Last week I gave a rebuttal of the advice from the financial advisors Sean Plunket has on his radio station. Since then several folks have asked me to clarify some points I made. What particularly doesn’t seem to compute (perhaps due to a lifetime of exposure to buzzwords from
Alexandra Allen-Franks Lecturer and Co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice, University of Auckland At first sight, the battle between a Manawatu fish-and-chip shop and a Louisiana-based chicken joint over the name “Popeye’s” reads like a classic David and Goliath battle. An international
In a key scene of Citizen Kane, Kane’s erstwhile guardian, banker Thatcher, warns the young man newly come into his inheritance, that his pet folly, the ailing New York Inquirer, is fast losing money. Kane agrees that it loses a million dollars a year: at the rate of a
Jon Miltimore Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at the Foundation for Economic Education. fee.org My family got a PlayStation 5 a few years ago. It’s a decision I sometimes regret because my youngest son, who is 7, likes to play it too much.
NZDSOS New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science nzdsos.com Once again we are being nudged, by means fair and foul, to be afraid, with a constant parade of ‘deadly’ viral diseases in the media, most recently those of measles and bird flu. The playbook is so similar to Covid,
Viv Forbes BScApp, FAusImm, FSIA. Viv Forbes is the Executive Director of the Saltbush Club and Founder of the Carbon Sense Coalition. He has no investments in or contracts with coal or cement companies. But he is a geologist and has studied the rocks of the Bowen Basin and parts
Francesco Biondi Associate Professor, Human Systems Labs, University of Windsor Tesla is yet again undergoing scrutiny from federal regulators in the United States. The issue at hand now is whether the automotive company did enough in response to the 2023 recalls by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Last week Sean Plunket had on his show a couple of self-styled “investment advisors”. Taking a look at their website, they appear to be life insurance salesmen who also peddle KiwiSaver (hardly Warren Buffett). Another red flag casting doubt upon their usefulness was some of the things they said to
These days it seems that you can’t go a week without having some Green MP go off the rails in one way or another. Case in point: Julie Anne Genter, Green MP and cycling advocate. A Wellington florist who claims to have been intimidated by Julie Anne Genter in
Toby Rogers Toby Rogers has a PhD in political economy from the University of Sydney in Australia and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focus is on regulatory capture and corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr Rogers does grassroots political organizing with
In an entry of his sadly discontinued Black Steam Train blog, Dallas Scott recounted the experience of appearing on SBS-TV alongside a panel of pale-faced ‘box ticker’ fauxborigines. I watched young, white identifiers roundly proclaim their connection to, and knowledge of, their ‘culture’, then turn around not five minutes later
Bryce Edwards Political Analyst in Residence, director of the Democracy Project, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington democracyproject.nz Many criticisms are being made of the government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has
Mark Rickerby Lecturer, School of Product Design, University of Canterbury The incident of a woman misidentified by facial recognition technology at a Rotorua supermarket should have come as no surprise. When Foodstuffs North Island announced its intention to trial this technology in February, as part of a strategy to combat
Bryce Edwards Political Analyst in Residence, Director of the Democracy Project, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington democracyproject.nz The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the
Francis L Collins Professor of Sociology, University of Auckland The New Zealand government claims its recently announced changes to visa rules will address exploitation and unsustainable migration. In reality, the new rules are likely to have the opposite effect. The exploitation of migrant workers has become a growing problem in
Jon Miltimore Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at the Foundation for Economic Education. fee.org The Biden administration recently rolled out new emissions regulations that the New York Times said will “transform the American automobile market.” In what the paper called “one of the most
