Professor Sir David Skegg raised the 64-thousand-dollar (or perhaps 64 billion-dollar) question in his testimony before Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee this week. He asked whether the government had a clear the strategic objective for its unprecedented level-four lockdown. Read more
Yesterday, New Zealand’s biggest magazine publisher Bauer announced it would close its operations. Many well-established magazines including The Listener, North & South and Metro will disappear from the shelves forever. Read more
In a Select Committee this week, then-Police Commissioner Mike Bush expressed his unwillingness to release the “complex” guidelines his officers are using to enforce lockdown. Now, I don’t know about you, but the idea of the police with secret regulations you can’t break doesn’t spark joy in my life. Read more
If New Zealand can’t recover from the economic “heart attack” of self-imposed lockdown, it could face GDP losses at Great Depression levels, according to a New Zealand Initiative research note. While the Covid-19 pandemic has not ruined New Zealand’s economic capabilities, the lockdown has forced the country into an unprecedented productivity pause which the Initiative’s senior fellow Bryce Wilkinson says could slice away about $10,000 per household this year. Read more
Wellington, 3 April - If New Zealand can’t recover from the economic “heart attack” of self-imposed lockdown, it could face GDP losses at Great Depression levels, according to a New Zealand Initiative research note. While the Covid-19 pandemic has not ruined New Zealand’s economic capabilities, the lockdown has forced the country into an unprecedented productivity pause which the Initiative’s senior fellow Bryce Wilkinson says could slice away about $10,000 per household this year. Read more
Our chief editor Nathan Smith is joined by chief economist Dr Eric Crampton and senior fellow Dr Bryce Wilkinson. In this week’s podcast, they discuss whether the Government’s Covid-19 cost-benefit analysis and subsequent lockdown is economically sound. Read more
More than 2000 New Zealand businesses have annual revenues over $80 million. That is the baseline for "tailor-made" assistance that Finance Minister Grant Robertson has promised to provide to larger firms that are suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. Read more
Wellington, 1 April - Rushing to deal with new vaping legislation during an unprecedented economic lockdown is not just folly, it is anti-democratic, according to a public submission by the New Zealand Initiative. While most businesses and public services are shut down as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government has retained its deadline for public submissions about its tabled Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendments Bill, due today. Read more
Read our submission, written by Eric Crampton, to the Associate Minister of Health and the Health Select Committee on the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill. The Initiative has, over the past several years, undertaken research into tobacco harm reduction policies. Read more
In any reasonable top-10 list of things the Parliament’s health experts should be working on, the pandemic takes every slot. So why is the Health Select Committee right now working on regulate vaping? Read more
Wellington, 31 March - The New Zealand Initiative welcomes the Government’s plans to ramp up testing for Covid-19 beyond 3500 per day to get the country closer to reopening its economy. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press briefing this afternoon the Government has completed approximately 21,000 tests for the coronavirus Covid-19 already and is on track to issue 3500 tests per day. Read more
The New Zealand Government’s Covid-19 policy needs to directly boost capabilities in the health sector while providing the kind of appropriate economic support necessary when we’re all taking a lengthy staycation and some industries are put on ice. Uncertainty about the duration of this crisis makes deciding on the most suitable policy difficult. Read more
The coronavirus lockdown is a challenge for every one of us. Every worker, family, charity, public institution and firm. Read more
Eric Crampton talks to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB about restarting the economy after the Covid-19 lockdown. Read more
The Government’s response to the global coronavirus pandemic is expected to lead to a deep recession. Many companies are faced with laying off employees. Read more