This year, the Government will spend nearly $190 billion. Yet we know remarkably little about whether those billions represent value-for-money. Read more
Minister Chris Bishop has swung his ministerial wrecking ball at Wellington. He will strip the Gordon Wilson Flats of its heritage protection. Read more
In this episode, Michael talks to Beth Nalter, a careers counsellor at Saint Dominic's College, about the challenges and limitations of the current education system's approach to vocational training and career pathways for young people. They explore how schools predominantly focus on university pathways, overlooking the value of trades and vocational education, and discuss strategies to provide students with more diverse and meaningful career opportunities. Read more
For two decades, New Zealand’s school education system has been in a death spiral. In 2007, the Ministry of Education adopted a curriculum bereft of knowledge. Read more
Next week, The New Zealand Initiative will take more than three dozen business leaders to the Netherlands. Why the Netherlands? Read more
Abstract In an era of generative AI and ubiquitous digital tools, human memory faces a paradox: the more we offload knowledge to external aids, the less we exercise and develop our own cognitive capacities. This chapter offers the first neuroscience-based explanation for the observed reversal of the Flynn Effect—the recent decline in IQ scores in developed countries—linking this downturn to shifts in educational practices and the rise of cognitive offloading via AI and digital tools. Read more
Something odd is happening in New Zealand. The government wants to pass a law that would require ministers to explain their regulatory decisions. Read more
Imagine that you owned a vacant piece of land. You were trying to decide whether to put solar panels on it to generate electricity or to plant trees on it to sequester carbon and earn carbon credits. Read more
There are already too many reasons for international supermarket chains to decide our small set of islands far from everywhere are not worth bothering about. Adding one more seems bad if government has prioritised retail grocery competition. Read more
At midnight last night, submissions closed on the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No. 2). The bill would introduce new measures to protect academic freedom, which is defined in the Education and Training Act as ‘the freedom of academic staff and students, within the law, to question and test received wisdom, to put forward new ideas, and to state controversial or unpopular opinions.’ These measures are sorely needed. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY 1.1 This submission on the Public Works (Critical Infrastructure) Amendment Bill[1] is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. Read more
Few ideas haunt economic debate as relentlessly as “trickle-down.” Perhaps it’s the appeal of attacking something that no one has ever argued. The theory supposedly claims that making the rich richer benefits everyone as wealth “trickles down.” It sounds plausible and feels unfair – making it the perfect villain. Read more
In this episode, James talks to Professor Ian Pace from City, Saint George's University of London about academic freedom, discussing the challenges facing universities, including political pressures, institutional neutrality, and the need for legislation to protect free speech and critical inquiry in academic settings. The conversation explores recent developments in academic freedom legislation in the UK and New Zealand, examining how universities are navigating complex issues of free speech, institutional policies, and the potential risks of political conformity in higher education. Read more
What happens when elected officials cannot understand the issues well enough to make good decisions? Local councillors often receive hundreds of pages of complex reports just days before critical votes, covering financial modelling, engineering specifications and legal implications. Read more
Picture this: a part-time councillor rushes home from their day job, grabs dinner, then sits down to wade through 600 pages of technical reports two days before a crucial council meeting. Sound familiar? Read more