politics

Handouts, Productivity and the Allure of Australia
Looking a gift horse in the mouth might just be the right way to vote this time around....
15 September 2005 - Gareth Morgan

All Black Elections
Selection of the All Blacks is far too important to leave to laymen voters. We let them have a say on politicians instead....
16 July 2003 - Gareth Morgan

Get Rid of One-Person, One-Vote
One person, one vote is unfair. The ignorant get to have a say....
3 July 2003 - Gareth Morgan

Policy Rot – A way of life
The economy's performing well thanks to the reforms of the 1990's. So our eye is off the ball policy-wise....
25 September 2002 - Gareth Morgan

Election Reflection
Both the Left and Right lost support last Saturday and it went to a couple of stand ins - the middle parties that managed to differentiate themselves mostly by their leaders' media performance than any markedly different policy stance. Peter Dunne and Winston Peters between them captured 20% of the seats on offer having each come from...
31 July 2002 - Gareth Morgan

Don't dilly dally - vote Green
It’s a no-brainer. Voters concerned that New Zealand maximises its capacity to sustain and enhance the living standards of its citizens over the medium term have only one choice in the 2002 election to ensure that outcome – voting Green.In economics terms Labour is illiterate. This is a government that believes...
10 July 2002 - Gareth Morgan

Away from One Person, One Vote
Those elected to parliament should ideally be a group of people who between them provide a representative cross section of society. The concept is that once exposed to the information and debate pertinent to any issue they will make decisions that reflect the will of the people - or at least the will of the people should we...
1 May 2002 - Gareth Morgan

Pay MPs the average wage and let them solicit donations
In order that a political democracy provide the quality and consistency of policy that voters prefer, those sent to parliament need to be incented to deliver such outcomes, while the voters that who do the sending need to have defined preferences. Under the current system of political representation MPs are compelled to...
23 April 2002 - Gareth Morgan

Politicians' credentials, the job they do
Blaming politicians for the apparently endless stream of poor quality policy that flows from parliament is in many ways a cop-out by the client electorate. But then the oft-heard defence of our democratic system, "we get the politicians we deserve", is little more than an acknowledgement of its limitations. Is our...
17 April 2002 - Gareth Morgan

Why NZ Democracy Needs an Overhaul
That a political party that gained less than 8% of the vote in the 1999 election can have been so influential on policy decisions by the Clark government and now threaten its early downfall, is an indictment of our democratic process. And the problem runs far deeper than MMP. Just as NZ First's tumult ruptured the...
10 April 2002 - Gareth Morgan

Dumb and dumber
Rodney Hide is having a field day revealing how crazy the People’s Bank proposition is. Yet government, for the sake of congealing coalition camaraderie through to the next election, moves ever forward on this one large, dumb idea.Jim Anderton’s job machine has struck again, ploughing $1-2 million from its Major Investment Fund into a JV...
15 August 2001 - Gareth Morgan

Thank heavens for Treasury and the Reserve Bank
Amidst the media hype the Knowledge wave conference generated it has not been easy identifying those contributions that offered a sober assessment of New Zealand's economic and social policy, performance and potential, and cast erudite light on this subject. There was of course an impressive array of experts in specific fields whose papers...
8 August 2001 - Gareth Morgan

Knowledge- or Blow Wave?
Consider some facts about recent New Zealand economic performance and contrast them with the fiction increasingly promulgated by those who would attempt a "transformation" of this reality. The share of low- margin, commodity production in our exports has been steadily increasing (meat and low-end dairy) while the performance of...
1 August 2001 - Gareth Morgan