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Last week, the National Business Review reported that the New Zealand Government is considering introducing so-called land value uplift charges to finance new infrastructure projects. Papers obtained by the NBR under the Official Information Act show that the New Zealand Transport Agency and the Ministry of Transport are weighing the pros and cons of making property owners bear the costs of projects that increase the value of their land. Read more

The Coalition government’s first budget is just over two weeks away. Its core is always fiscal policy – how much it is planning to spend and how it is planning to fund that spending. Read more

On Tuesday, economist Eric Crampton argued that legislation to prohibit foreign property buyers will do nothing to alleviate the housing crisis. Today, he lays out all the other reasons why the ban makes no sense. Read more

There is not a shred of evidence the prohibition on foreign property buyers will alleviate the housing crisis. It is popu, argues economist Eric Crampton. Read more

According to Oscar Wilde’s play, Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), “a cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” This quip has since migrated to refer to the economics profession. It tells us much about how economics is perceived. Read more

The autumn storm that took out parts of Auckland’s power grid last week spared Wellington. The weather in the capital remained relatively calm – or at least no worse than any other wintry day. Read more

When you are in a hole, stop drilling. That must have been the Government’s motivation for stopping oil and gas exploration. Read more

The biggest lesson of 20th Century economics is that it is hard to get anything right if prices are wrong. It is high time that lesson were applied to transport. Read more