A few years ago, when I was still a classics lecturer, I started to notice a disturbing trend. Scholars were being denounced on Twitter (RIP) for wrongthink. Read more
I’m Barbara Oakley, and I’m delighted to be spending nearly six months with The New Zealand Initiative. My husband, Phil and I are thrilled to return to New Zealand. Read more
I didn’t think it was going to go like this. But here we are. Read more
Waitangi day debates about New Zealand’s sovereignty often fixate on a single moment: the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. This focus is understandable, given the Treaty’s significance to both Māori and the Crown. Read more
If you believe last week’s hysterical headlines from Germany, you might think the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is about to take power in Europe’s largest economy. The reality is more complicated. Read more
If you believe some of its critics, the pending Regulatory Standards Bill is a demonic measure to end New Zealand society as we know it. This is beyond false; it is ridiculous. Read more
In Hayek’s Bastards, the distinguished historian Dame Anne Salmond takes issue with Act’s Regulatory Standards Bill, which she sees as the attempt of a fringe party to impose its ideologies and which she thinks would “elevate individual rights and private property above all other considerations in law-making” and thus undermine democracy. Salmond presents the bill as a result, not of the normal processes of democracy, but of a global conspiracy of ‘neo-liberal’ think tanks tracing their lineage to 20th-century thinkers such as Friedrich von Hayek. Read more
Regular Stuff columnist Damien Grant is a great friend of The New Zealand Initiative. In fact, he’s a member. Read more
Growing up, I always loved flipping through my dad’s catalogues showcasing sample slabs of stone benchtops. Like many other tradespeople, my dad has taken pride in helping people design beautiful kitchens. Read more
Prime Minister Luxon’s State of the Nation speech has already orchestrated an immediate response. The naysayers have identified the possibility of success as a threat to our national way of life. Read more
Has the Supreme Court once again stepped outside its lane? A recent ruling about who controls our coastlines suggests our highest court is trying to reshape laws made by Parliament, rather than just apply them. Read more
It’s fair to say that economists like competition. It’s also fair to say that, when politicians start talking about competition, economists ought to get a little bit nervous. Read more
“There’s always a reason to say no, but if we keep saying no, we’ll keep going nowhere.” With these words in his ‘State of the Nation’ speech last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon diagnosed a critical barrier to New Zealand’s economic growth: a culture of negativity and excessive caution. Only a few days later, his government provided the perfect test case for Luxon’s diagnosis. Read more
If you’re reading this in print with your morning coffee, you’re probably not among the terminally online. For those who are among the terminally online, always hooked into what’s going on on Twitter and elsewhere, there’s probably no need to explain the vibes, or the shift in vibes. Read more
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech yesterday presents a clear shift towards economic growth. While familiar aspirational rhetoric featured prominently, his initiatives deserve support. Read more