tank Prometheus Institute.
Insights
De-mathematising New Zealand
Changing teaching methods in maths have failed to improve our primary students’ maths performance. But it is not just basic, elementary mathematics that we should be concerned about.
Business Spectator
After the crisis is before the crisis
Crunch time or not, the Greek crisis will remain with us for much longer. There is no way it will be resolved once and for all this week. It has been promised to us too often over the past five years.
Insights
Making mathematics count
If we want students to become good at maths, we first need to teach them the basics. Creativity will follow automatically, especially with good teachers.
Business Spectator
Europe’s never-ending integration madness
It may be madness to do something over and over again while expecting a different result. But conversely, it is only reasonable to expect Europe’s next integration steps to be just as successful as the previous ones.
Insights
Budget 2015: Not ambitious enough
Budget 2015 shows there is work to do to make New Zealand more productive. Unfortunately, it did not give us any suggestions on how the government would want to achieve this.
Business Spectator
Why the EU is hung up on mobile roaming
The idea of abolishing all roaming rates across the EU may have populist appeal, and it is easy to see why EU politicians are pushing the idea. However, it is equally clear why such a policy does not make much sense.
Insights
Plain stupid
In a world of complex markets with millions of buyers, sellers and products, brands provide orientation. This is what brands contribute to civilisation.
Business Spectator
A Pyrrhic victory for Cameron?
David Cameron faces some of the most difficult problems any peace-time UK government ever had to tackle. And neither his party’s mediocre share of the popular vote nor his thin parliamentary majority will help.