Governments spend money irresponsibly when they don’t care much whether the wellbeing outcomes for New Zealanders justify the amount being spent. Read more
Yesterday, the government released the Tax Working Group’s interim report. As foreshadowed, the Group was coy about what it will recommend in December. The government on the other hand is clearly eager to see the Group make the case for new taxes. Almost as a matter of regret the background material mentioned the past removal of sales tax, excess retention tax, land tax, estate duty, stamp duty, gift duty, and cheque duty. Read more
As every law student learns, a rescuer owes a duty of care to a victim not to worsen the victim’s plight. The same principle applies in medical ethics. A doctor’s first duty is to do no harm. Based on the submissions on the government’s NCEA review, this duty is something Education Minister Chris Hipkins would do well to heed. The review aims to rescue our failing NCEA assessment framework. Read more
You can’t get more lavish than washing down some white gold caviar with Moet champagne while partying on top of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. That’s how the rich and famous celebrated in Crazy Rich Asians, the latest blockbuster to hit theatres. Well, you might. Especially, if you were one of the delegates at the Ministry of Justice summit in Porirua, or at either of the Ministry of Education summits in Auckland or Christchurch. Read more
Wellington (21 September 2018): The New Zealand Initiative warned today that government must heed Treasury’s warnings about rushing Fair Pay Agreements. This week, Treasury released its advice about the upcoming Cabinet Paper proposing Fair Pay Agreements. Treasury warns that the Cabinet paper provides no evidence that industry- or occupation-wide bargaining could solve problems identified in the Cabinet paper. It also warns that other countries’ experiences point to substantial potential problems: low-skilled workers can be hurt, as can small and new... Read more
New Zealand is a high-tax country compared to prosperous non-European countries but much of the money appears ill spent. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative welcomes entrepreneur Stephen Jennings, CEO and Founder of Africa’s largest urban development company, Rendeavour, onto its Board of Directors. Read more
Treasury’s latest stakeholder survey shows that I’m far from the only one worried about declining economic capabilities at the Government’s lead economics advisor. Read more
The Tax Working Group's interim report released on Thursday rightly disposes of some unworthy proposals but confounds some others, particularly the capital gains issue. Read more
Wellington (18 September 2018): “Government is achieving poor outcomes for New Zealanders relative to the resources it is using.” That is the key message in the report Fit for Purpose? Are Kiwis getting the government they pay for?, released today by The New Zealand Initiative. “The smoking gun is the systemic lack of focus on value for money – that is productivity,” said Dr Bryce Wilkinson, author of the report and Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. Read more
This report looks at how good a job government is doing with all the tasks entrusted to it. The issue is important because government has come to command much of our resources.Taxes in New Zealand have risen four times faster than incomes in the 20th century. Taxes now take more of our income than in almost any country outside Europe. We have become a high tax country.We, the public, need the government to spend our tax money well.Government is a... Read more
Bryce Wilkinson finds in his new report Fit for Purpose? Are Kiwis getting the government they pay for? one in three dollars the Government spends is not resulting in any measurable outcome.Bryce tells Mike Hosking education funding often gets spent in what it says are the wrong places."To have all of those years of schooling and have such inadequate progress, the question has to be asked what more can be done, or how can it be done better." Read more
Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson discusses on TVNZ Breakfast our new report Fit for Purpose? Are Kiwis getting the government they pay for?The report finds government is wasting New Zealand’s resources on a grand scale because it is failing to focus on producing value for money. Read more
It had to take an evolutionary psychologist and a lawyer to dissect (some of) the craziness of modern society and polity. Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s new book The Coddling of the American Mind is required reading for anyone wishing to understand 21st century politics, not just in the US but globally. At first sight, the book is about good intentions, bad parenting, and the education system. It shows how young people are being damaged by an emotional ‘safety first’ culture. Read more
Nutrient load is too high in too many New Zealand lakes and rivers. Cleaning up the mess featured prominently in last year’s election. Getting the job done requires looking at what works. On that front, New Zealand has learned from America’s abolition of acid rain. During the 1980s, sulphur dioxide emissions from American electricity generation plants made rain acidic, with damage to lakes building up over time. Read more