A few years ago, I found an old calendar from 1979 in a box of things from my childhood. It was filled with the scribblings of a four-year-old. Read more
In this episode, Oliver speaks with retired Major General John Howard about the escalating Middle East conflict, unpacking the military realities behind the United States' shifting approach and the growing role of global powers like China and Russia. They explore what disruption in the Strait of Hormuz means for energy markets and why New Zealand may be more exposed to fuel and supply shocks than it realises. Read more
Every two or three years, the Ministry of Education and the teachers’ unions engage in the spectacle of ritual combat known as collective bargaining. In 2025, the Public Service Commissioner took over from the Ministry in the arena. Read more
Being a practical scheme whereby New Zealand's retirees may personally contribute to the fiscal sustainability they currently enjoy Superannuation reform is politically impossible, so let us not bother. Instead, let us fix the problem the way we have been fixing it anyway, just more honestly. Read more
New Zealand's resource management system is broken. Many attempts have been made over the past three decades to fix it. Read more
Winston Peters was in Westport on Sunday, announcing that a future NZ First government would return 50 per cent of all mining royalties to the regions where mining occurs. It is one of the more sensible growth ideas to emerge from this election campaign so far. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 1 April 2026) - “New Zealand's resource management system is broken”, said Nick Clark, author of The New Zealand Initiative’s new research note RMA Reform: Getting the new system right. “Many attempts have been made over the past three decades to fix it. Read more
“New Zealand's resource management system is broken”, said Nick Clark, author of The New Zealand Initiative’s new research note RMA Reform: Getting the new system right. “Many attempts have been made over the past three decades to fix it. Read more
In this episode, Eric talks with Andreas Heuser, partner at Heuser Whittington and lead economist on the government's fuel security study, about why the price system is New Zealand's best tool for managing fuel scarcity in the wake of the Strait of Hormuz closure. They discuss why calls for rationing are misguided, what the Marsden Point decision got right, and how the existing tax and transfer system can address the real pain households are facing. Read more
Nick Clark's research note on the government's draft RMA reform bills was featured on Newstalk ZB's news segment. The bulletin reported the Initiative's warning that the bills risk creating a worse system than the current one, with Clark calling for a property rights presumption to be embedded upfront in the legislation. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton talked to Wallace Chapman on RNZ's The Panel about the growing problem of on-street parking in intensifying suburbs, arguing that free street parking is poorly managed and creates perverse incentives for townhouse buyers to forgo on-site car parks. Dr Crampton proposed tradable resident parking passes as a market-based solution, giving existing homeowners something valuable they can sell to newcomers while better managing scarce street space. Read more
2025 marked a turning point for The New Zealand Initiative’s mission to build a more prosperous country. Ideas we have championed for years moved from research papers into the Government’s reform programme. Read more
There is an old joke about a man who visits his doctor complaining of fatigue. The doctor prescribes a course of vitamins and tells him to come back in a month. Read more
Friction, at least as a metaphor for real-world inconveniences and minor hassles in doing things, is usually viewed as a bad thing. Something best done away with, if possible. Read more
Dr Michael Johnston talked to Emile Donovan on Nights on RNZ about the Ministry of Education's plan not to build any new single-sex state schools, arguing that while co-education has clear social benefits, a blanket ban removes choice, particularly for families who can't afford private alternatives. Dr Johnston noted that his research found single-sex schools showed better academic results on average for both sexes, especially for Māori and Pasifika boys and boys from lower socioeconomic communities. Read more