The New Zealand Treasury's latest forecasts and the Government's Budget Policy Statement (BPS) are disquieting. Public debt management looks lax and possibly illegal, government spending entrenches excess rather than tackles it, and productivity growth measures are welcome but piecemeal. Read more

Last week, eleven New Zealand economists issued a public letter advocating more government spending relative to revenue. That means yet more debt. Read more

Imagine sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by bills and bank statements. Your household expenses have spiralled out of control over the past five years, rising by nearly 160% while your income grew by only 142%. Read more

Max Rashbrooke's recent research note, "High earner tax rates: New Zealand in context," makes a case that rich people in New Zealand pay less tax than they would on the same income in some of the highest-taxed countries in the world. But is this really the case? Read more

Opposition leader Chris Hipkins has said that the Labour Party is looking at campaigning in 2026 on the need for heavier taxation. Capital gains taxes, wealth taxes and a land tax are “back on the table”. Read more

Local councils and central government are in some financial difficulty. They own and operate many commercial assets with mixed objectives and mixed success. Read more

This week the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) lowered the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from 5.50% to 5.25%. Many market economists predicted this change. Read more

In recent weeks, media reports have highlighted two seemingly unrelated issues: a severe shortage of General Practitioners (GPs) and the closure of businesses due to soaring electricity prices. While these issues may appear to be distinct, they share a root cause. Read more

The record net migration loss of 60,100 New Zealand citizens in the year to May 2024 is an orange warning light for New Zealand. But fears that it represents a worrying brain drain are statistically premature. Read more