Reports & Media

Donald Trump rode to office pledging to “drain the swamp,” fight runaway bureaucracy, and defend ordinary Americans against elite-driven progressivism. In a world of “woke” excess and activist courts, these promises resonated deeply with conservatives who believe in smaller government, individual liberty, and strong national defence. Read more

Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s critique in the December New Zealand Law Journal of my report, Who Makes the Law? Reining in the Supreme Court,i is remarkable in what it fails to address.ii Rather than engaging with the substantive constitutional arguments about concerning trends in our highest court’s jurisprudence, his response amounts to ‘nothing to see here, trust the judges.’ More remarkably still, he resorts to ad hominem argument, suggesting critics can be dismissed as simply serving business interests. Read more

How should the government fund the billions more dollars needed to improve New Zealand’s infrastructure, boost defence spending and much else? It must be done by some combination of cutting other spending, raising taxes, borrowing, or selling assets. Read more

Every student of game theory knows that madness can have its advantages. If your enemy believes you will retaliate, regardless of the cost to yourself, they may think twice before crossing you. Read more

Much of my work for The New Zealand Initiative is on local government. I am interested in how local government can contribute to a growing economy. Read more

Imagine if your household owned a share in many valuable things - houses, businesses, forests, and more - worth about $275,000. But the income you were getting was meagre. Read more

“New Zealand is the best country on Planet Earth,” Christopher Luxon keeps telling anyone. Indeed, he has been saying this since before becoming Prime Minister. Read more

Treasury is consulting on changes to the Natural Hazards Insurance Levy – formerly known as the EQC levy. The Herald’s Jenée Tibshraeny reports that Treasury is considering increasing the Natural Hazards Commission’s cap from $345,000 to $460,000 while increasing the levy by up to $400 per year to make up the difference. Read more

Everybody knows the dice are loaded. At least according to Canadian policy analyst Leonard Cohen. Read more