Fevered with Covid and isolated in a Te Anau motel, I imagined the following interview. Q: Finance Ministers traditionally urge people to be prudent – not to borrow to invest in shares. Read more
The GFC had many casualties. In New Zealand, one was the former Securities Commission. Read more
In July last year a furore erupted when seven eminent professors from the University of Auckland published a letter in the New Zealand Listener. They wrote to criticise Ministry of Education plans to include mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge) in the science curriculum for schools. Read more
Oliver Hartwich talks to Michael Laws, The Platform about housing in New Zealand. He comments on a range of issues including affordability, building costs and the supply of materials, local government, land supply and land zoning, and interest rates. Read more
Monetary policy always had an air of the mystical. The past is filled with fallen sages like Alan Greenspan, inflation-warriors like Paul Volcker and gurus like Milton Friedman. Read more
The Commerce Commission is losing the respect of the business community and its system of governance needs overhauling, says the New Zealand Initiative think tank in a new report released this morning. To read more click here. Read more
Commercial regulatory agencies wield enormous power. They can take away a business’s licence to operate; impose restrictions on how it operates; and take enforcement action by exercising powers of interrogation, search and seizure that the police can only dream of. Read more
Wellington (Tuesday, 24 May 2022) – Respect for New Zealand’s commercial regulators has declined over the past four years, research by think tank The New Zealand Initiative reveals. Among the regulators whose influence is felt across the entire economy, the decline in the Commerce Commission’s previously poor performance is the most alarming revelation in the Initiative’s new report, Reassessing the regulators – The Good the Bad and the Commerce Commission. Read more
There were a lot of truly classic episodes of Seinfeld, but among the very best, at least for economists, was “The Bottle Deposit”. And we may be in for a repeat if the Ministry for the Environment has anything to say about it. Read more
In conversation with Oliver Hartwich, Roger Partridge explains the findings from his new report ‘Reassessing the Regulators – The good, the bad, and the Commerce Commission’. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
New research shows that businesses are losing faith in the Commerce Commission. Roger Partridge talks to Heather du Plessis-Allen on Newstalk ZB about his new report. Read more
Commercial regulatory agencies wield enormous power. They can take away a business’s licence to operate. Read more
Eric Crampton talks to Sean Plunket on the Platform about the 2022 Budget. He comments on the fuel tax rebate, New Zealand's debt levels, inflation and explains the effect of the $350 to the 'squeezed' middle. Read more
The Ministry for the Environment’s discussion document suggests a container deposit return scheme as a way of reducing reliance on landfill, reducing litter, and increasing recycling. Of these, only reducing litter is a substantial policy concern. Read more
It’s a shame Grant Robertson didn’t sit down with The Spinoff’s Duncan Grieve before Budget Day. The Spinoff has come up with an ingenious new policy. Read more