A couple of years ago, I wrote a short report making the case that New Zealand is the world’s last sane place. Or, at least, if it’s going mad, it’s going mad more slowly than the rest of the world. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative has been a staunch supporter of the coalition government’s housing agenda. While we warned that Kiwibuild would not fix the housing crisis but rather risked diverting the government’s attention from more important reforms, we have had every confidence in Minister Twyford’s wider vision. Read more
“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes,” said Douglas Adams of the Silastic Armourfiends of Striterax in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The aliens believed they could control their anger by punching potatoes. Read more
Imagine you wanted to establish a bar. Before you could worry about vintage, décor or music, local activists might scare you away. Read more
Fans of the classic Australian political satire The Hollowmen will remember the standard trick for inflating a figure when doing political math: roll together several years' expenditures to get a bigger number. A smallish-sounding $10 million spending announcement, rolled up over 10 years, becomes $100 million. Read more
What are budget advisers to make of the Reserve Bank governor’s call for increased public and private spending? Adrian Orr has reportedly even floated, as a future contingency option, taxing cash holdings to encourage savers to either spend or invest to stimulate the economy. Read more
Have you ever driven past one of those stores that mostly sells blinds but calls itself ‘Not Just Blinds’ and wondered whether they should have thought a bit bigger in their marketing? This week, the coalition government announced plans for a parliamentary budget office charged with providing independent costings of election policy promises, and with keeping an eye on the government’s compliance with fiscal rules. Read more
Eric Crampton spoke to Radio New Zealand about the government's proposal to establish a new, independent office to cost the policies of political parties.
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At the 2019 Building Nations conference, run by Infrastructure New Zealand, Dr Oliver Hartwich discusses how localism could work in New Zealand, and highlights our research on the topic.
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New Zealand’s way of regulating nightlife often restricts the opportunities for night owls. This has made nights overly tedious without improving issues of public health and security. Read more
To reinvigorate nightlife in our cities we need to take a more modern and balanced approach, says a report released today by The New Zealand Initiative. Living after Midnight: For a better night-time environment highlights New Zealand’s antiquated way of restricting life after dark. Read more
To reinvigorate nightlife in our cities we need to take a more modern and balanced approach, says our new report, Living after Midnight: For a better night-time environment. Executive Director Oliver Hartwich spoke to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB to discuss how Amsterdam and Melbourne have come up with pro-active solutions that enable a thriving nightlife, and how we could do the same in New Zealand. Read more
When Germany’s statistics office released the economic growth rate for the second quarter, the disappointing 0.1 percent decline added to the troubles on Wall St. Little wonder stock markets are looking anxiously at Germany: the German economy remains the largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world (behind only the United States, China and Japan). Read more
It would be insane to do the same thing over and over again and still expect different results. It’s a lesson those embroiled in the politics of the night have yet to learn. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative enthusiastically welcomes the Coalition Government’s announcement of an Independent Parliamentary Budget Office. Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Associate Finance Minister James Shaw jointly announced the Office today, to be operational from mid-2021. Read more