Reports & Media

Zombies are hard to kill. Since the classical zombie only really occurs in fiction, accounts vary. Read more

People can argue the toss about whether the government should be more or less active in redistributing income but it’s good to have an accurate picture of how much the government already does to reduce inequalities in market income. It’s especially important when the government’s reviewing the tax system. Read more

In Greek mythology, the Cyclops were a race of giants, each with great power yet with only a single eye. According to legend, the Cyclops traded their second eye for the gift of prophecy. Read more

It was the year 2019 and Kiwis had had enough. It was time for legislation to finally protect the interests of those of us stuck in the car leasing market. Read more

New Zealanders have come to rely a great deal on government. The proportion of national income taken by taxes more than quadrupled in the 20th century and the number of Parliamentary Acts increased 50-fold. Read more

“Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck.” This is how the late Donald Horne once described the West Island in The Lucky Country (1964). Half a century later, Horne’s double characterisation of the country and its political leadership applies more than ever. Read more

The New Zealand Initiative's CEO Dr Oliver Hartwich introduces his fortnightly 'Spotlight on Europe' column for Newsroom Pro this week. He describes himself as both a Europhile and an EU sceptic, and explains why New Zealanders should care about the continent where the modern world is crumbling. Read more

Imagine a management consultancy asked for help with a large company’s performance. At the end the inquiry concludes the company does not measure whether its processes are efficient. Read more

Gluttony. The two weeks since Wellington on a Plate (WOAP) began have been glorious gluttony. Read more

Whoever added Whitney Houston to this government’s Spotify playlist has a lot to answer for. “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.” These are perfectly fine song lyrics. Read more

The Productivity Commission’s report on state sector productivity makes for dismal reading. We all could be enjoying either more of the benefits that government programmes can provide, or lower taxes, or a combination of the two if the state sector had a greater focus on productivity. Read more

There is a saying about the news media: "If it bleeds, it leads". Not to be crude, but the recent rise in coverage of period poverty is a classic example of such thinking. Read more

Housing Minister Phil Twyford’s address to Infrastructure New Zealand’s Building Nations Symposium last week made it very clear that the current governing coalition is very serious about fixing Auckland’s housing affordability crisis. But the conference also made a few other things clear. Read more

Switzerland, my home country, is often referred to as the poster child of localism. A substantial part of the political decision making, taxation and public spending is done on a sub central level. Read more