As with so many ideas for government expansion into areas of the economy, the concept of universal preschool seems appealing. However, once you consider whether government should have a role educating children below school-age and think about the policy implications of it doing so, it immediately becomes clear that this idea fails every test. As […]
Global warming: a review and how to respond
People on both sides of the global warming debate often seem to talk at cross purposes and frequently in emotional tones. While climate science is incredibly complex, the policy implications seem to me to be relatively straightforward, yet get lost amongst the shrill clamor of the academics, politicians and media pundits. In this piece, I’ll […]
Keeping the wider family involved from a distance – how we use Skype
(Note that this post was subsequently turned into a Father’s Day blog post on the official Skype blog here.) Several friends with newborns and toddlers have commented on how they’ve tried and mostly failed at using Skype (or similar internet video services) to keep connected with family and friends. When we’ve discussed what they’ve tried, […]
New Zealand pays price for letting mateship die
From the pre-blog archives, I was reminded of the following article I wrote when a friend posted this article about New Zealand immigrants protesting in Australia. One person commented “Kiwi’s protesting because they can’t access welfare in another country. Sick.” In fact, these New Zealanders are complaining to the wrong government. The reason Australia restricted […]
Bringing home the baby – how we managed in those early days
I once wrote an email to my younger brother before he had his first kid. In it I told him some of the things we learned about caring for a baby and wished we’d been told beforehand. When friends and colleagues were expecting, I’d dig it up and forward it on with a comment such […]