Eric Crampton talks to Magic Talk’s Stephen McIvor about why congestion charging could be the answer to traffic woes. Read more
Wellington City Council has officially thrown its weight behind enabling a congestion charge for inner-city motorists. Read more
With a number of Kiwis up for Oscars at this years Academy Awards, thanks to Taika Waititi's film Jojo Rabbit, Eric Crampton speaks to Breakfast about the millions of dollars of subsidies being offered to attract foreign films to be shot in New Zealand and discusses if this is a fair and sensible use of taxpayers money. Read more
New Zealand can learn from international experiences showing congestion pricing systems can be successfully introduced – and with the support of the public, says a new report released today by The New Zealand Initiative. Read more
Our new report, Pricing out Congestion: Experiences from abroad, looks overseas to see how other cities have successfully implemented road pricing systems that work for their people and their environment. Oliver Hartwich explains on The AM Show, the benefits of a road pricing system and what New Zealand can learn from these international examples. Read more
New Zealand's road congestion is getting worse. Motorists are spending more and more time stuck in traffic. Oliver Hartwich speaks to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB about how a well-designed road pricing system for New Zealand could reduce our shocking congestion problems. Our new report, Pricing Out Congestion: Experiences from abroad looks overseas to see how other cities have successfully implemented systems that work for their people and their environment - and what New Zealand could learn from them. Read more
Oliver Hartwich talks Jesse Mulligan on Radio New Zealand through the findings in our new report, Pricing out Congestion: Experiences from abroad.The report focuses on the international experiences around congestion pricing, for example the use of road charges encouraging motorists to avoid traveling at peak times in busy routes, and shows how it could be implemented here.You can listen to the interview below. Read more
Some New Zealanders are spending more than one hundred hours a year sitting in traffic. Our new report, Pricing out Congestion: Experiences from abroad, says congestion charges could be the key to get Kiwis moving again.Oliver Hartwich tells Newshub that we've got endless examples around the world demonstrating congestion charges work in practice and that it is time to start doing it here.You can watch Oliver's interview on Newshub 6pm News below. Read more
Public policy think tank The New Zealand Initiative opposes changing the purpose of the Crown Minerals Act from the promotion of mining for the benefit of New Zealanders.In our submission on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s discussion document: Review of the Crown Minerals Act 1991, the Initiative addresses questions raised about the role and purpose of the Crown Minerals Act (CMA).The Initiative believes contrary to what is proposed in the discussion document, the word “promote” should be retained. Read more
Can market forces help get the chores done? Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton discusses the economics of parenting with Barry Crump on the Radio New Zealand Nights programme. Read more
Cabinet’s decisions announced today by Finance Minister Grant Robertson to reform the governance and accountability arrangements of the Reserve Bank are commendable. Key among the decisions is establishing a governance board that will be responsible for all functions of the Reserve Bank, except those undertaken by the Monetary Policy Committee. Read more
Following the Government's announcement of the $12 billion for infrastructure, Dr Eric Crampton discusses on Radio New Zealand about the need to enable other ways of financing infrastructure on a stable basis rather than constantly relying on infrastructure deficits hitting near-crisis levels. Read more
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand should suspend its decision to increase banks’ capital and re-open the public consultation process says public policy think tank, The New Zealand Initiative.The RBNZ’s decision to increase the capital banks are required to hold will have adverse effects for borrowers and the wider economy. The effects are likely to be felt most acutely by high loan-to-value borrowers, the rural sector and small-to-medium-sized enterprises.Yet the Initiative’s submission in response to the RBNZ’s Review of... Read more
Ever since the OECD began testing the educational performance of 15-year olds in the early 2000s, New Zealand has performed progressively worse in all three assessed areas of reading, maths and science. The troubling trajectory was confirmed again with the release of the results of the OECD's 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) testing round. Read more
Confirmation came today that New Zealand’s once world-leading school system continues its steady decline. Read more