Capture the Moment!

Stats NZ has delivered a run of unexpectedly positive data across housing, exports and retail, a sign the economy may finally be stabilising after two years of strain. New home consents rose 6.2 percent in the year to October, driven almost entirely by townhouses, flats and apartments. Higher-density homes accounted for nearly 18,000 consents, with Auckland producing half the national lift. **October alone saw a 23.5 percent jump in consents…

Not too long ago, the Peugeot 103 was ruling the streets of France. These were "pedal-and-pop" bikes, meaning they required the rider to pedal them for the two-stroke 50cc engine to kick in. And you didn’t even need a license – since they were limited to around 28 mph (45 km/h) – so they were all the rage back then. Now, after five decades, Peugeot has revived the nameplate as an electric moped. And unlike most revivals, the 103 still retains…

The RMA is important. It is New Zealand's biggest regulatory tax and the most significant handbrake on our country's economic prosperity and living standards. Yesterday 100 journalists and analysts worked through the Government’s just-released replacement to the RMA. Planning law is inherently difficult, detailed, and technical. Having only had the material for a few hours, we don’t pretend to have our head around all the detail – but I…

The government has formally rejected every recommendation from the Climate Change Commission to toughen New Zealand’s long-term emissions targets. Climate Minister Simon Watts confirmed the decision, despite the Commission warning climate impacts are arriving “sooner and more severely than expected” and that New Zealand “can and should be doing more.” The coalition had already signalled it would soften the methane target. The government has…

There is something undemocratic in a society of machines. Men receive more or less power, honor, and esteem because of their capacity to purchase the use of certain devices—not because of who they are. The capacity to “go camping” proves to a man and his fellows that his access to this or that machine is not a cheat or a fraud, but an aid and assistance to an underlying skill that he really does have. In the midst of untold luxuries, families…