Political leaders from the main parties gathered in Auckland today to address the business community and answer the question: ‘What is your party’s plan for economic growth?’ Here’s what they had to say. As the leaders of five main parties gathered today, the results of a Deloitte and Chapman Tripp election survey revealed some telling … Read more
Futurist and evolutionary biologist Robert Hickson (Science Media Centre) on the known and as-yet-unknown aspects of the virus. What we know 1. We know where the virus ultimately came from We know that the virus originally came from bats, and most probably a species of horseshoe bat in South East Asia. However, the spike protein … Read more
We’ve long lamented the loss of New Zealand’s best and brightest. Now that the ‘brain drain’ has the potential to be reversed, let’s not squander the opportunity, writes Toni Truslove. When Robert Muldoon famously quipped to a journalist that New Zealanders who migrated to Australia “raised the IQ of both countries”, his response diminished the … Read more
A small proportion of Covid-19 patients continue experiencing symptoms long after they test negative. Freya Sawbridge, one such ‘Covid long hauler’, describes what it’s like. Four months have passed and I’m onto my fifth relapse. The room is eerily still yet my mind spins like the stripes of a barber’s pole. My brain pulsates and … Read more
Our Covid-19 outlook is still one of the most positive in the world. But with new cases emerging in recent weeks, our optimism levels have taken a hit. Jacinda Ardern yesterday delivered a speech announcing the “next steps” for New Zealand’s Covid-19 response, and what will happen in the event of a community case being … Read more
This month, Kiwibank reset its variable interest rates by 1%, from 4.40 to 3.40%. Kiwibank’s general manager of business banking Nigel Gaudin tells The Spinoff why this is a big deal for local businesses. Okay, what is a variable interest rate? And what have you done to it? A variable interest rate, sometimes called a … Read more
The government says it’s providing an essential service as the country emerges from Covid-19; the opposition says it’s election propaganda in disguise. Which side is right about Unite for the Recovery? Being the opposition to a first-term New Zealand government simply isn’t fair. Voters historically appear minded to give whoever is in charge the benefit … Read more
The tech sector is well-placed to lead New Zealand’s recovery from Covid-19. Deep tech provides a chance for that recovery to be sustainable and values-led – an approach already bringing success to the Māori economy. Aotearoa is currently a pretty good place to be, if you can get here. The $50bn of pandemic-related borrowing is … Read more