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Prime Minister Luxon has declared 2025 ‘the year of growth’, making economic expansion his government’s top priority. This ambition is laudable, and the government has initiated many important reforms that will help. Read more
Heather Du Plessis-Allan discussed how Finance Minister Nicola Willis excluded several organisations, including The New Zealand Initiative, from the budget lock-up on Newstalk ZB. She expressed disappointment with this decision, noting that the people at the New Zealand Initiative are "incredibly bright" and their scrutiny would benefit the country. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB about the government's increased capital spending, describing it as "a relatively minor announcement" and "a drop in the government's ocean."
Dr Hartwich also discussed the potential for asset recycling, suggesting the government could sell state-owned companies in the energy sector and its Air New Zealand stake, and noted that the retention of the R&D tax credit provides certainty for businesses already using the scheme. Listen below Read more
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus is condemned to spend eternity rolling a massive boulder uphill, time after time, for no lasting gain. Every time he gets it uphill, it escapes his grasp and rolls back to the bottom. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about the proposed social media ban for under-16s in Australia and similar potential legislation in New Zealand. Dr Crampton discussed the practical challenges of implementing such bans, explaining the "trilemma" of any potential implementation system having at least one undesirable property: either being easy for kids to circumvent, burdensome for adult users, or ending internet privacy. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton talked to Matt Heath and Tyler Adams on Newstalk ZB about the proposed social media ban for under sixteens in New Zealand. Dr Crampton discussed the mixed evidence on social media harms, the benefits for young people, and explained why implementing such a ban would inevitably create problematic trade-offs between ease of circumvention, adult user convenience, and online privacy. Read more
On his show Canterbury Mornings on Newstalk ZB, John MacDonald discussed David Seymour's criticism of New Zealand's government bureaucracy and Dr Oliver Hartwich's insights on streamlining the current system of 28 ministers to as few as 15-20. MacDonald agreed with both Seymour's description of the system as "a big, complicated bureaucratic beast" and Dr Hartwich's assessment that many portfolios are unnecessarily split, creating inefficient silos among the country's 82 portfolios and 41 government departments. Read more
This year marks my twentieth anniversary working in think tanks. Two decades ago, I produced my first major publication for London’s Policy Exchange with the late Professor Alan W. Read more
One of the pleasures of my job as Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative is hosting events with Ministers explaining their new policies to our members. Last week, we hosted Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden at our annual retreat. Read more
In this episode, Oliver interviews Jemma Stevenson, a new economist at The New Zealand Initiative, about her background and current research on government inefficiency. Jemma is working on a sequel to the Initiative's research on "Cabinet Congestion," examining whether New Zealand's complex government structure of 81 portfolios and 28 ministers leads to increased spending compared to more streamlined systems like Norway's. Read more
