New Zealand International Review January/February 2026 Volume 51 Number It is common to say that Arnold Nordmeyer is the greatest Labour prime-minister-who-never-was. His failure was a matter of timing. The misfortune for Grant Robertson, who challenges Nordmeyer for the title, was that he was gay. Three decades after homosexuality was decriminalised, a gay candidate for…
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This column is a response to the complaint that we have poor economic performance because we have summer holidays. It praises them. Summertime, and the living is easy. We used to take our kids to Coes Ford on the Selwyn River near Christchurch for mucking around in the water. Great memories. Apparently, you can’t nowadays….
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Angus Deaton’s Economics in America challenges the direction that economics has taken. In 2015 Angus Deaton was the sole awardee of the Bank of Sweden’s Prize in Honour of Alfred Nobel, for his contributions in the study of ‘consumption, poverty and welfare’. (It has been relatively rare for this Nobel to recognise poverty or welfare;…
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Post 8 May 2025 Dr Alan Gray’s achievements were never officially recognised by any royal honour or honorary doctorate. Extraordinary really, given the length and weight of his list of achievements. They include being central to the establishment and administration of two palliative care units: Mary Potter Hospice in Wellington and the King Faisal Specialist…
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While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought Nash was ineffectual’. Even so,…
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Commentary on Malcolm McKinnon’s Poverty and Progress in New Zealand: thoughts on WB Sutch’s work in historical and intellectual context. Stout Research Centre, 24 April, 2024 When Bill Sutch was first told by his physician that he had advanced terminal cancer, he responded ‘that can’t possibly be true, I have far too much to do’….
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This note was to try to clarify my thinking about what was going on in WP’s speech to the party on Sunday 17 March. It was, of course, a speech to the NZF annual conference which makes numerous political points – some valid. But the attack on his government’s tax policies is something in addition….
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Robert Solow transformed the way we think about economic growth. When you are in the trenches, you may not always realise what the war is about. Years later you read an account and see more clearly. Thus it was with me in the 1960s when economic analysis went through a revolution. My insight came later…
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A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. The impression is that…
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The picture the commentariat presents of Winston Peters is a misleading caricature. If we don’t try to understand the complexity of the man, we cannot understand what is going on in New Zealand politics. Winston Peters has been active in New Zealand politics longer than any other current politician. He stood for Northern Māori in…
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She may have progressed our understanding of women in the economy but that has not resolved all the issues. A woman who was once chief executive of New Zealand’s biggest company said ‘It is true that a large percentage of the [women’s pay] gap is unexplained and that’s where the issue comes about; could it…
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Brian Easton (Journalist) Interviews Brian Easton (Economist) Part I is IN OPEN SEAS: PART I: On the Seashore: (1943-1970); Part II is IN OPEN SEAS: Part II: Launched (1970-1986). Part II and Part III were going to be published as a companion pieces in Asymmetric Information but there have been no issues since August 2021 Why did…
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Brian Easton (Journalist) Interviews Brian Easton (Economist) Part I is IN OPEN SEAS: PART I: On the Seashore: (1943-1970) This was going to be published as a companion piece in Asymmetric Information but there have been no issues since August 2021 From Sussex University to Canterbury University? It was very different economics department in 1970…
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Anderton: His Life and Times, by David Grant. (Te Herenga Waka Press) Published in READINGROOM Book of the Week: Oh, Jim. On Jim Anderton, the best PM we never had (October 27 2022). Despite the country being dominated by dreary politicians, two of the most charismatic of the last fifty years did not quite make…
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Waikato Times May 21 2022 The University of Waikato made an inspired choice when it appointed Ian Pool to a chair in sociology in 1978. Strictly, he was not a sociologist. His masters degree had been in geography at the Auckland University College; his 1964 PhD in Demography was at the Australian National University under…
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Jim Bolger Fridays with Jim (September 2021) Simon Bridges The Ambiguity of Labels (April 2020) Michael Cullen In Defence of Social Democracy (July 2021) Michael Cullen’s Policy Achievements (July 2021) Review of Michael Cullen’s Autobiography (November 2021) Chris Finlayson Liberal-Conservatives And Social Democrats: The Future Of Māori (September 2021)
Jasfest, 7 December 2021 I apologise for not presenting this short tribute to Jas. I have had a tumour removed from my larynx. The prognosis is good, but it will take some time for my voice to recover sufficiently to be able to make presentations. I want to talk about Jas as a macroeconomist, but…
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New Zealand International Review November/December 2021 Vol 46, No 6 p.26-7. LABOUR SAVING: A Memoir by Michael Cullen (Allen and Unwin, Auckland, 432pp, $50) In the 40 years since Muldoon’s reign, the predominant form of national political leadership has been a dual premiership in which, broadly, the prime minister manages the politics and the co-premier…
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Conversations about our country with Jim Bolger: David Cohen (Massey University Press, Auckland, 287pp, $45.) NZ International Review (September/October 2021) p.29-31 James Brendan Bolger presents a paradox. When he became prime minister, a Tom Scott cartoon presented him as a kind of Forrest Gump; in 2017 he outshone his other three panellists: Helen Clark, Geoffrey…
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Brian Easton (Journalist) Interviews Brian Easton (Economist) Published in Asymmetric Information, Issue 71 August 2021. You grew up in Christchurch? In Somerfield, in the south of the city, in a state house the family bought. Dad was an electrician who in the middle of his life became a psychopaedic nurse. Mum was a clerical worker…
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