Simon Cunliffe

On  Thursday, April 13, 1977 - a month over 31 years ago - I flew Thai Airways from Bangkok to Rangoon.

The weeping and wailing is deafening. And the self-flagellation - it's worse than a plenary session on pain at a sado-masochists' convention: we're headed down the tubes. The world economy is coming to get us and there's no way out.

Faced with the thronging multitude of the great and the good rolling up to map out Australia's future over canapés and bubbly, it is easy to be cynical - and, no worries there, plenty of people have already obliged.

On Good Friday in 1300, Dante Alighieri set out with his travelling companion, the Roman poet Virgil, to navigate the nine circles of Hell.

True to form it was windy in Wellington, but it was also a breath of fresh air. The city was absolutely Absolutely positively.

Controversial expatriate multimillionaire Owen Glenn had plans to host and finance international sporting events and trade promotions were he to have become New Zealand's honorary consul in Monaco.

Historical footnote No. 3579, 27 February 2018: Owen Glenn