Reports & Media

Last month, New Zealand celebrated emphatic victories over Australia in the Bledisloe Cup. For many years, sporting competitions like this were the only opportunity for Kiwis to beat their cousins across the Tasman. Read more

Now here's an economic policy idea: What if we strategically placed a few pocket-sized atomic bombs around New Zealand and detonated them? Not too devastating to wipe the country off the face of the earth, of course. Read more

Speech by Dr Oliver Hartwich to The Centre for Independent Studies 'Consilium' conference In previous years Dr Oliver Hartwich spoke at The Centre for Independent Studies 'Consilium' conference about the future of capitalism and about Europe's economic and social decline. His presentation to this month's gathering in Queensland is closely linked to these topics. Read more

Government spending has been rising for the past one and a half centuries. The increase itself is startling, but even more worrying is the composition of government spending in the developed world. Read more

Rightly or wrongly, Britain and its former Antipodean colonies are obsessed with property – it’s imperative that you get that critical first step on the housing ladder. Given this level of obsession, it’s easy to see why housing has become a political football in all three countries, with politicians regularly trotting out new policies to help people buy a first home. Read more

New Zealanders are an irascible lot when it comes to recreational fishing. Around 50,000 people have made submissions opposing options for tightening recreational snapper fishing limits. Read more

Ahrensburg is not the place where great political announcements are made. Usually, the small town in the North German state of Schleswig-Holstein does not generate any headlines relevant beyond the city boundaries. Read more

If there is one word that best describes the current state-owned asset sales programme, it would probably be ‘compromise’. In 2008, when the Government was faced with the challenge of tackling rising levels of public debt (projected at 36 per cent of GDP for 2013) in a low-growth economy, all the while nursing a balance sheet heavily overweight on A-rated electricity assets, the choice was clear: sell one to pay the other. Read more

If you are young and ambitious you should leave New Zealand. This was the moot for the New Zealand Initiative’s Next Generation Debates grand final, held at the City Gallery in Wellington last night. Read more

Auckland is often described as a city of urban sprawl. Currently, the Auckland City Council is debating whether a more dispersed, or more condensed city is more efficient in the face of an ever-growing population, increasing fuel costs and environmental concerns. Read more

Whether you like Canberra or not, there is no doubt it properly fulfils its functions as Australia’s capital. The federal government, parliament and the High Court all operate in close proximity to each other. Read more

If a week is a long time in politics, two years is an eternity. In 2011, Wayne Swan was named the Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year. Read more