There’s a LOT of stuff going on in New Zealand at the moment as the new Govt takes control and is starting to / trying to (not sure which) roll back everything the previous Govt was doing. C’est la vie.

In parralel, the topic of efficiency seems to be on everyone’s lips - different learned people in different positions essentially reporting ‘findings’ .. new budgets in cities … and the eternal question of whether we are getting what we pay for.

Just one small example from Wayne Brown in Auckland … a speed bump in a road to slow traffic down costs multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’ll let that sink in.

I am far from qualified to comment much on this (other than that seems a lot to me), but Bernard Hickey definitely is - and if you want to read his excellent Substack around not just speed bumps - but all things political and fiscal in this fine country - look no further than 🔗 here.

Meanwhile - Aotearoa - don’t feel so bad - this 🔗 🎙️ podcast from Freakonomics relects on the US construction industry. Turns out it is the only industry that has not become more efficient over the past seventy years - because that is how it is designed!