We should thank Ruth Richardson for requiring Treasury to publish pre-election economic and fiscal forecasts. Compliments also to Treasury for maintaining their quality over nearly three decades. Read more
In this week’s New Zealand Initiative podcast, a scheduled release of the second quarter GDP statistics revealed the country’s economy dropped 12%, rather than the feared 16%. But coupled with the government’s money printing plans, the true state of the New Zealand economy is tough to judge at this point. Read more
Treasury’s pre-election fiscal update makes for grim reading. Bryce Wilkinson tallies the numbers, showing the forecasts are based on heroic projections about growth in labour productivity and on greater fiscal discipline than has been the norm. Read more
Judging by the usual economic indicators, you would never guess New Zealand is in a severe crisis. This tells us something about the economic and monetary system we inhabit. Read more
Last week, National proposed a series of policies to increase the uptake of electric vehicles. Suppose it works exactly as promised and the number of electric vehicles quadruples in the next three years. Read more
The Labour Party is promising to bring forward its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation by five years to 2030. Matt Burgess is the author of our research report Switched On! Read more
Back in April, the Government promised $50 million to support a flagging media sector. It’s hard to make a buck online, but the real problem was getting people to pay attention to news. Read more
On the first day of election bribes, Jacinda gave to me: a holiday on Matariki. On the second day of election bribes, Judith gave to me: two four-lane highways and a holiday on Matariki. Read more
Labour finally announced some election policies this week: a new public holiday, a cap on bank fees and a new top rate of income tax. It is easy to point out what all these measures have in common. Read more
Wellington, 11 September 2020 – The Government’s commitment to 100% renewable electricity by 2030 goes against the advice of its own independent experts, says the New Zealand Initiative. In April 2019, the Government’s Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) found the 100% renewables policy will: raise the price of electricity by 14% for households and 39% for industry effectively raise emissions by preventing greater emissions reductions elsewhere hit low-income households hardest, and make blackouts up to 100 times more likely. Read more
In this week’s New Zealand Initiative podcast, a new report on the state of civics knowledge in New Zealand reveals Kiwis have a bit of work to do before the election next month. Simply put, New Zealanders don’t know how lucky they are that their government works so well even though they don’t know much about it. Read more
How much of what Kiwi voters should know about democracy do they really know? Our Chief Economist Eric Crampton discusses the results of our new report on the state of civic knowledge in New Zealand on TVNZ Breakfast. Read more
Eric Crampton talks to Duncan Garner on The AM Show about our survey that shows a shocking lack of civics knowledge amongst New Zealanders. He says it is hard to vote well if you don't know the basics. Read more
Wellington, 9 September 2020 – Almost a third of Kiwi voters do not know which political parties are in Parliament and less than half understand how a party can get there, according to a new study. With elections just around the corner, new research by The New Zealand initiative reveals just 69% of Kiwis can name all five political parties in Parliament today. Read more
Are Kiwis taking their civics for granted? American columnist H.L. Read more