There can be little doubt that New Zealand house prices, particularly in Auckland, have reached eye-watering heights. This week it was reported that capital valuations in Auckland have risen 33 percent over the past three years. Read more
International research shows the best education systems enable teachers to learn from each other about how to enhance student learning and lift achievement. No School is an Island is the story of a New Zealand model of this kind called Learning and Change Networks (LCN), where schools have banded together as networks to collaborate with each other. Read more
Wellington (21 October): The government must incorporate a rigorous evaluation framework into Investing in Education Success (IES) programme, to ensure that the $359 million is indeed a good investment, says The New Zealand Initiative. That is one of the recommendations from No School is an Island: Fostering Collaboration in a Competitive System, which analysed the performance of Learning Change Networks (LCN), a similar model to the IES where networks of schools voluntarily come together to share the best ways of lifting student achievement. Read more
A wise man once said “I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.” That wise man was Bob Dylan. And while I’m not sure Bob Dylan would identify himself as such, these sentiments reveal a key facet of classical liberal thought: Freedom and responsibility go hand-in-hand. Read more
There is a groundswell happening in New Zealand schools. All around the country, schools are connecting up with each other, and with parents, to learn about what works to engage children in learning and to lift achievement. Read more
Economist Jean Tirole’s Nobel win on Monday is now perhaps old news. Marginal Revolution and the National Business Review have covered the theoretical work in industrial organisation and game theory that won Tirole the prize. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, speaks on "non-ductile regulations and embedded fragility" Read more
Earthquakes are bad enough on their own but policy can always make them worse. Regulatory and planning policy in the lead-up to the February 2011 earthquake and in the subsequent response period led to needless deaths, too few options for those whose homes were damaged, a confusopoly in insurance, and an endlessly drawn out quest for the perfect downtown plan. Read more
Does a lower Kiwi dollar mean that foreigners will rush to buy up New Zealand’s 'cheap' assets? A recent article in The Herald raised this concern. Read more
Two countries, two successful internet entrepreneurs, two clashes with government. Last week we witnessed an epic Twitter battle between Trade Me founder Sam Morgan and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce over the usefulness of research grants. Read more
Recently, I sat beside a Green MP at an event who, much to my astonishment, scoffed when the presenter mentioned John Key’s indication of wanting to tackle poverty this term. If politicians, advocacy groups and commentators on the left want to work on solutions for poverty and inequality, the more extreme among them need to a) stop thinking the right would eat the poor if they could, and b) change up their stale narrative about how poverty came to be. Read more
Last week Tyler Cowen drew attention, in Marginal Revolution, to Vox blogger, Dylan Matthews', opinion that "New Zealand's parliament is better designed than just about any other developed country government". Aw shucks! Read more
Academic disciplines provide us with knowledge about the world. But perhaps more importantly, they give us tools to examine for ourselves how the world works. Read more
They say the grass is always greener on the other side; for New Zealanders looking to Australia, it often rings true. The sun seems to shine a bit brighter there, the pay packets are a bit fatter, and they have koalas. Read more
Elections are not just turbulent times for voters but for investors as well. Common wisdom has it that equity markets tend to lose some of their froth as the vote gets nearer, and perk up once the policy uncertainty dies down. Read more