New Zealand’s economic and social decline is slowly receiving greater recognition amongst journalists and commentators. The litany of woes is daunting. Read more
Just one third of the students participating in a pilot of new literacy and numeracy assessments for NCEA passed the writing assessment, and only two thirds passed each of the reading and numeracy assessments. Michael Johnston talks to Michael Laws, The Platform about the alarming results. Read more
Inflation in New Zealand has been on the rise (7.3 percent last quarter) as have the attempts to explain it. The RBNZ points to strong global economic activity, supply disruptions, and the Ukraine war. Read more
A long queue of people form a circle. Each has a coin purse slung over a shoulder. Read more
Don’t get me wrong, I love watching The Chase. However, I wish Stuff had covered New Zealand’s deteriorating education standards instead of running a series of long articles on a British TV trivia show this week. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich appears on The Bolt Report, Sky News, to discuss the bleak economic outlook for New Zealand. Read more
Oliver Hartwich interviews historians James Kierstead and Matthew Birchall, two new colleagues at the Initiative. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
If there were no better way of solving the problem, one could forgive how central government has approached water infrastructure reform. Some councils have done a very poor job in maintaining their pipes. Read more
What does an unemployment rate of 3.2 per cent have in common with apples rotting on the trees in orchards? Both are signs of an overheated labour market. Read more
One third of Kiwi students fail Education Ministry’s new numeracy and reading standard. Two thirds of Kiwi students fail new writing standard. Read more
On Sunday, the government announced an extension of the petrol excise and Road User Charge holiday, as well as half-price public transport, until the end of the year. The Beehive’s press release said that the move would reduce headline inflation by 0.5 percentage points. Read more
Alarming results have come from a pilot of new literacy and numeracy assessments for NCEA. The new assessments are scheduled to be introduced as part of the Ministry of Education’s review of the NCEA system. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton and Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, discuss New Zealand's change in legislation for vaping products. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Just one third of the students participating in a pilot of new literacy and numeracy assessments for NCEA passed the writing assessment, and only two thirds passed each of the reading and numeracy assessments. Michael Johnston talks to Andrew Dickens, Newstalk ZB about the these alarming results and what needs to be done about it. Read more
Wellington (Monday, 18 July 2022) – A policy paper released today by The New Zealand Initiative rebuts the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety’s claim to a select committee that New Zealand’s labour productivity growth rate since 1991 was 46% below that of Australia. On figures recently supplied by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the correct figure was 30%. Read more