The last human prime minister
A calendar app on Jacinda Ardern’s monitor shows the year is 2023. Outside is cold and threatening rain. Read more
16 October, 2020
Podcast #30: Briar Lipson responds to criticism about her education report
In this week’s New Zealand Initiative podcast Briar Lipson responds to criticism and praise for her report about education. The responses were as varied as the groups speaking out. Read more
Briar Lipson
16 October, 2020
Effective duty
People are more careful when spending their own money than when spending on behalf of others. This truism is especially relevant in election years, but it applies more broadly. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
16 October, 2020
The (education) Empire strikes back
Last week the Initiative took aim at those presiding over the country’s education system. For nearly two decades Kiwi students have suffered a steady decline in performance. Read more
Roger Partridge
16 October, 2020
Calm in a crisis won't be enough for a second-term Ardern
New Zealanders will elect a new Parliament on Saturday, but the election result is a foregone conclusion. Unless all pollsters have been consistently wrong for the past months, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern can prepare for a second term in office. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich
15 October, 2020
Labour and National too economically cautious amid strong Covid-19 response
Our Chief Economist Eric Crampton and Max Rashbrooke joined TVNZ Breakfast to discuss the political parties' economic policies in the lead up to the election. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
14 October, 2020
The first casualty of tax squabbles
Wealth taxes are tricky things. Even leaving aside the complications in real-world applications that caused the OECD to recommend against them, wealth taxes have an additional pernicious effect. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton
13 October, 2020
New Zealand’s great education decline and the future of work
The rise of automation, artificial intelligence and pressures from developing economies are threatening low-skilled and unskilled jobs. Never has the need for school leavers to be well-educated been more important than today. Read more
Roger Partridge
13 October, 2020
Podcast #29: The only briefing any new minister needs with David Law
In this week’s New Zealand Initiative podcast, as the country prepares to weather what could be a particularly bad recession, it needs plenty of good ideas. Unfortunately, those good ideas are few and far between. Read more
Dr David Law
9 October, 2020
Lessons from the All Blacks
It took eighteen years for New Zealand’s school system to plunge from world-leading to decidedly average. Despite a concurrent 32% real rise in per-pupil spending, in maths, Kiwi 15-year-olds now perform the way 13 and a half year-olds did just 20 years ago. Read more
Briar Lipson
9 October, 2020
Dear Minister: A Roadmap for Recovery
New Zealand faces its worst recession in nearly a century. Unfortunately, the economic response to the challenges of covid-19 leaves much to be desired. Read more
Dr David Law
9 October, 2020
It’s time to get serious about New Zealand’s recovery
New Zealand faces its worst recession in nearly a century. Unfortunately, the economic response to the challenges of Covid-19 leaves much to be desired. Read more
Dr David Law
9 October, 2020
Working group enlightenment
It took New Zealand to disprove the entire body of political science. For millennia, political philosophy was thought to be about the dual question of who rules and for what purpose. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich
9 October, 2020
Roadmap for Recovery: Briefing to the Incoming Government
New Zealand faces its worst recession in nearly a century. Unfortunately, the economic response to the challenges of Covid-19 leaves much to be desired. Read more
8 October, 2020
A roadmap out of the country’s predicament
New Zealand looks to have won its second battle against Covid-19. The country should brace itself for another round of self-congratulatory backslapping. Read more
Roger Partridge
8 October, 2020