The Pharmaceutical Management Agency, Pharmac, attracts plenty of praise and criticism. It has achieved notably low prices for many pharmaceutical medicines but is widely criticised for not subsidising a wider range of medicines and being slow to subsidise new medicines. Read more
Wellington, 23 July 2020 – New Zealand needs to ‘raft up’ with other Covid-free countries while building stronger border capabilities, according to a new report by The New Zealand Initiative. And a voucher programme for helping returning Kiwis cover the cost of managed isolation could help New Zealand’s managed isolation system safely scale up. Read more
Up to a million Kiwis live overseas with a right to return to New Zealand. While the country is now effectively free of Covid-19, with cases only in the country’s quarantine facilities, the pandemic rages abroad and is unlikely to abate anytime soon. Read more
Research fellow David Law discussed tax issues and how New Zealand will pay for Covid-19 on Radio New Zealand - The Panel hosted by Wallace Chapman. Read more
New Zealand is envied for its zero community cases of Covid-19, but the economy is hurting and the current hard border closure is controversial. Oliver Hartwich talks to Phillip Adams on ABC Radio National about how successful New Zealand really is. Read more
The longer the Covid-19 pandemic rages abroad, the more important it will be to keep New Zealand’s borders safe. Border safety cannot mean closing them since up to a million Kiwis live overseas and have a right to return. Read more
Mike Hosking explains on Newstalk ZB why it is so important to read Oliver Hartwich's latest NZ Herald article "A return to normal? Forget about it."
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Covid-19 is not just a medical and economic crisis. It is a historical watershed moment with massive effects for entire generations. Read more
This year has created a “new normal,” at least outside of Fortress New Zealand. Handshakes are likely a thing of the past; hugging is no longer kosher; masks are now mandatory in many places; and concerts, conferences or café catch-ups could become a distant memory. Read more
It is a pity Kiwis cannot build a mirror image “New Zealand v2” somewhere in the Pacific to test controversial policies like cannabis legalisation. Actually, that’s why the US is such a great political system. Read more
Perhaps the election of Judith Collins to the National leadership does not change her party’s immediate electoral prospects. National is still fighting an uphill battle to unseat an extremely popular Prime Minister. Read more
With the appointment of Judith Collins as leader of the National Party, folk across the political spectrum hope the party is beginning to re-emerge as a genuine counterpoint to the current Labour-led government. New Zealand Initiative director Oliver Hartwich explains why Collins may be what National needs and why the political position of conservatism is so difficult to get excited about in a globalised world. Read more
Oliver Hartwich talks to Leighton Smith on Newstalk ZB about a wide range of topics including why this election matters greatly, the most important matters to keep in mind when we vote, monetary stability, goals and inflation measuring.
The New Zealand Initiative · Oliver Hartwich talks to Leighton Smith about a wide range of topics affecting New Zealand Read more
A good project manager knows that unnecessary bells and whistles endanger a project's aims. Gold-plating a specification wastes resources and threatens a venture’s viability. The same is also true of public policy. Read more
It could have all been so nice. At their meeting last Thursday, Eurogroup finance ministers should have elected Spain’s economy minister Nadia Calviño the group’s new head. Read more