Neatly sidestepping spoilers, Briar Lawry of Little Unity reviews Pip Adam’s new and widely lauded novel, Nothing to See. “How do you even review a Pip Adam book?” a colleague asked. “She’s too nice!” “She is,” I agreed, “but luckily her books are always brilliant.” In all honesty, I said this having barely started Nothing … Read more
In our new series The Lockdown Letters, some of New Zealand’s best writers tell us what they’ve been up to in the days of Covid-19 alert level four. Today, political commentator and essayist Morgan Godfery. IS IT DAY EIGHT? In the absence of a capitalist routine, one day bleeds into the other. In the before times … Read more
A recent suggestion that capitalism was the only system capable of fighting climate change and environmental degradation sparked a lot of controversy. Here, long-time activist Karen Davis offers a rebuttal. There’s a tendency among beneficiaries of free market capitalism to repeat the mantra of Margaret Thatcher: There Is No Alternative. That’s especially the case when … Read more
Given the escalating climate crisis and other looming environmental issues, has capitalism proven antithetical to the survival of the planet? Opportunities Party leader Geoff Simmons says no. There is no doubt: we need to change the way we live to save the environment. And we need to save the environment to have a chance of … Read more
The man who led the All Blacks to victory in the first World Cup went on to become a Rhodes scholar, political operator and business leader. Today he’s worried about tribalism and the Trumpian tendency to vilification. He sits down with Spinoff business editor Maria Slade in Sydney. Rugby legend, Rhodes scholar, business leader and … Read more
In the final of our series on the loss of faith in free market economics we ask New Zealand business leaders how they’re grappling with the almighty power of a technology that barely existed 20 years ago. Hands up who’s read the Financial Markets Authority’s website. Come on, be honest. No, of course you haven’t. … Read more
Last week we asked New Zealand CEOs whether greed is still good. In the second part of our series on the ethics of NZ businesses, we put them on the spot over whether short term profits trump long term environmental impacts. “If I had a choice I would much prefer not to sell fossil fuels … Read more
Do New Zealand firms still think greed is good – or are the days of unfettered pursuit of profits over? In a three-part series we get business bosses to front up over capitalism’s fault lines. Rob Everett knew he was setting the cat among the pigeons. No, he hadn’t “gone communist”, the Financial Markets Authority … Read more
The 700-page Thomas Piketty economic treatise Capital in the 21st Century was a surprise blockbuster five years ago. Now it’s been made into a documentary film, directed and produced by New Zealanders. The message is out there, Danyl Mclauchlan writes – but are enough people listening? Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century enjoyed about … Read more
Before Fortnite, there was Runescape. And well before Runescape, there was an eternal class struggle. Emilie Rākete writes about the moment the two collided in the most unexpected way. RuneScape was once declared the world’s largest multiplayer online game. Millions of people were entranced by its blocky graphics and repetitive gameplay. Like many young people in the early … Read more
Danyl Mclauchlan stares into the abyss that is Google and wonders if we are about to experience the birth of a new, even more terrifying capitalism. I feel it most when I’m at the supermarket. I’m standing there looking at jellymeat but at the same time, I’m aware of being embedded in a web of … Read more
The key to better jobs, more money and a successful economy for all New Zealanders? Investors need to quit thinking like shareholders and start thinking like stakeholders, says Simplicity’s Sam Stubbs. Let me start by declaring my bias here. I’m a capitalist. I believe that competition and markets are the best way to maximise wealth … Read more