Reports & Media

If there’s one objection that proponents of the free market are familiar with, it’s that capitalism is anti-social. From Adam Smith to Gordon Gekko – so the objection goes – liberal and neo-liberal economists have been doing little else but reciting a mantra of ‘Greed is good.’ It was with this argument in mind that I found some recent research on markets and pro-sociality so intriguing. Read more

If you lecture in the theatre and no student is there to hear it, did anybody learn? Welcome to teaching at universities in 2022. Read more

Aucklanders have yet more rail disruption to look forward to this Christmas. Last week, in a bolt from the blue, KiwiRail and Auckland Transport announced a series of major shutdowns to train lines in the Super City. Read more

Almost 30 years after leaving Quebec, and just short of ten years after moving to New Zealand, it’s not often that I get the chance to link the two. Recently, though, the government of my former home province passed an academic freedom bill that shows exactly what Wellington should be doing but isn’t – at least not yet. Read more

Bryan Perry’s regular reports for the Ministry of Social Development represent some of the very best that New Zealand’s public sector has to offer. Statistics New Zealand runs the surveys on household income and household expenditure. Read more

The Crown Accounts are in better shape than had been expected when the Budget was set. That’s the good news. Read more

Our Prime Minister is a real star on the world stage. Capable, articulate, and charismatic, it’s no surprise that her latest foreign trip has won her further plaudits. Read more

It’s hard to write satire when politicians do all the work for you. Take the UK’s embattled Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng. Read more

Voting for local government should be simple. If you think that council has generally done a good job, support most incumbent candidates. Read more

The British Prime Minister received an unflattering open letter. Its signatories were 364 economists, all united in condemning her economic management. Read more

Economist Dave Heatley finds himself in something of a quandary. New Zealand’s economists firmly support the Emissions Trading Scheme as the best way of achieving New Zealand’s net zero target. Read more

The Prime Minister has announced a new strategy for tackling inflation. The announcement follows recent legislation transferring responsibility for fiscal management from the Reserve Bank to the Ministry for the Environment. Read more