Nowhere in New Zealand is as landlocked as the southern Manitoba farm where I grew up. Reaching the ocean, by road, required at least 24 hours of non-stop driving. Read more

In a classic Simpsons episode, the gang went out looking for the Loch Ness Monster. Professor Frink turned on his scanning scope. Read more

If you want to know the effects of small changes to tax rates or tax thresholds on government revenue, Treasury provides a handy calculator. But the calculator breaks if you ask it to tell you the effects of inflation on tax revenues since April 2021, when the new 39% tax rate came in. Read more

If someone told you that America’s tax system is light-years ahead of either Sweden or New Zealand’s in reducing inequality, you’d be right to think they’re either misguided or lying to you. So how the heck did Oxfam manage to create a ranking of tax system fairness that put the US 10th best in the world, the UK 24th, Sweden 104th, and New Zealand 136th? Read more

If years of arguing about supermarkets and supermarket policy have taught us anything, it’s that allowing another supermarket chain to enter the New Zealand market is in the national interest. So why won’t the government tell the Overseas Investment Office? Read more

Collective nouns are fun. A murder of crows is great. Read more

Bryan Perry’s regular reports for the Ministry of Social Development represent some of the very best that New Zealand’s public sector has to offer. Statistics New Zealand runs the surveys on household income and household expenditure. Read more

The Crown Accounts are in better shape than had been expected when the Budget was set. That’s the good news. Read more

Voting for local government should be simple. If you think that council has generally done a good job, support most incumbent candidates. Read more