Canadian First Nations are helping tackle Canada’s housing crisis through council-like authority over their own land. Our new report highlights this proven Canadian turnaround success story and draws lessons for New Zealand. Read more
Last week, Treasury released yet another warning about New Zealand’s fiscal future. It was the same message they have been delivering for twenty years: population ageing will create spending pressures that the current tax base cannot support. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton talked to Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB about the Reserve Bank's recent self-review, which found the bank was too slow to raise interest rates after COVID-19. He argued the Reserve Bank should have recognised earlier that it was dealing with a supply shock rather than a demand problem, noting that excessive money printing in response to COVID's economic disruption drove inflation to 7.3% and required painful interest rate hikes to bring it back under control. Read more
Heather du Plessis-Allan discussed the Reserve Bank's handling of inflation during COVID on Newstalk ZB, highlighting that The New Zealand Initiative first identified that COVID could cause inflation a year and a half before the Reserve Bank began tightening in October 2021. She noted the Initiative also warned in February 2022 that inflation was becoming a problem, while the bank continued its cheap lending programme until December 2022 when inflation had already reached 7.2%. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton talked to Charlotte Cook on RNZ about US President Donald Trump's repeated threat to impose 100% tariffs on foreign films. He explained that such tariffs would be practically impossible to implement on digital services like films, but suggested the threat could provide an opportunity for countries like New Zealand to negotiate an international agreement to scale back film production subsidies. Listen below. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This submission on the draft Standardised Code of Conduct for Local Authorities (“the draft Code”) is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative). Read more
New Zealand’s economy shrank 0.9 per cent in the June quarter. A chorus of commentators, politicians and economists are blaming the Reserve Bank for this poor performance. Read more
Roger Partridge talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about his analysis of how New Zealand judges are returning gang patches to offenders despite Parliament's clear intention to ban them through the Gangs Act 2024. He argued that courts are overstepping their constitutional role by using judicial tools like the "principle of legality" and tikanga considerations to sidestep Parliament's democratically expressed will, undermining both the rule of law and democratic legitimacy. Read more
A young TikTok activist has discovered something shocking about New Zealand policymaking. Brace yourself: A leading New Zealand think tank recommended a knowledge-rich curriculum for schools. Read more
New Zealand has always tolerated a bit of theatre in local politics. This year, in Wellington though, it is more like the theatre tolerating the politics. Read more
A lot of changes are coming in competition policy. Last week, the government announced a package of reforms that, overall, set the Commerce Commission on a more activist tack. Read more
Australians watching the economic drama unfold across the Tasman might find the plot familiar: An economy shrinks far faster than anyone forecast. Manufacturing slumps. Read more
At Eden Park, concerts are capped at twelve a year from six artists. Weekday shows must finish by 11 pm, with a maximum duration of five hours. Read more
In this episode, James talks to Craig Mellare and Abdul Razeed, senior lecturers at the University of Sydney Business School, about their empirical study on grade inflation in Australian higher education. They discuss findings showing that grades have risen significantly over the past decade despite no improvement in student ability, and explore the institutional pressures driving this phenomenon including student evaluation systems, time constraints on academic staff, and the need to manage student appeals and expectations. Read more
Roger Partridge talked to Francesca Rudkin on Newstalk ZB about the NZ Herald's Mood of the Boardroom survey, describing business leaders' sentiment as "grim" due to New Zealand's struggling economy and high cost of living. He called for greater bipartisanship on long-term economic issues like retirement savings and infrastructure, while noting that Trump's tariffs have significantly impacted CEO confidence despite the global community underestimating the reality of his trade policies. Read more