Most of the time, I look at policy in Canada and despair at how much worse things are back home. But the past few months have reminded me that Canada gets a couple of things right that New Zealand simply hasn’t managed to figure out yet. Read more

Last week’s town hall meeting in Khandallah on Wellington City Council’s proposed medium-density re-zoning was an eye-opener. I have been exceptionally frustrated by town planners’ inability to zone enough housing to meet the demands of a growing population. Read more

Most of the time, I look at policy in Canada and despair at how much worse things are back home. But the past few months have reminded me that Canada gets a couple of things right that New Zealand simply hasn’t managed to figure out yet. Read more

We do not yet know how the courts will rule on whether Wellington City Council can force its contractors to pay their employees a minimum of $18.55 an hour. But I think we can come to a verdict on the policy's economic merits, and I do not think council would much like it. Read more

It’s easier to seek forgiveness than permission. And it might be more effective as well. Read more

Labour’s Phil Twyford has been talking a lot of good sense on housing supply, but I am having a hard time making sense of his policies on foreign buyers. So far, the good outweighs the bad. Read more

It’s easier to seek forgiveness than permission. And it might be more effective as well. Read more

I hate self-inflicted wounds. New Zealand’s use of public data, or lack thereof, counts. Read more

Will the coming flag referendum pick the right flag? It looks like we might never know. Read more

Living longer is good. But a lot of things are good. Read more

Trialling policy reform in regions that are keen to see the benefits could solve rather a few of the country’s policy problems. New Zealand has one of the world’s more centralised forms of government. Only about nine cents of every dollar of government expenditure is spent at the local level. Read more