The vexing issue of Damien Grant’s ‘career-ending’ convictions
Should a convicted fraudster be allowed to work as an insolvency practitioner? It ought to depend on how many years have passed since his conviction. [...]
Germany
Don’t mention the ‘r’ word
When legal anti-racism becomes seen as racist, something has gone horribly wrong. [...]
The end of a beautiful friendship
If at some point this crisis is no longer acute, then the Franco-German axis will feature only in history books – and the EU will not be able to find a replacement for it anytime soon. [...]
How to wreck a political system
When Merkel finally leaves the political stage at the end of her chancellorship, her party and country will need a long time to recover. [...]
30 Years after the Wall: Socialism 2.0
I am celebrating the anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Even though it is unnerving to realise that the 30 years that have passed have turned me into a political dinosaur at 44. [...]
Lessons from Thuringia
To prevent the rise of polarisation, politicians must listen to people who think unlike themselves. [...]
Debt-financed infrastructure spending won’t solve Germany’s problems
It must indeed be tempting to binge on infrastructure spending as Berlin can now borrow for 30 years at a negative interest rate of 0.11 percent. But should the Germans do so? [...]
The next Euro crisis could be made in Germany
At the beginning of the century, The Economist famously called Germany the “sick man of Europe”. The way things are going, we are likely to read similar headlines again soon. [...]
The weird world of negative interest rates
Unless you have a mortgage or you are the Minister of Finance, it is a world you would not want to inhabit. But for millions of Europeans, that may soon be reality. We can only hope that even after the RBNZ’s next cut, New Zealanders will not contemplate going into the topsy-turvy world the Germans are about to enter. [...]
From localism towards localism: A personal journey of policy discovery
Nothing in my work in Germany, Britain, Australia and now New Zealand has given me reason to doubt my basic beliefs: incentives matter; councils can work effectively when given the right incentives; and decision-making removed from the people it concerns creates problems. [...]