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In September last year, I wrote about the German constitutional court’s preliminary ruling on the legality of the European Stability Mechanism (Has Germany’s court set the stage for an exit? 20 September 2012). Read more
New Zealand has depended on overseas trade and capital for its prosperity from colonial times. But prejudice against foreigners and foreign capital will always be with us. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson launches our first report, New Zealand's Global Links: Foreign Ownership and the Status of New Zealand's Net International Investment The report provides a one-stop-shop for statistics on New Zealand's investment patterns. In particular, it shows that: Despite popular myth, New Zealanders actually earn more than they spend. Read more
The economics of the opposition’s plan to introduce a single-buyer model for wholesale electricity is highly dubious, as I explain in my column in The National Business Review today. But that’s not the only questionable thing about it. Read more
As good news continues to emerge about the government’s fiscal position leading into the budget, it is worthwhile reminding ourselves of recent reforms that put New Zealand into an internationally enviable position. Primarily, the government’s response to the global financial crisis was to make it easier to employ people, keep them employed, and keep more of their own money. Read more
How do the world’s best performing education systems attract and develop great teachers? To find out, I am about to embark on a journey overseas. Read more
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Research Fellow Rose Patterson reports from parliament in Wellington about her international research trip on teacher quality. Ms Patterson will be visiting Singapore, Germany, England, Finland, and Canada, and former Head Master John Morris will be undergoing research in Australia. Read more
Public policy think tank, The New Zealand Initiative, launches its first report on New Zealand’s international debt position and foreign direct investment regimes. The report, New Zealand's Global Links: Foreign Ownership and the Status of New Zealand's Net International Investment, provides a one-stop-shop for statistics on New Zealand’s investment patterns. Read more
Last Saturday, the primary teachers’ union NZEI rallied more than 10,000 supporters all over the country to ‘fight the GERM’ and inoculate against a disease taking the world by storm. GERM stands for the Global Education Reform Movement, a term coined by Pasi Sahlberg, the renowned Finnish expert in international education reform. Read more
Last week, the government proposed changing the way food manufacturers label their products. Manufacturers will no longer be able to make health claims unless backed with scientific evidence. Read more
This week, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its dramatically titled annual democracy index: ‘Democracy at a standstill.’ New Zealand scored well, as should be expected. According to the EIU, we are the fifth most democratic nation on the planet, being only marginally less democratic than the obligatory Scandinavians: Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Denmark. Read more
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