Stolz und direkte Demokratie
Dr Oliver Hartwich and Simon Power are interviewed by the Swiss Weltwoche Magazine during The New Zealand Initiative's mission to Switzerland. Read more
1 June, 2017
Media release: New Zealanders inspired by Western Australian fisheries
Wellington (31 May 2017): Western Australia shows what is possible when competing fishing sectors collaborate in fisheries management, say delegates from across New Zealand’s fishing sectors. The New Zealand Initiative and the US-based Environmental Defense Fund last week led a group of New Zealanders involved in the recreational, commercial and customary fishing sectors to learn from Western Australia’s example. Read more
Dr Randall Bess
31 May, 2017
Steven Joyce's Budget falls short of what's required, but is vastly better than many other election-year budgets from the last two decades
Election year budgets are when politicians massage the voters with their own money. Massage can ready a ball player, ballerina or boxer for action, or induce blissful passivity. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson
29 May, 2017
NZ shows what you can do when you're running budget surpluses
Australia makes me happy. It gives me a sense of perspective. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
28 May, 2017
How freedom was lost in Brexit
When the UK voted to leave the European Union in last year’s referendum, it was widely interpreted as a victory of the political right. That was not incorrect. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich
26 May, 2017
Election year Budgets, illusions and conjuring tricks
On television early yesterday evening I saw a well-known presenter give Budget 2017 an 8 out of 10 for massaging the electorate. A subtitle read “something for everyone”. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson
26 May, 2017
Look up!
While Budget days bring focus to the Government’s spending priorities, there is no budget day for regulation. Regulation never gets the same attention as spending, but it is at least as important. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
26 May, 2017
A Budget Day Conspiracy
I thought the point of the Budget lock-up was to give everyone adequate time to process and digest complex information, and ensure no media organisation had an exclusive. Now I’m not so sure. Read more
26 May, 2017
Why the budget must include a tax cut – and fiscal discipline to go with it
There are a lot of dumb cases for tax cuts. I’ll try not to make one of those here, but let’s cover those dumb ones off first Today’s dumb case for tax cuts was once a smart case for them – in the 1970s. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
25 May, 2017
Tax system is heavily reliant on high earners
A good mythbusting takes on the things we know that aren't so. There's plenty of popular misperception out there in need of it. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
24 May, 2017
Data can tell us when 'social investment' is worthwhile
Cold hard data will not put breakfast on the table. It will not be a source of comfort and advice when there is no one else to talk to. Read more
23 May, 2017
Horses for courses
When economist Paul Samuelson was challenged to come up with an economic principle that was both true and non-obvious, he cited comparative advantage. That two people, or countries, can be made better off by trading, even if one of them is better at producing everything that they might trade, is hardly intuitive. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
19 May, 2017
Asset sales and fiscal trevails
Infrastructure financing can be tough for fast-growing councils hitting up against their debt limits. When interest payments, as a fraction of expenditures, are up against the cap, new borrowing for infrastructure has to quickly provide a return that offsets the interest costs. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
19 May, 2017
Show me the evidence
The football season has begun. Not the FIFA cup, but the political football that is education. Read more
19 May, 2017
Beating a dead gift horse
You should never look a gift horse in the mouth. Nor should you publicly bag the gift horse and accuse it of causing misery across the country. Read more
Dr Rachel Hodder
19 May, 2017