The Good Society is the home of my writing about how we can shape a better world together.
A detail from Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Renaissance fresco The Allegory of Good and Bad Government
The Spinoff: 12 graphs that show New Zealand isn’t doing as badly as you think
The prevailing mood of national gloom may not be justified.
The Post: Higher rates for the rich, and other ideas for local govt’s funding crisis
We should also stop building on greenfields to ease councils’ financial burden.
The Post: To overcome our divisions, we must first learn to see each other
Let’s create spaces where we can encounter each other across our differences.
The Spinoff: Labour’s next big task is finding its policy again
A rethink awaits if it is to produce the sweeping change it once promised but never delivered.
The Post: After the defeat a reckoning must follow
Labour must admit its mistakes, and explain how it’ll do better next time.
The Post: Action on water use is urgently needed, but what system is fairest?
Water charging may be philosophically objectionable, but it could slash water leaks and usage.
The Spinoff: Feeling fatigued and confused by this election? Here’s why
The concept of the “valence voter” may help explain one of this contest’s puzzling features.
The Spinoff: Did National really just simply sell off state houses?
The truth is more complex, though ultimately the party’s record is not good.
The Post: The election’s great beneficiary-vanishing act
The poorest are being ignored in favour of the “squeezed middle” this election.