Reports & Media

In this episode of the New Zealand Initiative podcast operations director Chelsy Killick and executive director Oliver Hartwich share their experiences with researching the problems with Kiwi education. Both have been with the Initiative for its entire eight year existence, and during that time, have chronicled the deterioration of education since they were at school in New Zealand and in Germany. Read more

In this Quick Take episode, David Law responds to a joint paper released by Helen Clark Foundation and the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research about the minimum wage. David reveals why raising the rate makes little economic sense at the best of times, and terrible sense during a recession. Read more

In this Quick Take podcast, Oliver Hartwich explains why Italy’s dire debt situation threatens the European Union's integrity and why no one in the bloc wants to think about forgiving the country’s enormous loans anytime soon. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more

In this Quick Take podcast, Oliver Hartwich unpacks his op-ed for the Australian Financial Review in which he argued that politicians on both sides of the Tasman aren’t thinking clearly about their respective housing crises. Oliver's article in the Australian Financial Review can be read here. Read more

The Government will declare a climate change emergency. But what does this mean? Read more

In this episode of the Initiative’s Freely Speaking podcast, Matt Burgess, Eric Crampton and Oliver Hartwich trade hypotheses on why the New Zealand housing market is so broken with a few comparisons in Europe and how a change of incentives for local councils might be a big part of the solution. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more

On this Quick Take podcast, Oliver Hartwich explains his open letter to Mike Hosking. The radio host’s position that the government has nothing to do with fixing the housing crisis is unhelpful and misses that governments – over the last decade – are responsible for the skyrocketing prices. Read more

In this Quick Take episode, Matt Burgess explains why the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a simple and effective way to reduce carbon emissions overtime at the least cost. The ETS, which New Zealand has implemented, means no other climate policies are needed, so why does the Government continue to introduce them? Read more

In this Quick Take episode, Bryce Wilkinson questions the wisdom behind many of the Reserve Bank’s latest interventionist moves and worries New Zealand could be repeating mistakes of the past. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more

Thanks for tuning in to the New Zealand Initiative’s Freely Speaking podcast where the style is casual, the topics are important and the brakes are off. In this episode, around the table is executive director Oliver Hartwich, chief economist Eric Crampton, senior fellow Bryce Wilkinson and chief editor Nathan Smith. Read more

In this Quick Take podcast, Matt Burgess asks why Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr wants to stop aircraft travel and container shipping to help save the climate when carbon offsets will let Kiwis do both. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more

Oliver Hartwich wrote in his Newsroom column that he is looking forward to a defrosting of the trans-Atlantic relationship as a new US administration enters the White House. He discusses the details with Nathan Smith in this podcast. Read more

What is James Shaw planning for tougher climate change policy? Matt Burgess suspects some major changes are coming. Read more

Senior Economist Matt Burgess joins Nathan Smith to discuss the government’s pursuit of a $4 billion-plus pumped hydro scheme in Central Otago. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more

This episode of the Freely Speaking podcast features executive director Oliver Hartwich, chief economist Eric Crampton, senior economist Matt Burgess and senior fellow Bryce Wilkinson. The team unpicks the strange lack of deep conversation in New Zealand and why Kiwis seem so reluctant to talk about the big issues. Read more