The Sen̓áḵw development near downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, won’t quite be a city within the city. But it will be close. Read more
Readers will no doubt be aware of the WEF and of the many interesting and informative articles and posts about the organisation that can be found online. You may be aware, for example, that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as being the secret love child of Fidel Castro, is a WEF puppet. Read more
Oliver and Matthew discuss NZ's infrastructure deficit, delivery and management which was the subject of Matthew's last column in the NZ Herald "Deficit obsession ignores abysmal state of Kiwi infrastructure delivery". To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Last week, we applauded Housing Minister Chris Bishop for his housing policy proposals. Incentives for councils to promote growth perfectly match Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s repeated calls for localism. Read more
On Monday, Transport Minister Simeon Brown released the long-awaited draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport. The GPS outlines the Government’s priorities for investment in New Zealand’s transport network over the next ten years and how it expects NZTA and local authorities to manage the $7 billion annual National Land Transport Fund. Read more
Last month’s Legal Research Foundation conference commemorating the Supreme Court’s 20th anniversary could mark a turning point for New Zealand’s highest court. Or at least it should if the Supreme Court justices were listening. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton joins Emile Donovan on RNZ to talk about rates and explore alternative options. Listen below. Read more
All eyes are on Europe as the Russian onslaught continues, Ukraine runs out of ammunition, and America’s upcoming election induces paralysis. Will the continent stand up to the challenge? Read more
In this episode, Eric talks to Danyl Mclauchlan, one of NZ's top political writers who is often featured in The New Zealand Listener and on Substack. He has written recently on turmoil in Wellington's pipe network and writes more broadly on the state of politics and the state of the polity. Read more
Today I found out that both the Prime Minister and I are self-described “test cricket tragics”. If he can tell me what Neil Wagner’s final bowling average is upon retirement, I’ll believe him. Read more
Housing policy made significant progress this week. The housing minister, Chris Bishop, addressed the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and released a cabinet paper outlining his plan for solving the housing crisis. Read more
Last year, the Initiative released a report on administrative bloat at New Zealand universities. It showed that the majority of staff at New Zealand universities are non-academics, and that this has been the case for quite some time. Read more
Two weeks ago, some of the contributors to the substantial Economic Forum run by the University of Waikato unintentionally took me back to the days of New Zealand’s National Development Conferences in 1968 and 1972. They did so by calling on central government to lead and set a clear vision and action plan. Read more
Late last year, I taught my final course for Victoria University of Wellington, guiding 19 young Kiwis around Greece for the Classics field trip. The trip offered plenty of food for thought (not to mention food) for anyone interested (and how could you not be?) in the stupendous artistic and intellectual achievements of the ancient Greeks. Read more
Non-academic staff outnumber academic staff in NZ universities. Recently, we found the point in time when this happened. Read more