I’ve always thought of Wellington as being a bit like Tolkien’s Hobbiton. It’s peaceful, comfortable, and largely ignored by the dark forces of the world. Read more
This week’s third-quarter inflation figure from Statistics NZ underlines what a mess the Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank have made of monetary policy. Inflation may have peaked at 7.3%. Read more
Most political careers end in failure, but few politicians fail as spectacularly, or as rapidly, as Liz Truss. Truss has wrecked more than her own political career since she became British Prime Minister less than two months ago: her personal reputation, her party’s credibility, and the UK’s finances. Read more
95bFM News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins speaks to Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich about Liz Truss resigning after just six weeks as UK Prime Minister. Read more
Oliver Hartwich and Eric Crampton discuss how the government is preventing overseas supermarkets from entering the New Zealand market. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
If years of arguing about supermarkets and supermarket policy have taught us anything, it’s that allowing another supermarket chain to enter the New Zealand market is in the national interest. So why won’t the government tell the Overseas Investment Office? Read more
Economists say rising unemployment is the new pain set to hurt New Zealand's economy on the back of unexpectedly high inflation figures. Data for the September quarter shows prices rose by 7.2 percent in the last year - down from 7.3 percent in June - but higher than the Reserve Bank had expected. Read more
Chief Economist at The New Zealand Initiative Dr Eric Crampton is in the studio to talk economics. Tonight Dr Crampton joins us to discuss inflation and central bank policy, the housing shortage and how we got here, and the Future for Local Government Forum's report which is due out at the end of the month. Read more
Collective nouns are fun. A murder of crows is great. Read more
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
It might not have been a vote of no-confidence in local government, but it was far from an enthusiastic endorsement of the status quo. In 2019, 42% of eligible local voters cast a ballot. 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