Last week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points to 4.25 percent. In contrast, the RBA kept Australia’s cash rate on hold at its last meeting. Read more
My recent report, Who Makes the Law? Reining in the Supreme Court,[i] has sparked widespread debate about judicial overreach by the Supreme Court. Read more
The tech sector’s pivot to Trump was an especially odd aspect of a decidedly odd American Presidential election. Silicon Valley’s tech sector had previously seemed populated by centrist Democrats – Peter Thiel aside. Read more
Economists’ open letters don’t have that great of a track record. In 1981, some 364 economists warned against UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s fiscal policies. Read more
New Zealand is building its way out of its housing crisis. A few years ago, the island nation was synonymous with unaffordability. Read more
You might think that a national organisation awarding research grants would fund the best proposals. You might even think that funding decisions would be made by experts who can identify quality when they see it. 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
New Zealand introduced a comprehensive GST in 1986. Value-added taxes elsewhere were riddled with politically-driven exemptions. Read more
Dr Murray Horn talked to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB criticising a newly released New Zealand government COVID report for being too generous in its assessment and missing key issues like excessive economic stimulus and poor utilisation of the private sector. In his discussion, Dr Horn particularly emphasised how the government's politicisation of the pandemic response and monopolisation of its execution prevented proper adaptation and learning from mistakes. Read more
In this podcast episode, Eric and Bryce discuss the history of regulatory reform efforts in New Zealand since 2001, focusing on the development of the Regulatory Standards Bill and its original mechanism of court declarations of inconsistency. They explore how diminished trust in courts' interpretations of laws has complicated this approach today, while also examining why past attempts to ensure good regulatory quality have faced challenges. Read more
Wellington (Friday, 29 November 2024) - The New Zealand Initiative welcomes today's announcement that New Zealand will follow Australia in excluding high-income earners from personal grievance claims for unjustified dismissal. The change implements recommendations from the Initiative's 2021 research note "Nothing Costs Nothing: Why unjustified dismissal procedures should not apply to the highly paid" (available here). Read more
You can learn a lot about a household’s priorities, or an agency’s priorities, when budgets tighten. For the past few months, we have heard a lot about how the health system has been cut to the bone. Read more
John Gerritsen on RNZ questions whether to keep NCEA Level 1, following an Education Review Office report that calls it unreliable and unclear in purpose. Dr Michael Johnston talks to RNZ saying the entire NCEA system needs review, particularly to create better pathways for students pursuing trades and apprenticeships rather than university. Read more
On The Platform, Dr Eric Crampton and Sean Plunkett discuss a controversial case where the National Public Health Service submitted objections to block McDonald's from opening in Wānaka, which Crampton characterises as an inappropriate and potentially vindictive use of the land-use planning process. The Health Minister has questioned the relevance of these submissions and raised the issue with Health New Zealand's Chief Executive, while both Crampton and Plunkett view this as emblematic of broader problems with bureaucratic overreach in New Zealand. Read more
On his show on Newstalk ZB, Mike Hosking discussed a case highlighted by Dr Eric Crampton about how a McDonald's opening in Wānaka requires extensive bureaucratic processes including an 8-page submission, cultural impact assessments, and planetary health considerations. Hosking agreed with Eric's view that this exemplifies everything wrong with the RMA, expressing frustration that what should be a straightforward business venture has turned into an expensive, bureaucratic "circus" involving multiple government agencies and cultural consultations. Read more