Around the world, leftist intellectuals have used Sweden as a poster child for the idea that socialism can simultaneously lead to prosperity and equality. Proponents of free enterprise usually don’t know how to respond to such statements. Read more
Celebrating what New Zealand is good at seems a natural choice to me. And New Zealand’s simple approach to governance is often a critical component. Read more
Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you very much for the invitation to speak to you today. It’s a great pleasure to be here and present you with “A Global View of New Zealand’s Economy”. Read more
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union’s ‘jobs crisis’ summit in Auckland will be over in an hour or so after you receive this edition of Insights. The secretary of the EPMU, Bill Newson, claimed before the summit that the decline of manufacturing reflects 30 years of ‘hands-off’ economic management. Read more
Education is valuable and having one should improve your life prospects. But does a generic bachelor’s degree guarantee its owner influence, riches and success? Read more
This week’s report by UNICEF highlighted slow internet speeds as the biggest first world problem for around 80% of New Zealanders. Current infrastructure is struggling to meet the daily demands of consumers, causing network congestion. Read more
To international observers, Der Spiegel’s current cover must look rather odd. "Attention! Read more
The productivity commissions in New Zealand and Australia recently completed a joint study to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Closer Economic Relations (CER) and examine ways to further strengthen economic ties between the two countries. This was a welcome development, as there is a feeling that CER has stalled over the past couple of decades, particularly in capital flows and mutual recognition of franking and imputationcredits. Read more
Police statistics released this week show crime rates dropping to their lowest since 1988–89. Recorded offences dropped to 394,522 in 2011–12, down by 21,802 or 5.2% from 2010–11. Read more
A disclosure: I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. Indeed, I abhor the smell of tobacco and pestered my parents into giving up smoking when I was child. Read more
All of Europe is an economic disaster zone. All of Europe? Read more
A record 53,900 kiwis chose it as their home last year, its wages are a third higher and its resources boom is the envy of the world. Australia truly seems like the lucky country. Read more
The new governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Graeme Wheeler, just signed a slightly revised policy target agreement with a greater focus on financial stability, but for some this is not going far enough. A curious coalition of exporters, newspaper commentators, Labour, the Green Party, and New Zealand First wants the RBNZ to relinquish its traditional focus on inflation. Read more
Australia’s economic prosperity has been luring Kiwis across the ditch for years. After a talk this week at The New Zealand Initiative by The Australian newspaper’s economic correspondent, Adam Creighton, it is beginning to become clear why. Read more
This past week there has been much speculation about the Lobbying Disclosure Bill put forward by Green MP Holly Walker. The bill has come under criticism for being poorly drafted and far too broad in scope. Read more