A drunkard searches for keys under a street lamp. When asked if he lost them there, he replies: "No, but the light is better here." Economists can also seek solutions to poverty, inequality and social problems in familiar places. Other factors, like the economics of land use and urban development, are overlooked. 
 
I joined The New Zealand Initiative last week after a rather unconventional journey. As a half-Austrian, half-Kiwi "third culture kid," I lived a contemplative life and studied consciousness at Victoria University. Economics was not my original path. 
 
My economic awakening began at Treasury. I was troubled by a simple question: why can Kiwis not afford homes? My brother, an economist, had trained me in traditional economic thinking. But something was missing. 
 
Then I discovered urban economics. It hit me like lightning. 
 
I realised that problems in our society show up in the price of housing. This insight changed everything for me. Housing costs limit economic freedom and place substantial limits on what we can spend elsewhere. 
 
Traditional economics often ignores where things happen. Planners think of cities as the skyline rather than human activity. Unsurprisingly, how we build our cities makes it harder to get to work, find jobs, or run businesses.  
 
The Initiative has long argued that unnecessary rules make houses too expensive. Rules about where and how to build. Poor ways of paying for roads and pipes for new homes. The problems go beyond just housing. We end up living in a restricted world that makes life more expensive than it needs to be. 
 
This recognition crosses political lines. Labour’s Phil Twyford and National’s Chris Bishop are remarkably aligned on these principles. Housing affordability is not a partisan issue. It is about removing barriers to prosperity. 
 
New Zealand must stay the course on urban reforms. We need competitive land markets to discipline land prices. Landowners should risk being undercut by other willing sellers of land if they hold out. We need streamlined regulations. We need infrastructure funding mechanisms that disrupt privileged access to finance without which we cannot urbanise land or make distance matter less. 
 
The current government seems to understand the urgency. Minister Bishop demonstrates a firm grasp of urban economics. We have a rare opportunity for generational change.  
 
Economics is valuable because it orients us toward the light of human activity often ignored in urban planning. It teaches us how to say yes to humanity, enabling us to create pathways to prosperity that have remained frustratingly out of reach.   
 
I am excited to continue this work at The Initiative.