Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Chief Economist Paul Conway recently delivered a speech entitled “Inflation: the road back to 2%”. The speech ostensibly charted a path forward. Read more
In the opening months of 2024, I had the honour of chairing a Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) for Education Minister Erica Stanford. Our remit included both the curriculum, which specifies what students should be taught, and the common practice model, which specifies methods of teaching. Read more
Sometimes, only truly committed localists can see the polished diamond hiding inside the very rough stone. We can remind ourselves that decades of poor incentives facing councils don’t build strong organisations. Read more
“How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?”, asked Charles de Gaulle in 1962. Well, after its forthcoming elections, a plethora of cheese varieties may be the least of France’s problems. Risks abound for both France and Europe. Read more
In the 2024 budget, substantial funding was announced to move teacher education towards an in-school, apprenticeship-style model. The injection of funding is intended to address the shortage of teachers currently facing our schools. Read more
Last week the government announced a comprehensive review of the country's Workplace Health and Safety regulation. There are good reasons for it to do so. Read more
New technology typically inspires both utopian dreams and dystopian fears. AI is a salient example of this optimism-pessimism dichotomy. Read more
When it comes to international diplomacy, few nations can match New Zealand’s knack for unintentional hilarity. This week, we have once again found ourselves in the global spotlight, thanks to a series of aviation mishaps. Read more
How New Zealand funds and finances infrastructure is a billion-dollar question. In Budget 2024, the Government forecasts that more than $68 billion will be spent on infrastructure over the next five years – a significant capital investment in roads, rail and other projects. Read more
It is about 18 months since the release of Chat-GPT, the first widely available ‘large-language’ artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Even in that time, the capabilities of AI have massively improved. Read more
The other day, I popped into a café in Wellington for my usual flat white. As I waited for my coffee, I noticed a selection of nut packages on display. Read more
Alcohol policy is always contentious – but let’s start with something that should be uncontroversial: If the government wants to reduce alcohol-related harm, it should aim for measures that do more good than harm overall. If a harm-reducing policy stacks up, it does so whether the overall social cost of alcohol is $10 billion, $1 billion, or $100 million. Read more
When Guyon Espiner reported on a police estimate of ‘$7.8b harm from booze’, I was curious whether the figure was the old BERL alcohol cost zombie back again from the dead to torment the living. The BERL number included drinkers’ spending on their own alcohol – not a ‘social cost’ by any reasonable standard. Read more
At The New Zealand Initiative, we have long advocated a more welcoming stance towards foreign direct investment (FDI). Our research has consistently shown that New Zealand needs foreign capital to boost growth, and that our restrictive FDI rules have been a major barrier to attracting overseas investment. Read more
In his key work, Machiavelli warned his Prince, “there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new one.” Machiavelli’s words could describe David Seymour’s predicament as he sets out on his bold quest to reestablish Charter Schools. Read more
