Afternoon roundup

So many browser tabs before the rebooting can happen...

• In praise of the Auditor-General
• Economists flocking to Silicon Valley
• NZTA runs ads supporting local government candidates who support NZTA cycleways. It's win-win. But probably not win-win-win.
• The Character Protection Racket. See also: Mt Vic, Wellington. 
• Fuelling the Energy Transition - a report from Energy Resources Aotearoa, which includes some neat case studies on marginal abatement costs and carbon prices driving uptake of lower-carbon tech.
• Globalisation and regional energy markets
• Pattrick Smellie on the polytech reforms
• What AirNZ status do you have to hit to make sure that you don't get seated next to the violent Mongrel Mob guy with Nazi tattoos on his face who's shirtless because they asked him to take off his Mongrel Mob jacket and he wasn't wearing anything under it?