Category: imported_guest

I recently read the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It was an excellent portrait of one of the 20th century’s most creative entrepreneurs. But I was also surprised to find some interesting insights into the need to reform America’s education system, both from stories of Steve Jobs’ formative years and in the opinions he expressed.

The Taranaki Iwi Claims Settlement Bill, that legislates for six race-based appointees on the Taranaki Regional Council, provided new ammunition for New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters this week.

The Kermadecs lie six hundred or so miles to the north of the rest of New Zealand. The main island, Raoul Island, is our country’s northernmost inhabited outpost. The islands are all reserves, administered by the Department of Conservation, and the only inhabitants are Conservation Department staff and volunteers.

Tax reform would benefit by following one simple motif: don't tax what you want more of. It follows that cutting income tax rates should be a boon for the economy-freeing up labour markets, incentivising work, and stimulating entrepreneurship. If only politics were that simple.

This is the speech I delivered almost in its entirety in my capacity as special commentator, along with Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy, at Monday night's semi-final in the intra-university Next Generation Debates series at Auckland University.

As far as the law is concerned, the king is just Mr Paki, a New Zealand citizen and the Queen’s subject like anyone else. Nor, even nominally, is he the king of all Maori ~ as many Maori are the very first to insist. Many in Nga Puhi evidently refer to him as the ‘King of Huntly’!

From the Far North to Southland areas are awash with jobs with employers struggling to find people with even the basic skills to fill them. This sits hand in hand with the perpetual scourge on our society, unemployment, especially youth unemployment.

It’s great to be back in Auckland. I studied economics here in the ‘80s and I’m grateful to Auckland University for sparking my interest in how markets and institutions really work. The windsurfing was pretty good as well. As a newly minted economist I lived in Wellington for eight years working at the Treasury...

The government is to blame for the high numbers of Maori in jail, according to a Treaty of Waitangi claim filed by retired probation officer Tom Hemopo. An urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing was held in Wellington through the last week of July, to investigate Hemopo's claim.

The Independent Hearings Panel has presented its recommendations for the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan to Auckland Council. The Panel loosened the strait jacket, but the patient remains tethered. Indeed, we may come to regret the additional credibility that the Panel has given the plan.