Dr Oliver Hartwich on ABC Radio: Is Germany and the EU to blame for Greece? Read more
This week, Local Government New Zealand launched a funding reform pitch at central government, broadly making a case that if you want the national economy to grow, you need to fund the enablers of that growth better. This is certainly not the first such pitch that the local government sector has made to officials in Wellington on the matter. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative's 2015-2017 research programme will have a key focus on social policy, local government funding and housing affordability, and education. The 2015-2017 research programme will build on the Initiative’s prior reports, which are all available on this website. Read more
Wellington (21 July 2015): If we want to fix housing affordability, we have to make sure that growing cities are in local government’s financial interest. The New Zealand Initiative today welcomed Local Government New Zealand’s Local Government Funding Review. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich on 2GB Radio discussing Greece. Read more
If one wanted to summarise all of economics in just one word, what would it be? For obvious reasons it cannot be “supply and demand” (because that is three words). Read more
From Sunday, my colleague Jason Krupp and I will be attending the annual Local Government New Zealand conference. It is LGNZ’s flagship event of the year, bringing together 600 delegates from New Zealand's councils along with key players from the private sector, business, government and non-government agencies. Read more
This week we released a research report, A Matter of Balance: Regulating Safety. It looked into the costs and benefits of Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) campaign to reduce workplace injuries from falls from heights of less than 3 metres in residential construction. Read more
Australia National University’s Dr George Barker suggested this week that New Zealand could do well by strengthening its copyright legislation. He warned against the fair dealing exceptions that have crept into the law and asked, “Why not have copyright law like property law – i.e. Read more
The construction industry has made some substantial and laudable moves towards better safety practices. But recent changes in WorkSafe regulations, mandating extensive and expensive scaffolding for roof repairs and new builds adds, indicatively, from two to seven thousand dollars per project. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich on Radio NZ: NZ economist keeping eye on Greek crisis Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich on NBR Radio: 'Ineffective' regulations pushing house prices up.
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Dr Oliver Hartwich on Radio NZ: Preventing falls adds costs to housing Read more
As readers of this column will be aware, I am not Angela Merkel’s greatest fan. Nor do I think that her strategy on Greece has been particularly successful. Read more
Wellington (16 July 2015): As the lack of affordable housing hits crisis levels in Auckland and Christchurch, increased workplace safety compliance is costing Kiwi homeowners more than $100 million a year, according to a new report released today from research institute The New Zealand Initiative. A Matter of Balance: Regulating Safety reveals that a "falls from height" workplace safety campaign from WorkSafe New Zealand (part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE)) is adding thousands of dollars to the cost of building new homes and routine maintenance of existing homes, without proper justification. Read more