Prime Minister’s 2020 Summer Reading List
Welcome to our annual recommended summer reading list for the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Thinking about New Zealand’s long-term future is the overarching purpose of the Institute. It is with this in mind that we have identified the following observations from 2020 that will shape our recommended reading list and our work programme for...
Prime Minister’s 2020 Summer Reading List
Welcome to our annual recommended summer reading list for the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Our starting point is what insights the Prime Minister might need in 2020. Before moving to the books, it is worth reflecting on the year of 2020 and, in particular, spending a moment to answer the question: what were the...
Philip Joseph’s ‘Constitutional and Administrative Law in New Zealand’, 4th Edition is now available
On Thursday I was fortunate to attend the launch of the new edition of Prof. Philip Joseph’s indispensable book, Constitutional and Administrative Law in New Zealand. The book is now in its fourth edition and the launch provided an excellent opportunity to hear about how the book has developed; a great reminder that law is...
Prime Minister’s 2020 Summer Reading List
Each Christmas we provide the Prime Minister with some great holiday reading, sending him a selection of books that we have found particularly insightful over the course of the year. Our selection this year includes: A Quarter Century in the Natural Sciences by Dr Warren Weaver (from The Rockefeller Foundation Annual Report 2020) I came across this...
Book Review: Breaking New Ground by Lester R. Brown
Breaking New Ground is a remarkable book that provides insight into the life of Lester Brown, an influential thinker who is regarded as a pioneer of the global environmental movement. Lester is founder of the Earth Policy and Worldwatch institutes and he has received numerous accolades, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the UN Environment Prize....
Prof Shaun Hendy launches ‘Get Off the Grass’
Last night we went along to the launch of ’Get Off the Grass’, a new book by Professor Shaun Hendy and the late Sir Paul Callaghan, which builds on the work of Paul’s 2020 book ‘Wool to Weta’. ‘Get Off the Grass’ investigates why New Zealanders work harder and earn less than most other people in the developed...
Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments
Today Bridget Williams Books (BWB) launched the new BWB Text series of short digital books bringing together the best of the past, present and future of thought in New Zealand. The first of the series to be released is Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments: Selected writing and speeches by Paul Callaghan. This book is filled with...
Book Review: Quiet
Closeted introverts rejoice! Susan Cain’s Quiet draws some needed attention to the extroversion ideal we find in today’s society. When over a third of people are introverts, including notables such as Steve Jobs and Rosa Parks, why are we writing off an entire personality type? It seems that we’re happy to celebrate the extremely talented tech-wizards, who...
Book Review: Antifragile
Antifragile author Nassim Nicholas Taleb (image sourced from The Sunday Times) Have you found the book Antifragile yet? It’s worthwhile tracking one down even if it’s simply to read the prologue. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (the author) previously wrote The Black Swan. He is trying to understand how to best position oneself, an organisation (or even a...
Prime Minister’s 2020 Summer Reading List
We have really enjoyed the annual Summer Reading List for the Prime Minister released by Australian think tank, the Grattan Institute – so much so that we have decided to emulate their model across the ditch. We have designed this list to capture key issues that we think will be important for New Zealand in...
Book Review: Thinking Fast and Slow
If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 parts, how many minutes does it take 100 machines to make 100 parts? For most of us, the instinctual response to this question is ‘100 minutes’ – but our instincts are wrong. The answer is actually 5 minutes. This problem demonstrates the two systems of...
Book Review: Where Good Ideas Come From
In Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From, he argues that open platforms, collaboration and experimentation are more facilitative to innovation than market forces and competition. The book has a sizable appendix which presents a fascinating chronology of innovation from 2020 to 2020. Johnson groups these innovations into four categories, or quadrants, divided along two axes:...
![20160906 McGuinness Institute - TacklingPovertyNZ Workshop – Far North Flyer [FINAL]](/wp-content/uploads/20160906-McGuinness-Institute-TacklingPovertyNZ-Workshop-%E2%80%93-Far-North-Flyer-FINAL-1-50x50.png)