Last week the Commerce Commission announced its concern with a proposed merger between Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island. Their concern is a decrease in competition in the market. Read more
Adam Smith warned that meetings of people of the same trade quickly turn into conspiracies against the public or contrivances to raise prices. He neglected to mention the benefits of meetings of people from vastly different trades. Read more
In this episode, Michael talks to Holly Gooch and Izzy Bremner, from The Hyphen Project, about what it might be like for people who are perhaps not considered the "norm" in our large school system. They talk about The Hyphen Project, which is a talent incubator for 16-19 year olds who are talented, neurodivergent and have not gotten on well with the mainstream education system. Read more
Good ideas often take time to gain traction. Congestion charging is no exception. Read more
If you are an Australian struggling to afford a home, I have good news from across the ditch: New Zealand is building its way out of its housing crisis. And the solutions being pioneered here also offer a roadmap for solving Australia’s housing woes. Read more
The way the government tries to protect us against earthquake risks, and to protect heritage buildings against change, share a common problem. Government agencies have a very difficult time generating the information necessary for making good decisions in both cases. Read more
American supply-side conservatives got one big thing right two decades ago, but they got a bigger thing wrong. And it’s relevant to current debates about our Coalition Government’s proposed tax cuts. Read more
Dr Eric Crampt on talks to Corin Dann on RNZ about the need for state spending to reduce to pre-Covid levels. Listen below. Read more
Oliver Hartwich joins Mike Hosking to discuss the adverse impact of new EU regulations on New Zealand beef exports. Listen here. Read more
It was a picture worth a thousand words. Four or five stooped, scared-looking figures on an aeroplane, black hoods over their heads. Read more
New Zealand is facing enormous challenges. We’re mired in recession. Read more
It has been reported that the Minister is considering public-private partnerships to build schools. In fact, though, all school builds are effectively public-private partnerships. Read more
1.1 This submission in response to the Draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. In combination, our members employ more than 150,000 people. Read more
The cancellation of KiwiRail’s $3 billion upgrade of the decrepit fleet of Cook Strait ferries provides an opportunity to finally build what New Zealand really needs: the Cook Strait Bridge. This 27-kilometre monument to Kiwi ingenuity would show the world that we’re serious about infrastructure – and provide a handy escape hatch for those fleeing Wellington. Read more
New Zealand has finally achieved a free trade agreement with the EU. It was years in the making. Read more