New Zealand has a bad habit of trying to do everything everywhere all at once. It means national-level policy takes giant swings. Read more
Last week, Treasury released yet another warning about New Zealand’s fiscal future. It was the same message they have been delivering for twenty years: population ageing will create spending pressures that the current tax base cannot support. Read more
New Zealand’s economy shrank 0.9 per cent in the June quarter. A chorus of commentators, politicians and economists are blaming the Reserve Bank for this poor performance. Read more
A lot of changes are coming in competition policy. Last week, the government announced a package of reforms that, overall, set the Commerce Commission on a more activist tack. Read more
New Zealand has always tolerated a bit of theatre in local politics. This year, in Wellington though, it is more like the theatre tolerating the politics. Read more
Australians watching the economic drama unfold across the Tasman might find the plot familiar: An economy shrinks far faster than anyone forecast. Manufacturing slumps. Read more
A young TikTok activist has discovered something shocking about New Zealand policymaking. Brace yourself: A leading New Zealand think tank recommended a knowledge-rich curriculum for schools. Read more
At Eden Park, concerts are capped at twelve a year from six artists. Weekday shows must finish by 11 pm, with a maximum duration of five hours. Read more
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has one big job when it comes to monetary policy. That job is defined in its Remit – the contract that it has with the government. Read more
They seem unable to help themselves. And it’s probably our fault. Read more
When Parliament says gang insignia “is forfeited to the Crown,” citizens are entitled to assume those words mean what they say. Yet on 11 August the District Court ruled otherwise. Read more
Vocational education has never had a good reputation in New Zealand. It has long been seen as a second-best option for ‘struggling students.’ University is the destination of choice for ‘good’ students, even if they have no idea what they want to do there. Read more
Three weeks. That is how long New Zealanders waited to know the outcome of the 2023 election. Read more
In New Zealand economics, numbers have personalities. Two supermarkets are a duopoly. Read more
Imagine that your family spent twice as much as it earned last month. Around the kitchen table the mood would be grim and the bank’s patience likely wearing thin. Read more
