Search

Celebrating what New Zealand is good at seems a natural choice to me. And New Zealand’s simple approach to governance is often a critical component. Read more

A disclosure: I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. Indeed, I abhor the smell of tobacco and pestered my parents into giving up smoking when I was child. Read more

The new governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Graeme Wheeler, just signed a slightly revised policy target agreement with a greater focus on financial stability, but for some this is not going far enough. A curious coalition of exporters, newspaper commentators, Labour, the Green Party, and New Zealand First wants the RBNZ to relinquish its traditional focus on inflation. Read more

Australia’s economic prosperity has been luring Kiwis across the ditch for years. After a talk this week at The New Zealand Initiative by The Australian newspaper’s economic correspondent, Adam Creighton, it is beginning to become clear why. Read more

This past week there has been much speculation about the Lobbying Disclosure Bill put forward by Green MP Holly Walker. The bill has come under criticism for being poorly drafted and far too broad in scope. Read more

Last week a lucky Lotto player won $27 million. All the attention the game has been receiving recently makes this a good time to ask why it is still run by the state? Read more

For the past two weeks, I have been attending conferences in Europe. Following the general meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society in Prague, I spoke at the European Resource Bank in Brussels. Read more

New Zealanders often face calls for an Australian-style compulsory superannuation scheme that would expand Kiwisaver by making it compulsory. This is a multi-faceted issue and is worth reflecting on, particularly the political economy aspect. Read more

In its recently released Building Innovation progress report, the government rightly recognises that innovation is critical for improving New Zealand’s global competitiveness. Unfortunately, innovation remains the country’s weakest area, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2012–13 released this week by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Read more

When the government announced recently that it intended to lift exports from 30% to 40% of GDP by 2025, it was difficult not to roll your eyes. It was just another in a long series of targets whose utility was not explained, is unlikely to be reached, and doesn’t address underlying economic issues. Read more