OPINION

Begging the reader’s indulgence, please bear with me while we conduct a brief thought exercise: Imagine for a second you received a letter telling you that the Transport Authority had conducted a review of your driver’s license. The letter says that having examined your stated reason for driving, insurance claims and record on the road against the department’s official definition of a driving purpose, you have been judged unfit to drive, and your licence has been cancelled. Read more

Budget 2015 was delivered yesterday, and my colleagues below take a look at this mixed bag of good and questionable decisions. But what about the overall direction of the government? Read more

Housing formed one of the main cornerstones of the government’s budget. The announcements were dominated by demand-side measures, the most prominent of which was to make gains from the sale of any residential investment property within two years of purchase taxable. Read more

Auckland City, Auckland house prices. Politically, that is the government's most immediate local government issue. Read more

While that pesky surplus is proving rather capricious, this year’s budget shows tentative progress towards fiscal objectives. The Initiative’s 2014 report Guarding the Public Purse, argued that greater productivity growth, competition and spending restraint were essential to achieving longer-term fiscal sustainability. Read more

There was much speculation that this would be the budget that would radically transform the way the government funds and delivers social services. In a speech made earlier this year, Finance Minister Bill English hinted at a new budget process: rolling out the ‘social investment approach’ to areas beyond welfare. Read more

The Fiscal Responsibility Act forces government to pay attention to its expenditures. But what about the cases where government instead compels you to do the spending on its behalf? Read more

At a time when Britain is considering whether to leave the EU, Greece still teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, and Brussels cannot find a response to the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, many ordinary Europeans will question what European integration has ever done for them. For Europeans concerned about the value of the EU, one project has always been cited as exemplifying what is so good about it. Read more

For public transit advocates wondering what form transport networks will take in a future increasingly concerned with urbanisation, congestion and energy efficiency, here is one probable answer: It will have four wheels, a small seat capacity and travel on the road. Yes, it is the car. Read more

The best case we can make for the Reserve Bank’s latest round of loan-to-value home mortgage regulations (LVRs) is not particularly compelling. Or, at least, it requires stretching our understanding of the bank’s prudential regulation mandate a bit farther than I’d like. Read more

One of the greatest advances of civilisation is also one of the least obvious: branded products. We take brands for granted because they are everywhere. Read more

A society without government regulation is not an unregulated society. It sounds paradoxical, but I am talking about self-regulation, or self-control, or that stuffy old Victorian concept, willpower. Read more

This week, The New Zealand Initiative released a report assessing social impact bonds in a New Zealand context. The report identifies both opportunities and challenges. Read more

There is no question that the British Conservatives’ election result is way better than any pollster had predicted. Achieving an absolute majority of the seats is a major feat for Prime Minister David Cameron – and one that probably not even Cameron himself would have thought possible. Read more

Big data is one of the transformative mega trends shaping the way modern businesses operate. By analysing the vast quantities of data at their disposal, businesses can reshape their operations to meet shifting customer requirements in real time, with the benefits reaped in greater profits. Read more