Last week, at Wellington’s Koru Lounge, I discovered Air New Zealand’s latest contribution to aviation safety. My request was simple: a whisky, neat. Read more
The 2023 election highlighted flaws in New Zealand's electoral system that create uncertainty for business and undermine democratic accountability. My research report MMP after 30 years: Time for electoral reform? Read more
We all know the Greek myth about Sisyphus, condemned to roll his boulder endlessly uphill, only to watch it tumble back down each time he nears the summit. These images come to mind when I look at one of the ministers in New Zealand’s current government: Louise Upston. Read more
In August 2025, the Government announced the biggest reform to New Zealand’s building consent system in two decades. The problem? Read more
Labour wants to funnel Crown dividends into a new sovereign wealth fund restricted to domestic investments. The stated goal is to boost domestic risk capital, but the design is terrible. Read more
For almost all of human history, life was a grind. Most people lived and died poor, generation after generation. Read more
AI chatbot Claude is a friendly chap. Knowledgeable and helpful, too. Read more
This month’s Nobel Prize in Economics arrives at an opportune moment. The award to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for having explained innovation-driven economic growth provides a salutary reminder about what drives prosperity. Read more
Every country has sacred cows: government programmes beyond criticism even when failing. Britain has the NHS, Australia has Medicare. Read more
There’s a very old saying that taxation is the science of plucking the chicken without making it squawk. The earliest form of the saying seems to go back to a 1766 letter from French economist Anne Robert Jacques Turgot to David Hume – though the exact origins are disputed. Read more
New Zealand has an awful lot of odd little cartels. At least if we define ‘cartels’ using an economist’s definition rather than a lawyer’s definition. Read more
ou do not have to own someone's house to help them, so why does Kāinga Ora's Reset Plan envisage continuing to own around 78,000 housing units? This week, The New Zealand Initiative published my report "Owning less to achieve more: Refocusing Kāinga Ora". Read more
My stat of the week is 38 percent. This is the provisional voter turnout at the 2025 local elections. Read more
I must confess, I am something of a literary philistine. So, when I heard this week that László Krasznahorkai had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, I had no idea who he was. Read more
You do not have to own someone's house to help them, so why does Kāinga Ora's Reset Plan envisage that it will continue to own around 78,000 housing units? After all, social housing can be owned by any combination of central and local government agencies, housing associations, community housing providers, iwi providers, not-for-profit charitable organisations and for-profit landlords. Read more