Last week might not have seemed the best time for a 25 per cent increase in Canada’s carbon tax. Fuel prices there, like here, have been increasing. Read more
Oliver Hartwich joins Ben Craven on the podcast to reflect on ten years of The New Zealand Initiative. The pair discuss the highlights over the years, the Initiative’s influence on policy debates, and share with listeners a few hard-case stories along the way. Read more
Ten years ago, I had the privilege of launching The New Zealand Initiative. I believed then and believe more firmly now that New Zealand needs institutions independent of government and the public purse to broaden and deepen our intellectual life. Read more
It’s hard to have a reasonable debate today. So, hats off to the Initiative team on your 10th birthday for always being up for a fight. Read more
Who would start a serious think tank on April Fools’ Day? Presumably someone with a good sense of humour. Read more
A funny thing happened on the way to Wellington’s draft Economic Wellbeing Strategy. It’s a tale as old as time. Read more
There is potential value in having a country’s economic policies reviewed by international organisations. Done well, they provide residents with non-partisan expert perspectives. Read more
Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking summarises the findings of our latest cost-of-living research, The rising cost of living for Kiwis.
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In rugby, injuries are all too common. Yet we can be certain that 15 players will start for the All Blacks in their next test. Read more
“Because there is no time for thinking and no rest in thinking, we no longer weigh divergent views; we’re content to hate them.” Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that back in 1878, but he could easily have been describing the early 2020s. Perhaps it was ever thus, but I can’t help feeling the problem Nietzsche was describing has recently got a lot worse. Read more
Kiwi households are paying more than $3,000 extra on essentials than they were 12 months ago, and policies implemented by the Government and Reserve Bank are contributing to the problem. Matt Burgess talks to Oliver Hartwich about his latest research note. Read more
As the saying goes, everything in fashion eventually returns. And so it seems in the economy. Read more
Earlier this week, Climate Change Minister James Shaw was interviewed by Andrew Dickens on Newstalk ZB about our latest research, Pretence of Necessity: Why further climate change action isn’t needed and won’t help. The Minister made some dubious claims during his interview. Read more
Wellington (Thursday, 24 March 2022) – Kiwis households are paying more than $3,000 extra on essentials than they were 12 months ago, and policies implemented by the Government and Reserve Bank are contributing to the problem, according to new research from The New Zealand Initiative. The rising cost of living for Kiwis, shows New Zealand has the second-highest inflation rate among our major trading partners, besides the USA, and this is plausibly the result of excessive government stimulus. Read more