Podcast: Going for Housing Growth (Part 2): The way out - The benefits of competitive urban land markets

In this second episode of their three-part series on New Zealand's housing crisis, Eric Crampton continues the discussion with Stu Donovan and Benno Blaschke, exploring what competitive urban land markets could look like. Building on their previous exploration of how New Zealand's housing became dysfunctional, they now examine the ideal alternative to the current system, detailing how a more responsive urban environment could address the structural issues discussed in Part 1. Read more

Dr Eric Crampton
Dr Stu Donovan
11 July, 2025

Stepping stones or stumbling blocks?

The government's latest Resource Management Act (RMA) consultation promises improvements to a broken system. The proposals for new national directions for infrastructure, the primary sector, and freshwater raise a critical question: are they preparing the ground for a property-rights-based resource management system or merely tinkering at the edges? Read more

Insights Newsletter
11 July, 2025

RNZ - Nine to Noon: Prof Barbara Oakley on AI, memory, and the future of learning

Dr Barbara Oakley talked to Kathryn Ryan on RNZ's Nine to Noon about the critical importance of memory, learning, and cognitive development in an era of artificial intelligence. She discussed her research on declining IQ scores, the challenges of modern educational approaches, and how students can effectively use digital tools while maintaining core cognitive skills. Read more

RNZ - Nine to Noon
8 July, 2025

Apatheism: The Age of Civic Indifference

A book currently climbing the German bestseller charts caught my attention recently, not least because its title poses a question that seems at once paradoxical and profound. Jan Loffeld’s Wenn nichts fehlt, wo Gott fehlt (“When nothing is missing where God is missing”) examines a growing phenomenon across Western societies that transcends conventional secularisation. Read more

Dr Oliver Hartwich
Quadrant
8 July, 2025

Podcast: Going for Housing Growth (Part 1): How we got into this mess - Struggling with uncompetitive urban land markets

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

Dr Eric Crampton
Dr Stu Donovan
4 July, 2025

Bad vibrations

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

Insights Newsletter
4 July, 2025

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