Gordon Campbell on the “ Where’s Winston?” question
Deputy PM Winston Peters has kept a low profile over the last month or so, partly because he belongs in the category of people most […]
April 2020
Gordon Campbell on living at Level Three with residual anxiety
Two weeks. That’s roughly the length of time the government has given itself between moving to Level Three, and making a decision on May 11 […]
Gordon Campbell on why governments are in effect, printing cash to defeat Covid-19
Part of the psychology of moving to Level Three is the sense of people heading back to work – at least 400,000 more of them […]
Gordon Campbell on living with the extension, and with Edward Hopper
In the end, it was obvious that the lockdown had to be extended. According to epidemiologist Ayesha Verrall, our tracing systems are still struggling to […]
Gordon Campbell on why we should extend the lockdown
As Bloomberg says, impatience can be contagious. The kids in the back seat during the lockdown – Mike Hosking, Barry Soper, David Seymour etc – […]
Gordon Campbell on the search for Covid-19 vaccines, and our media woes
The government always ran the risk that if its lockdown succeeded in saving lives, it would be open to the criticism that it cried wolf. […]
Gordon Campbell on why we shouldn’t be trying to emulate Australia
On today’s Coronocast podcast on the ABC state broadcasting network in Australia, New Zealand’s policy of going out hard early with a stringent economic shutdown […]
Gordon Campbell on the argument over whether lives or livelihoods are more important
It is hardly business as usual, but this week is shaping up to be all about business and its needs, how the economy will emerge […]
Gordon Campbell on the changes that Covid-19 is causing, plus a Spotify playlist for y’all
Will life (and the economy) ever be the same again after the Covid-19 crisis is over? Obviously not, even leaving aside the impact on people […]
Gordon Campbell on the rationing of PPE gear, masks and everything else
From the outset, the perceived need to ration our scarce resources seems to have driven the response to Covid-19. Rationing still appears to be limiting […]
Gordon Campbell on the ethics (and some of the economics) of lifting the lockdown
As New Zealand passes the half-way mark towards moving out of Level Four lockdown, the trade-offs involved in life-after-lockdown are starting to come into view. […]
Gordon Campbell on the lockdown, masks and aerosol transmission
I ronically, our relative success in suppressing the exponential spread of Covid-19 is only increasing the pressure to ease back from those measures, on a […]
Gordon Campbell on wage cuts, and the Listener’s demise
Various levels of across the board wage cuts – 10%? 15% ?- are being mooted for workers in some of our larger firms, in order […]
Gordon Campbell on the changes hitting the economy, work, and the benefit system
The economy may be falling like a rock but it hasn’t hit the bottom of the well yet, here or anywhere else. Time is so […]
Gordon Campbell on buying ventilators, and expanding the testing for Covid-19
Before getting into recent developments….. who knew that Covid-19 was so powerful it could make NZ parliamentarians act like adults, and make them pose intelligent […]