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Left-wing blog The Standard veered beyond its usual polemic last week with a guest post that painstakingly laid out how Auckland Council had spent $1.24 billion on a new IT system with little to show for it so far. The piece, written in response to Bernard Orsman’s scoop in the New Zealand Herald, was notable for its familiarity with major IT project processes, and how far Auckland Council had strayed from industry best practice. Read more

More than a few folks have emailed me the latest from The Guardian on the coming intergenerational war. Youth incomes have been going backwards in too many countries. Read more

How central banks communicate their monetary policy intentions to the market matters. First, central banks must be credible. Read more

Sometimes, the supermarket sticker price is just there to make the sale price look better. Anchoring expectations matters. Read more

Left-wing blog The Standard veered beyond its usual polemic last week with a guest post that painstakingly laid out how Auckland Council had spent $1.24 billion on a new IT system with little to show for it so far. The piece, written in response to Bernard Orsman’s scoop in the New Zealand Herald, was notable for its familiarity with major IT project processes, and how far Auckland Council had strayed from industry best practice. Read more

Have I really been wrong about gangs all this time? I’d thought their main line of work was almost legitimate. Read more

The festive season is well behind us, but this week I feel like the Grinch who stole Christmas. Like the Yuletide, this strikes annually. Read more

Last week, I wrote about the political implications of the UK’s forthcoming referendum on EU membership (Cameron’s gamble could destroy his premiership — and the EU, 25 February 2016). Today, let’s take a closer look at what the British are voting on … and why your columnist is not sure what to wish for. Read more

Eight reasons why a Trump presidency may not be as bad as you imagine. Don’t get me wrong: it could, and likely will, still all go horribly, horribly wrong. Read more

The old human sciences building on the grounds of the University of Auckland was affectionately known among my peers as The Dungeon. With its dingy basement corridors and eerie acoustics, it stood in stark contrast to the more recently-constructed business school, a colossal, contemporary glass structure. Read more