It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines.
Read MoreThe Case for a Universal Family Benefit
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal Cost
Read MoreAccelerating the Growth Rate?
There is a constant theme from the economic commentariat that New Zealand needs to lift its economic growth rate, coupled with policies which they are certain will attain that objective. Their prescriptions are usually characterised by two features. First, they tend to be in their advocate’s self-interest. Second, they are unbacked by any systematic empirical evidence using, instead selective anecdote. Well, yes; there is always an example to confirm one’s prejudice. But rarely will it stand up in a court of science. (The conversation is not helped by those who cannot discriminate between productivity growth is slowing down and productivity is falling.)
Read MoreDoes a Fiscal Debt Target Make Sense?
Do we treat the government finances with the common sense that household’s manage theirs?
Read MoreHow Are We to Think About Winston Peter’s Fiscal Hole Claim?
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government.
Read MoreFiscal Policy is Getting Harder According to the Minister of Finance
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?
Read MoreHow Did FTX Crash?
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.
Read MoreHow Centralised Should Our Health System Be?
The Government says it will give localities more control over healthcare decisions. But how?
Read MoreWhy Did Child Poverty Increase Recently?
Not so much from a lack of nominal income but from rising mortgage interest rates
Read MoreDo We Take Regulatory Impact Statements Seriously?
The Sorry Story of Earthquake-Prone Buildings.
Read MorePuffing Policy
Public policy towards tobacco consumption remains politically sensitive.
Read MoreTe Tiriti as a Social Contract
Interpreting the agreement made at Waitangi as a social contract is a way to move forward on treaty issues.
Read MoreLet's put down our chisels and let te Tiriti o Waitangi evolve
The debate this Waitangi Day is urging us to certainty and resolution, but we should resist the temptation. History cannot be carved in stone and those trying risk dividing the country
Read MoreOur Understandings of Te Tiriti Has Evolved Organically.
Why try to stop that evolution?
Read MoreDavid Seymour promise of grand designs reveals tension at the heart of government
ACT leader David Seymour spoke of generational change in his state of the nation speech. Yet this government is built more for tweaking than transformation, so what’s a determined change-maker to do?
Read MoreThere is A Lot to Be Learned from the Award Winning Film Oppenheimer
And even more from the book it is based upon: “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Read MoreThe Prime Minister’s Biggest Challenge
Luxon has to address the need to maintain and enhance New Zealand’s social cohesion.
Read MoreThe State of the Economy: January 2024
The New Zealand economy is struggling; the new government will struggle to implement its economic promises.
Read MoreA Revolutionary Economist
Robert Solow transformed the way we think about economic growth.
Read MoreNational-led government's 'back on track' promise somewhere down the track
As politicans break for the year, the clock is still ticking on the government’s 100 Day Plan. So what’s it delivered so far? And what’s it taught us about the new coalition?
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