The Supreme Court has granted the IHC leave to appeal a controversial court ruling requiring staff to be paid the minimum wage for sleepover shifts.

Paul Krugman identified the post-1980s as resembling the "gilded age" of the 1920s - one characterised by a high and rising concentration of income in the hands of a narrow elite.

A Herald on Sunday investigation finds price rises of many basic items have gone through the roof.

School support staff are attending union meetings over the next two weeks to vote on a new work deal, including a pay rise.

Paying overnight staff to sleep will cost more than $500 million over three years and changing the law may be considered, Health Minister Tony Ryall says.