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A research note released today by The New Zealand Initiative mainly attributes the outbreak of inflation in many economies to central bank mistakes. Co-authored by Graeme Wheeler, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and Bryce Wilkinson, Senior Research Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, the paper argues that central banks overall: were too confident about their monetary policy framework; were too confident about their models; were too confident they could control output and employment; lost their focus on price stability and took on too many mandates; faced conflicts in some cases with conflicting ‘dual mandate’ objectives; and were distracted by extraneous political objectives, such as climate change. Read more

Read our submission, written by Dr Bryce Wilkinson to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. This submission responds to the Bank’s 1 June 2022 consultation paper, Supporting New Zealand’s economic stability. Read more

In making this submission, we have drawn on the research and recommendations in our report, Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour (July 2019) (our Report). A copy of our Report is appended to this submission. Read more

Kiwis households are paying more than $3,000 extra on essentials than they were 12 months ago, and policies implemented by the Government and Reserve Bank are contributing to the problem. The rising cost of living for Kiwis, shows New Zealand has the second-highest inflation rate among our major trading partners, besides the USA, and this is plausibly the result of excessive government stimulus. Read more

We strongly oppose the proposed Social Unemployment Insurance. This submission explains why we believe that such an addition to the New Zealand welfare state is undesirable. Read more

The Initiative undertakes research that contributes to the development of sound public policies in New Zealand and the creation of a competitive, open and dynamic economy and a free, prosperous, fair and cohesive society. The Initiative’s members include two New Zealand supermarket operators, Woolworths New Zealand and Foodstuffs North Island. Read more

When presenting Budget 2021 in May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced that an unemployment insurance (UI) scheme was being developed for New Zealand. Prior to this, the Productivity Commission had considered UI as part of its inquiry into technological change and the future of work, as had the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Read more

On 26 October 2021, the Reserve Bank released Climate Changed 2021 And Beyond. The report, timed to coincide with the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, showcases the Reserve Bank’s efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and new climate change disclosure rules for banks. Read more

New Zealand must prepare for next global financial crisis New Zealand’s economy suffered less damage from the pandemic than analysts expected. But new research warns, however, that just as we are emerging from the COVID-19, a new crisis is already on the horizon. Read more

Closing his 2020 Budget speech, Finance Minister Grant Robertson looked back to the First and Fourth Labour governments for lessons on how to tackle New Zealand’s current economic challenges. His first history lesson was that the way forward today lay in the “great traditions of the First Labour Government” (1935–49) that “rebuilt New Zealand after the Great Depression” under Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage. Read more