Does a country of 4.4m really need 28 ministers - 20 in Cabinet and eight outside?

Now the dust has settled on 'Double-Downgrade Day', it's worth looking at what it all means.

Bernard Hickey with ten questions about the European debt mess and what it might mean for New Zealand.

An educated public, knowledgeable of what the issues are and requiring of change, is a prerequisite for any political commitment emerging.

Why yank the reins on a poor old horse that isn't moving?

Reviving Christchurch is a job for Government, not Alan Bollard.

Foreign investors boosted their share of government debt on issue last month to just shy of $28b, as the Crown borrows $300m a week to maintain its spending programme.

Equities in Europe and on Wall Street rallied after Portugal's successful bond sale eased concerns about the euro-zone's debt crisis.

South Africa's experience points the way...

If the good news is that the Reserve Bank expects rates to be lower for longer, the bad news is why it thinks that.