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In the cut and thrust of politics it was no surprise that Environment Minister Nick Smith denounced the Labour Party’s new housing policy. After all, while it is the opposition’s job to oppose government policies, it is just as much the incumbent’s job to shoot down ideas coming from across the house. Read more
Thanks to YouTube, there is likely to be an entire generation whose only knowledge of Hayek and Keynes is through rap (for those of you born before 1990, just go on the interweb and search for the Hayek and Keynes epic rap battle). Most undergraduate economics students will be able to summarise the great divide between Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes on monetary and fiscal policy. Read more
"Different strokes for different folks". So goes that famed line from Sly & The Family Stone’s 1969 hit, Everyday People. Read more
Wellington (19 October 2015): Central government needs to give regions their own regulatory toolbox if the country is to unleash the economic potential that remains underutilised with the current one-size-fits-all governance model. That is according to the latest report from The New Zealand Initiative, In the Zone: Creating a Toolbox for Regional Prosperity, which was released today. Read more
As Mahatma Gandhi once said: “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win”. I was reminded of this quote when I read about George Osborne’s speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester last week. Read more
As Mahatma Gandhi once said: “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win”. I was reminded of this quote when I read about George Osborne’s speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester last week. Read more
If you wanted to sum up the madness of mining regulation in New Zealand the tongue-in-cheek phrase “what’s yours is mine and mine’s my own” is a great fit, as judged by a situation playing out in Northland right now. Minewatch Northland, an anti-mining group, is urging local residents to resist any attempt by Evolution Mining to conduct exploration work near Whangarei over concerns it could introduce heavy metals and other chemicals into the waterways. Read more
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) has made all kinds of waves in the media recently, but the least expected has to be the news that Auckland Council spent two and half hours debating the free trade agreement. The result of the meeting was that the council’s Regional Strategy and Policy Committee kicked for touch by requesting that the final text of the agreement be released before a firmer position was taken on the trade deal. Read more
The saying that if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail seems particularly apt when describing central government’s approach to local government reform. Staring some pretty daunting challenges in the face, like the wave of infrastructure that needs to be refreshed off an ageing ratepayer base over the next 30 years, central government’s preferred solution so far has been to amalgamate councils into bigger structures. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich from The New Zealand Initiative explains that, while they might make homeowners feel richer, high home prices are not a cause for celebration. It’s time to remember what a home’s true function is and why unaffordability is problematic. Read more