Reports & Media

Literacy rates in New Zealand present a paradox. Our renowned Reading Recovery programme is an international export success. Yet we are failing dismally to teach our own children to read. Read more

If politicians could make companies more productive and innovative by decree, they would have done so a long time ago. That did not stop the previous government from actively trying to steer companies’ research and development activities. In 2008, it abolished R&D tax credits and introduced innovation growth grants administered by Callaghan Innovation in their place. As widely expected, the new Government axed these grants in last week’s Budget and wants to revert to a tax credit system. Read more

The government plans to build 100,000 ‘affordable’ houses in the next 10 years. How much greater is the housing stock likely to be in 10, 15 or 20 years as a result? That is an analytical question. At its heart is the question of how many dwellings would be built anyway. The future housing stock is only larger to the extent of any difference. Macroeconomic forecasters, including the Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research,... Read more

I know that people who aren’t economists manage to raise kids and that it all seems to work out in the end, but I’m not entirely sure how. I have learned that standard practice in the Crampton household diverges a bit from practice elsewhere. So gaze in awe, or horror, at our system for managing the more irksome household chores. Some chores, the kids are happy to do just as part of being happy members of the family – and... Read more

A few weeks ago, I wrote in Insights that public health policy works in mysterious ways.I stand by that statement.As a teaser for The New Zealand Initiative’s latest report Smoke and Vapour: the changing world of tobacco harm reduction, I wrote that there was some frustration that the Labour-led government had not yet expressed a position on e-cigarettes.I also noted that there are a range of other nicotine delivery products available overseas (snus and heat-not-burn) that should be made available... Read more

The candles have barely dimmed since his last birthday and we’re already celebrating Karl Marx’s 200th birthday, capitalism’s arch-critic. Over the past couple of centuries, capitalism has come to dominate a large part of the Western world. If Marx knew, he would be rolling over in his grave. Or would he? Because our new version of capitalism goes hand in hand with Marx’s famous dictum “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need”. Read more

The two most exciting items in this year’s budget barely even made it into the budget tables. Both point toward better fiscal futures.First up, Hon James Shaw announced that the government will this year start work on a new independent fiscal council.Last year’s election was dominated by whether there was a $12 billion hole in Labour’s proposed spending programme. That debate was always going to be sterile. Any coalition would pick up some of the policies and drop others. Read more

Government spending decisions can be popular or unpopular; they can be justified and unjustified. We all like to criticise the government for unjustified spending to increase its popularity.Conversely, we should then also be prepared to defend government’s unpopular spending decisions where we believe them to be justified.The boost to New Zealand’s diplomatic capacity is just such a decision.Foreign Minister Winston Peters would not have expected the extra $190 million for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) over the next... Read more

The best thing about budgets in New Zealand is that they are just a little bit boring. Our fiscal conventions ensure big changes are telegraphed well in advance. Read more

There is a lot to be said for America’s federal structure. Fifty different states each trying different things not only lets policy better suit local preferences, but also helps researchers figure out the effects of different policies. Read more