New Zealand has a successful economy. International rankings regularly put us near the top for competitiveness, economic freedom and ease of doing business.
At the same time, New Zealand’s per capita incomes trail those of other developed countries. Our productivity growth is anaemic. Our ability to attract high-quality international investment is limited.
New Zealand cannot rest on the laurels of past reforms. We must continue to improve our economic policy settings.
The New Zealand Initiative’s research includes analysis of regulatory and fiscal policy. We explore how incentives can promote economic development, and we investigate the social effects of economic policy.
Our flagship publications include a series on New Zealand’s foreign direct investment regime (Open for Business, 2014), a proposal to establish a fiscal council (Guarding the Public Purse, 2014), a report assessing interest-free student loans (Decade of Debt, 2016), and a report assessing the efficiency of government spending (Fit for Purpose? 2018).
This submission is in response to the second round of consultation on Phase 2 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act review. Read more
With its rate cut on 7 August 2019, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets and sent a strong signal that unorthodox or unconventional monetary policy could be on the cards. Read more
Read our submission to the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Revenue, and the Inland Revenue Department on the 'Options for taxing the digital economy' discussion document. Read more
The government’s goal of a highly skilled and innovative workforce and an economy that delivers well-paid, decent jobs and broad-based gains from economic growth and productivity, is a laudable aim. Read more
Read The New Zealand Initiative's submission to the Independent Expert Advisory Panel on Phase 2 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act Review. Read more
Chief Economist Eric Crampton speaks about the Provincial Growth Fund and the $50 million that has been spent on feasibility studies. Read more
From cowry shells to metal coins, promissory notes, paper money and plastic, humans have adapted to different currency types over the millennia. Read more
Rabobank recently reported farmer confidence had plummeted in the September quarter. Some 41% of surveyed farmers expected the rural economy to worsen next year. Only 8% expected an improvement. That net negative response was 33%, far below a negative 2% in the June quarter. Read more
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” American psychologist Abraham Maslow proclaimed in 1966. Read more
Douglas Adams' classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy offers salient advice about an awful lot of things. Don't listen to Vogon poetry. Don't forget where your towel is. And don't have too strong a sense of perspective because fully recognising our place as an insignificant dot on an insignificant dot against the vastness of all creation is mentally debilitating. Read more