The Entrepreneurial State: A book review Mariana Mazzucato is a UK economist who has worked at Demos, the UK thinktank and is a professor at the University of Sussex. Her latest book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking public vs private sector myths is written from the viewpoint that the state is the major, but often invisible, […]
The Social Contract
The Social Contract is an old philosophical idea that people consent to be governed.
Effectively this means that people give up some freedoms but benefit from the fairness and order provided by the government. Implicit in the idea is that people have the maximum freedoms consistent with the Social Contract. However there are limits to the powers of government. This is the case especially for democratic governments which are made up of our elected representatives who make decisions on our behalf.
Valuing the Commons – What we don’t own but need
Often it’s hard to acknowledge the value of the things that we do not pay for directly like clean air, water,public spaces and public assets like libraries and recreation opportunities. The Idea of the Commons… This comes historically comes from small farmers sharing grazing land with rules to ensure it is not over-exploited. Valuing the […]
National’s proposed public spending to GDP ratio – the election’s clear blue line
The real story of the coming election in neither corruption nor perceptions of corruption but rather what was revealed in Bill English’s reported pre-budget speech to the National Party’s Southern Region conference at the weekend. He signalled an intention to reduce the proportion of government spending to 26% of GDP over the next 6 to […]
Democracy, Ethics and the Public Good
CONFERENCE Friday 1 August 2014 6.30 registration for 7,00–9pm Saturday 2 August 8.30 registration for 9:00am–4.30pm St Andrew’s on The Terrace, Wellington
Historic Places Trust changes demonstrate the devaluing of public institutions.
On Friday NZ Historic Places Trust members received a letter telling them that NZHPT is to be renamed Heritage New Zealand from Monday April 14 even before the legislation which authorises the name change passes through Parliament. This represents appallingly poor process. The Bill has progressed extremely slowly since it was introduced to Parliament 2 […]
Protecting and extending democratic rights
Do we need a conversation about the quality of democracy in New Zealand? Here are a few thoughts about what New Zealand needs to do improve its democratic arrangements. We think that democracy is about more than ensuring that our electoral system can add us to the voter register and count our votes accurately. Can […]
Corporate style boards in public institutions have passed their sell by date
Corporate style boards in public institutions have passed their sell by date Jan Rivers, Convenor of public good (publicgood.org.nz), today asked for documents under the Official Information Act so that public good could make public the evidence that the Minister for Tertiary Education, Steven Joyce, used to help him decide that university and wananga boards […]
Press Release: Wanted – A Public Service Users Bill for New Zealand.
Public Good calls on New Zealand’s political parties to consider the development of a Public Service Users Bill to provide for improved and more democratic management of New Zealand’s public sector. The recent referendum on asset sales demonstrated that fully two thirds of New Zealanders believe that the energy companies and our national airline should […]
The Entrepreneurial State: the hidden engine of Economic Development?
A review of Mariana Mazzucato’s recent book Is the entrepreneurial state the hidden engine of Economic Development? Yes! Mariana Mazzucato is a UK economist who has worked at Demos, the UK Think Tank and is an economics professor at the University of Sussex. Her latest book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking public vs private sector myths […]
Nurturing a democratic imagination
Children and the Environment: Nurturing a democratic imagination Bronwyn Hayward 2012 Are there better kinds of democracy and do we need to do something different to face the challenges ahead? Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian Prime Minister said – following the appalling shootings on Utøya Island in 2011 – “We will stand by our democracy. The answer […]
Privatisations and the Public Finance Act
Does the partial sale of Meridian Energy comply with the government’s fiscal principles, as laid down in the Public Finance Act? Now that the number of investors in Meridian Energy has been revealed at a disappointing 62,000 and the share price at launch has been set at the lowest end of the proposed value it […]
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