When expectations are low it is easy to be pleasantly surprised. Back in the 1980s, a school teacher once told me of a spontaneous surge of gratitude he had experienced towards a wayward pupil that morning. Read more
Eric Crampton discusses with Tova O'Brien on Today FM whether we should ban single use plastic bottles and phase them out with the rest of single use plastics. Read more
Wellington (Tuesday, 5 July 2022) – A policy paper released today by The New Zealand Initiative suggests that Minister Wood's assertions about wage rates are based on myths rather than facts. The Minister’s claim that labour’s share has fallen since 1991 is not true for employee’s share, and it is employees’ liberty that he intends to reduce. Read more
The economists descended on Wellington last week. Or, at least, many shuffled their way from the Ministries over to Victoria University to meet with academics from across the country for the annual three-day conference of the New Zealand Association of Economists. Read more
Last month, the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety, Michael Wood, appeared before Parliament’s Education and Workforce Committee in support of the Government’s Fair Pay Agreement Bill. He was asked for his response to the New Zealand Initiative’s case that the wage rates were not showing a ‘race to the bottom,’ a decline in either employees’ share of income, or labour productivity growth since the Employment Contracts Act in 1991. Read more
In this week's podcast Dr Oliver Hartwich chats with Dr John McDermott, Executive Director of Motu and former Assistant Governor and Chief Economist at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand about monetary policy in New Zealand, the overhang of monetary stimulus from the last few years, and what will happen if we don't wind this back. OLIVER HARTWICH 0:05 Hello and welcome to the New Zealand Initiative’s Podcast. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich chats with Dr John McDermott, Executive Director of Motu and former Assistant Governor and Chief Economist at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand about monetary policy in New Zealand, the overhang of monetary stimulus from the last few years, and what will happen if we don't wind this back. To read the transcript click here. Read more
Suppose your middle-schooler came home with a math assignment. She was told to measure everyone in the house and report on heights. Read more
“We have lost clarity of how we add value, why we are here, what we exist for.” That was among the findings in an internal review prepared by the New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA), obtained by Radio New Zealand (RNZ). But that statement could equally apply to New Zealand as a whole. Read more
In an article in the June 11-17 edition of the New Zealand Listener, speech-language therapist Karena Shannon argued that our education system over-values literacy and under-values oral language. Shannon correctly noted that oral language is “innate” in human beings, whereas literacy is “constructed”. Read more
A major part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s itinerary while in Europe this week included speaking at the NATO leaders’ summit in Spain. And what a good, powerful speech it was. Read more
John Law was a gambling, womanising, dualist, murderer and fugitive. He was also an economic visionary. Read more
It is a pity we hardly teach history anymore. Or economics. Read more
The last thing Europe needs right now is a war. Or, more precisely, another war. Read more
On Friday, 17 June, the American Food and Drug Administration approved the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for children over the age of 6 months. The Centres for Disease Control recommended the vaccines the next day. Read more