Reports & Media

Dr Eric Crampton talked to Wallace Chapman on RNZ's The Panel about the growing problem of on-street parking in intensifying suburbs, arguing that free street parking is poorly managed and creates perverse incentives for townhouse buyers to forgo on-site car parks. Dr Crampton proposed tradable resident parking passes as a market-based solution, giving existing homeowners something valuable they can sell to newcomers while better managing scarce street space. Read more

Dr Michael Johnston talked to Emile Donovan on Nights on RNZ about the Ministry of Education's plan not to build any new single-sex state schools, arguing that while co-education has clear social benefits, a blanket ban removes choice, particularly for families who can't afford private alternatives. Dr Johnston noted that his research found single-sex schools showed better academic results on average for both sexes, especially for Māori and Pasifika boys and boys from lower socioeconomic communities. Read more

In this episode, Nick and Benno discuss whether New Zealand's proposed planning reforms can actually deliver housing affordability or fail to escape the gravitational pull of the status quo. They unpack how our current planning system and the rules it makes are an extractive institution: one that concentrates decision-making power over land use in the hands of a few, beholden to a privileged group of incumbents. Read more

Heather du Plessis-Allan discussed Dr Bryce Wilkinson's NZ Herald article on Newstalk ZB, drawing on his analysis of the 1970s oil shocks as a cautionary lesson for today's politicians. Dr Wilkinson argues that the government should resist pressure to intervene through price controls, subsidies, or fuel tax cuts, and instead rely on price signals and targeted income relief for the most vulnerable, while leaving risky energy investments to private capital. Read more

Dr Marian Tupy is the editor of HumanProgress.org, the world's most comprehensive database tracking improvements in human wellbeing, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, and co-author of the acclaimed book Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet. A leading voice on human progress, globalisation, and economic development, Marian's work does something rare: it challenges the pessimistic narratives we hear every day — not with opinion, but with hard evidence. Read more