“I know an old lady who swallowed a fly” is a nonsensical story that has delighted children for decades. Its tale of an old woman, who swallowed increasingly large animals, each to catch the previous one, is as humorous as it is absurd. Read more

If monetary policy is the Reserve Bank’s smash hit, its prudential regulation of financial markets is its B-side track. Yet the bank’s role as prudential regulator deserves scrutiny. Read more

Sunday's "Save our charter schools march" was a moving experience. It wasn't just the hundreds of people who turned up in torrential rain to protest. Read more

I am delighted for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. There is surely no more enriching experience than parenthood. Read more

If this sounds like the beginning of a joke, that is because it is. Only it is not a very good one. Read more

During the election campaign, newly sworn-in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern named climate change as the challenge of her generation. If it is, lifting labour productivity is a close second. Read more

For those of us who think elections should be about policies and not about politics, MMP presents a special kind of purgatory. It is one day short of a fortnight since the election but are we any closer to knowing the result? Read more

Once it was a colour combination frowned upon in the world of fashion (or so I am told). But apparently haute couture has moved on. Read more

To get the right answers you have to ask the right questions. If you do not, chances are you will not discover everything you need to know. Read more

Two proposed taxes - on petrol and water - in her first week could have voters believing the new Leader of the Opposition has something against fluids. Any such fears, though, should have been relieved when Jacinda Ardern sent a tweet last week showing the contents of her liquor cabinet rival Winston Peters’. Read more

In ancient Greek, a dogma was something that simply seemed to be true. Today, of course, it has a more absolute meaning. Read more

We all know two wrongs don’t make a right. But nor does getting something only half right. Read more

Some things just sound odd when delivered with an accent. Imagine a French exposition on the virtues of Marlborough sauvignon blanc or an Australian singing the praises of New Zealand’s weather. Read more

The past few months have seen a series of tweaks to New Zealand’s immigration settings. While criticised by opposition parties as election year tinkering, the changes have introduced greater flexibility for entry by highly skilled migrants. Read more