COMMENT: Jacinda Ardern may be winning on personality so far but she needs to win on more.

Bryan Gould cites the Bank of England to support his account of money creation.

PM will need real political courage to take on banks, but it must be done.

COMMENT: The epithets "fascist" and "Nazi" are, in some quarters, tossed about so casually as to have lost most of their meaning.

COMMENT: As he prepared to take over from John Key as Prime Minister, Bill English made a candid - and disarming - admission.

COMMENT: The Opposition, and the Labour Party in particular, always underestimated John Key.

COMMENT: It is a decision for the American voter alone but it matters to all of us. We need to get it right.

COMMENT: I can, on the basis of long experience, offer a tip that might help Max Key in his search for what it means to be a "real" man.

COMMENT: We would be foolish to assume NZ is immune from the syndrome where television "stars" use relentless self-promotion to seek elected office.

COMMENT: The media, which did such a good job in bringing an important story to public attention, cannot duck out now.

The American presidential election has been dominated over recent days by speculation about the mental fitness of the two main candidates.

COMMENT: Where Britain now goes, others will follow. For all those who want to see a better European future, that is an enticing prospect.

The outlook is bleak. The problem may be clear, but there is no one ready to step forward with a solution, writes Bryan Gould.

COMMENT: The two major parties agree the homelessness and unaffordability crisis has arisen because the market has not been allowed to function properly.

COMMENT: The problem of families with children forced to live in third-world conditions is eminently resolvable, writes Bryan Gould.

COMMENT: It is surely obvious that the lineout drive is increasingly at odds with the kind of contest that the game is intended to promote, writes Bryan Gould.

COMMENT: It is amazing how often a Prime Minister who totally dominates his government seems to have been left out of the loop when crucial issues are decided, writes Bryan Gould.

COMMENT: Tweaking interest rates or imposing a low rate of land tax to cool the housing market is likely to be ineffective, writes Bryan Gould.

COMMENT: Unless we make it clear that we are not prepared to accept this erosion of our reputation for probity, the bad news will keep on coming, writes Bryan Gould.

COMMENT: The purpose of democracy is not to win the propaganda battle but to elect a government that is accountable to the whole community - not just a few with money to spend, writes Bryan Gould.

COMMENT: Without realising it, we are becoming just like other countries where it is accepted that government serves the interests of the rich, writes Bryan Gould.

Our failure to pay women at the same rate as we pay men is nevertheless an expression of a deeply entrenched attitude in our society, Bryan Gould writes.

Our society will be stronger and healthier, if we see more of that community spirit expressed and applied in other parts of our national life as well, writes Bryan Gould.

The case for sparing the taxpayer the cost of tertiary education by applying a "user pays" principle looks pretty shaky when the user and the taxpayer are the same people, writes Bryan Gould.

The TPP is not just a run-of-the-mill trade agreement but a major concession of the powers of self-government to large, international (mainly US) corporations, writes Bryan Gould.

In 1995, a year after my return to New Zealand to take up the Vice-Chancellorship of Waikato University, I was invited to lead a delegation to visit universities in China - the first such invitation....

COMMENT: John Key is adept at staying closely in touch with public opinion. It is one of his great political strengths - and weaknesses, writes Bryan Gould.