The New Zealand Initiative mourns the passing of our esteemed Adjunct Senior Fellow, Emeritus Professor Des Gorman, who died peacefully at home on 2 July 2025, surrounded by his family. Des was a towering figure in New Zealand medicine and a passionate advocate for health reform. Read more
In this episode, Eric Crampton talks to Benno Blaschke and Stu Donovan (Senior Fellow at Motu) about the complex history of New Zealand's housing crisis, exploring the first part of a three-part series on housing dysfunction. They delve into the underlying causes of housing unaffordability, exploring how urban planning policies, council incentives, and infrastructure constraints have contributed to limited housing supply in major cities like Auckland. Read more
Future historians may seek to understand why early 21st century New Zealand struggled to get value from its infrastructure spending. They will need to look no further than Auckland's achievement in speed bump construction and subsequent destruction. Read more
Activist organisations have an important place in democracy. Politicians must negotiate public opinion, media narratives and coalition agreements. Read more
Housing and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop released his Going for Housing Growth discussion document last month, promising a new paradigm for planning in New Zealand. The proposals are the latest waypoint in a reform journey spanning nearly a decade. Read more
Dr Michael Johnston talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about the controversial treaty clause in education legislation. Dr Johnston defended Education Minister Erica Stanford's approach, arguing that her retention of the treaty clause is a tactical political move while prioritising educational achievement, and suggesting that removing the clause would unnecessarily create additional conflict in the education sector. Read more
Rotterdam's port moves 460 million tonnes of cargo each year. That is roughly equivalent to shifting the entire population of Earth sixty times over. Read more
It is legal to buy books. Obviously. Read more
The New Zealand Law Society’s new report, Strengthening the Rule of Law in Aotearoa New Zealand, runs to more than eighty pages, includes seventy-eight recommendations, and reflects a considerable investment of time and goodwill. Its aims are noble: to bolster constitutional integrity, improve access to justice, and promote respect for the rule of law. Read more
The New Zealand Association of Economists’ annual conference is unlike other academic conferences and better for it. The Association’s membership spans academics, officials, consultants and a few think-tankers. Read more
Parliament is supreme but it is not infallible. Governments often propose policies that are wrong in principle. Read more
A peculiar economic paradox appears to govern infrastructure development in modern New Zealand: the more we spend on infrastructure, the less we seem to get for it. This uncomfortable reality was a key takeaway from last week’s launch of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission’s Draft National Infrastructure Plan. Read more
Philosophers love to dream up strange scenarios to get us thinking. They call these scenarios ‘thought experiments.’ In 1980, philosopher John Searle published his ‘Chinese room’ thought experiment. Read more
How should a select committee respond to a deluge of submissions? Does it matter if many submissions are part of a campaign playing on whipped up fears? Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Associate Professor Darwyyn Deyo about her research journey from using popular fiction like Harry Potter to teach economics concepts to her main work on occupational licensing regulations. They discuss what occupational licensing actually involves, how New Zealand's lighter approach compares to the much more extensive system in the United States, and examine whether these regulations truly protect the public or create unnecessary barriers to work. Read more
