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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Green Party’s “Poverty Action Plan” is all about tackling poverty, although the outcomes may differ from what the party expects. While it is meant to help struggling Kiwis, the plan will instead provoke emigration, disincentivise work and saving and stifle investment in education and skills, capital, enterprise and innovation. Read more
The ACT party has announced its new employment insurance policy that allows a taxpayer to claim 55% of their average weekly earnings if they lost their job. Oliver Hartwich talks to Kerre McIvor on Newstalk ZB about this scheme. Read more
I don’t know why people are getting so worked up about private details being leaked to MPs. If the Covid-19 crisis taught us anything, it’s that privacy has no place in the “new normal.” The mantra of the internet is that information “wants” to be free, as if data itself has agency. Read more