Reports & Media

I have been spending this week in Hong Kong as a guest of the Hong Kong government. To be frank, when I received the invitation to visit the Special Administrative Region (that is the name and status after it was handed back from Britain to China in 1997), I was not quite sure why they have such a programme for international visitors (mainly politicians and business people), let alone why I would be chosen to participate in it. Read more

The Parliamentary Health Committee’s major recommendations from its ‘Inquiry into improving child health outcomes and preventing child abuse’ has been applauded for its evidence-based research. However, its recommendations still need some further consideration. Read more

As someone who enjoys the fruits of New Zealand’s cinematic output, it might seem hypocritical to argue against Graeme Tuckett when he suggests we need to lift rebates on overseas film productions. In a Dominion Post editorial, he argues our film industry is struggling to compete with some countries because they offer a rebate of 25 per cent on every dollar spent, while we only offer 15 per cent. Read more

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These radical ideas were put forth last week at a Law & Economics Association of New Zealand event. They may seem radical to the general public, but being thinkers at an economic think tank that advocates for market-based solutions, we found them hardly radical or surprising. Read more

If there is any life left in one of the last demand boogeymen of the housing market, The Economist this week reminded us that there is a novel way of exorcising them, namely letting them in the front door. I am, of course, speaking of foreign buyers. Read more

One in seven of New Zealand’s 15-year-olds cannot read at a level considered requisite for basic participation in society, according to the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. But does this simply reflect natural variation in ability levels and the left-end of the bell curve? Read more

Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully announced that a further $2.975 million would be provided to the Filipino government in the aftermath of the devastatingly destructive Typhoon Haiyan. The additional funding will take New Zealand’s total contribution to the cause to more than $5 million. Read more

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Life is frustrating for German savers. If they had 5,000 euros to invest and wanted to keep them in an instant access savings account, Deutsche Bank currently offers them an interest rate of 0.15 per cent, the Cologne Savings Bank 0.20 per cent and Postbank a whopping 0.7 percent. Read more

This past week has been an interesting one for The New Zealand Initiative, having taken what we think are the best housing affordability policies from abroad, and presenting them to policymakers and bureaucrats on both sides of the beltway. They either agreed or disagreed with our recommendations depending on their ideological perspective, as you would expect, and for the most part the consultation was highly constructive (at least it was for us). Read more

As a businessman and philanthropist I get many requests – for funding, to be a keynote speaker, to support various projects. Unfortunately, I can’t do everything, but when I was asked to support an Auckland Council initiative to get young people into training and employment I was genuinely excited. Read more