Reports & Media

Wellington (Wednesday, 28 September 2022) – New Zealand’s economists strongly support the Emissions Trading Scheme and strengthening it through a carbon dividend. The latest survey of members of the New Zealand Association of Economists finds extraordinarily strong agreement that: Tightening the ETS’s cap on emissions makes far more sense than measures like fuel economy standards on imported vehicles (53% strongly agree, 35% agree, 5% disagree); If additional market failures are present, policies should target those directly to reduce the cost of mitigating emissions (24% strongly agree, 57% agree, 2% strongly disagree); A carbon dividend to households beats measures like electric vehicle subsidies or targeted regulations for ensuring equity (45% strongly agree; 48% agree; 2% disagree). Read more

Wellington (Tuesday, 20 September 2022) – Ideology rather than evidence is the basis for the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) ‘Modern Leaning Environments’, research by think tank The New Zealand Initiative reveals. The fact that a government ministry could not produce data to support its policy for mass conversion of New Zealand’s classrooms to Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs), is the main finding of the Initiative’s new report, No Evidence, No Evaluation, No Exit – Lessons from the 'Modern Learning Environments' experiment. Read more

Wellington (Tuesday, 30 August 2022) – Fiction over fact is the basis for the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) new policies, research by think tank The New Zealand Initiative reveals. The fact that neither the Government nor the MOH could produce objective data to support their claims that systemic racism is significantly to blame for poor Māori health outcomes is the most alarming revelation in the Initiative’s new report, Every life is worth the same – The case for equal treatment. Read more

Wellington (Thursday, 18 August 2022): A Policy Note by Senior Research Fellow, Dr Bryce Wilkinson was published today by the New Zealand Initiative. It rebuts the argument that New Zealand’s inflation rate today is a result of deliberate Reserve Bank decisions in 2020 to save jobs and the economy at the expense of inflation. Read more

Wellington (Thursday, 28 July 2022): In response to criticism of the Reserve Bank’s performance over the past four years, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have accused critics of applying ‘hindsight economics’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Read more

Central banks globally have made serious monetary policy mistakes To restore credibility, they must acknowledge and correct those mistakes Wellington (Tuesday, 26 July 2022) – 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

Wellington (Monday, 18 July 2022) – A policy paper released today by The New Zealand Initiative rebuts the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety’s claim to a select committee that New Zealand’s labour productivity growth rate since 1991 was 46% below that of Australia. On figures recently supplied by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the correct figure was 30%. Read more

Wellington (Tuesday, 5 July 2022) – A policy paper released today by The New Zealand Initiative suggests that Minister Wood's assertions about wage rates are based on myths rather than facts. The Minister’s claim that labour’s share has fallen since 1991 is not true for employee’s share, and it is employees’ liberty that he intends to reduce. Read more

Wellington (Tuesday, 24 May 2022) – Respect for New Zealand’s commercial regulators has declined over the past four years, research by think tank The New Zealand Initiative reveals. Among the regulators whose influence is felt across the entire economy, the decline in the Commerce Commission’s previously poor performance is the most alarming revelation in the Initiative’s new report, Reassessing the regulators – The Good the Bad and the Commerce Commission. Read more

Wellington (Thursday, 24 March 2022) – 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, according to new research from The New Zealand Initiative. 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

Wellington (Tuesday, 22 March 2022) – New Zealand is already on track to its emissions targets and the government’s new climate change policies will have almost no effect on emissions, says a new report by public policy think tank The New Zealand Initiative. The report, Pretence of Necessity by Senior Economist Matt Burgess, shows that existing policies are enough and further policies are optional but not necessary to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Read more

Top economists agree on climate response Wellington (Tuesday, 8 March 2022) The second New Zealand Economics Experts Survey finds consensus among the country’s top economists on climate policy. The New Zealand Association of Economists, in conjunction with The New Zealand Initiative, invited Distinguished Fellows, life members, and former Presidents of the New Zealand Association of Economists, and recipients of the NZIER ‘Economist of the Year’ award, to serve as an expert panel. Read more

Wellington (Tuesday, 8 March 2022) The New Zealand Initiative is applauding the Commerce Commission for their final report into supermarket competition, and says the regulator is right to take issue with the red tape that hinders competitors entering the market. The Commission recommended easing zoning restrictions so that it is legal to build supermarkets in more places, removing restrictive covenants that hinder supermarket development in prime sites, and ensuring that the Overseas Investment Act and the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act do not unduly impede entry and expansion. Read more

Wellington (Tuesday, 1 March 2022) The New Zealand Initiative is delighted to announce the appointment of new Senior Fellow Dr Michael Johnston. Dr Johnston joins the think tank from Victoria University of Wellington where he was Associate Dean (Academic) in the School of Education. Read more