Late last week the Government announced that they were running a public consultation on the emissions target for 2020. The Government already have a long term goal of reducing carbon emissions to 50% of 1990 levels by 2050. Long term goals tend to work quite well for Governments as it gives the public the idea […]
Public servants are always frantic at this time of the year. I hear you collectively asking why? It’s nearing 30 June, the end of the government’s financial year. As such the various departments/ministries/commissions are very *busy*, throwing money around like they were the leader of the free world. The perverse incentives on government officials to […]
Well folks, a new world record transfer deal has just occurred. Real Madrid under a new President, looking to reignite the spirit of the Galacticos, has shelled out over NZ$200 million for Cristiano Ronaldo, world player of the year in 2008. The previous world record transfer fee was incidentally set this week, with Kaka moving […]
Recently the New Zealand electricity sector has been taking a bit of a hammering. According to a Commerce Commission sanctioned report, consumers have been overcharged by $4.3b over a six year period (how’s that for a headline!). More specifically, the report concluded each of the four big generators – Meridian, Contact, Genesis and Mighty River […]
Recently Meridian established a new retailer in the electricity market, called Powershop. The marketing tells me that: Powershop is a revolution in the way you buy power. We’re the world’s first online energy store, a retail outlet where electricity suppliers compete for your custom. This brings you a whole new level of choice and control […]
In my horribly hungover state, the first thing I did when I got to work this morning was go looking for pain relief. Excellent, I thought, there is some Nurofen in the cupboard. My initial exuberance was soon allayed as I saw we only had Nurofen ‘Back Pain’ medication, not what I was after, while […]