Reports & Media

It was Thomas Jefferson who once said that "those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one”. In today’s euro crisis, this quote needs to be modified: Those who desire to give up democracy in order to gain economic stability may also end up empty-handed. Read more

Having security in one’s person and property is fundamental to human dignity and civilised society. The instruction “Keep your hands to yourself” and the commandment “Thou shalt not steal or trespass” encapsulate this wisdom. Read more

As the asset sale debate goes round and round in circles, one really has to ask: Why is the government not prosecuting a clear and cogent social case for asset sales, and instead focussing on narrow fiscal effects? A glance at past privatisations demonstrates a greater awareness of the costs, rewards and reasons for doing so. Read more

Saving the euro from collapse must be a fulltime job for economists working at the European Central Bank (ECB) and its national member banks. At least so I thought. Read more

After last week’s decisive EU summit (the 20th of its kind), and after the German parliament’s support for the latest bailout plans, the euro is saved! Again. Read more

As he announced a further slowdown of New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme, the Minister of Trade and International Climate Change Negotiations, Tim Groser, said the government “has opted not to pile further costs onto households and the productive sector”. The contrast with the Gillard government could not be clearer. Read more

Read more

One day I will write a book about countries and their irrational fears. The English are convinced they are running out of land – when less than 10 per cent of the country is developed. Read more

My two-day visit to Auckland and Wellington revealed that New Zealanders are conflicted as much, if not more than Australians, about the threats and opportunities of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI). There are reasons to be wary, but the vast majority of Chinese FDI applications in New Zealand should be welcomed rather than shunned. Read more

Graeme Wheeler was recently appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand starting September 2012 for a five-year term. In the lead up to the appointment, the usual debates over the role of the central bank have resurfaced. Read more

Opponents of the concept of publishing school league tables advised this week that parents would be confused and misled by such information. Instead, they expect parents to study ERO reports, search school websites, browse through newsletters, interview teachers, and generally undertake their own due diligence to find out whether schools are turning out “kids who have taken control of their own learning” rather than just focusing on “readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmetic”, as one school principal put it. Read more

This week, the New Economic Foundation (NEF) released its third Happy Planet Index (HPI). New Zealand scored 51.6 and is ranked 28th out of 151 countries. Read more

For a committed market liberal it was a strange experience. There I was hoping for an election victory of the radical Syriza party in Greece’s general election. Read more