Since the free trade agreement with China came into effect in 2008, exports to China have soared. The trading relationship with China has been helping the New Zealand economy navigate through the past years of global uncertainty. Read more
If we took seriously the dozens of reports tallying the alleged costs of every social ill, the world would seem a pretty depressing place. I would be surprised if the sum of high-end costs reported in studies into alcohol abuse, obesity, incontinence and mental illness were much less than annual GDP. Read more
It would have been very interesting to see what the late Lee Kwan Yew would have made of this week’s Bali Nine executions. While we can only speculate, a retrospective glance at the hard-line stance that Singapore’s founding father took on foreigners committing crimes in his country suggests he would have sided with Indonesia’s decision to execute Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Read more
Early last week, a friend recounted to me in gruesome detail the vicious war wounds incurred during that weekend’s rugby match. The physiotherapist bills would be expensive. Read more
Imagine the following scenario. A large company’s 78-year-old chairman and former chief executive, who also happens to be a major shareholder, fails in his bid to oust the current chief executive. Read more
It’s easy to get reasonable people to agree that economic growth is a good thing, at least in principle. The New Zealand Initiative hosted a panel discussion on its recent report, by Jenesa Jeram and me, outlining the case for economic growth and dispelling a few myths around growth. Read more
The nearly unanimous verdict on Prime Minister John Key’s pre-budget speech last week is that it was completely underwhelming. In fact, some commentators have taken the speech as further evidence the government is running dry on fresh ideas. Read more
Talk about a capital gains tax (“CGT”) as a solution for the Auckland housing market has heated up again over the past couple of weeks. The Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor, Grant Spencer, suggested that the tax treatment of housing needed to be changed. Read more
There is a new kid on the block to settle cross-border commercial disputes. At the moment, when businesses negotiate a cross-border contract, they can choose between agreeing to cross-border litigation, international arbitration, or international commercial mediation. Read more
For those outside the discipline, economics is notoriously boring. From personal experience, I can attest that economics rarely makes for tantalising pub talk with anyone but the equally dedicated. Read more
The UK elections are only two weeks away and typically, at this stage of the campaign, one should have at least a rough idea what is going to happen. Not so this time. Read more
Last week, the Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor Grant Spencer signalled that he favours more demand-side interventions in the housing market. In a speech and in a radio interview he argued that increasing housing supply, though highly desirable, may take too long to have an effect on house prices. Read more
It was about this time last year that Education Minister Hekia Parata, in the context of a discussion about decile funding, said she was interested in reviewing the funding system for schools. Her office subsequently made it clear that any review would not happen until after the election. Read more
For those of you who don’t have access to the Kiwi Journalists Association’s Facebook page, a heated discussion has flared up after it was revealed Campbell Live may be axed in favour of more entertainment-focused programming. The discussion centred around whether this is symptomatic of a failed business model, where companies like MediaWorks are seen to prioritise profit over the provision of a good that has positive spill-over benefits to a democratic society. Read more
Apart from longer life expectancy, better health, improved education, a cleaner environment, better opportunities for our children and a happier country, what has economic growth ever done for New Zealanders? Last night, MPs Chris Bishop, Dr David Clark and James Shaw debated the merits of economic growth, and of our recent report on it, at Mac’s Brew Bar in Wellington for an audience of about 150. Read more