Walk through Wellington, and you will see plenty of empty shopfronts and shuttered cafes. Switch on the radio, and you will hear experts say this is the best time to buy a house in years. Read more
Damien Grant isn’t normally the one making the case that the government needs to take more in tax. The liquidator and libertarian-minded columnist over at the Sunday Star Times more typically wants what libertarians generally want – a government that spends less and that can let each of us keep more of our own money. Read more
When plans to abolish regional councils were first rumoured, I was more than mildly sceptical. It isn’t that I’m a giant fan of regional councils; I couldn’t name more than a couple of my own regional councillors, and I bet most of you can’t either. Read more
If you enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey (either the book or the movie), there’s no guarantee that you will enjoy Fifty Shades of Grades, the research note on grade distribution at New Zealand universities that I released earlier this week. Still, I like to think that the latter has enough titillating detail, spanking new analysis, and breath-taking climaxes (if only of series of data) to satisfy most readers. Read more
On Monday morning, Eric Crampton and I appeared before the Environment Select Committee to present the Initiative’s submission on the Fast-Track Approvals Amendment Bill. It is well known that the Bill, and the fast-track regime more generally, is controversial among environmentalists. Read more
The Economist, not known for hysteria, has quietly announced that advanced economies are halving their populations every generation. A demographic magic trick. Read more
It is strange to observe a nation act irrationally and against its own interests. Stranger still when that nation is your own. Read more
A familiar lament has resurfaced in recent weeks: that Robert Muldoon’s decision to cancel Norm Kirk’s 1975 compulsory superannuation scheme cost New Zealand a trillion-dollar nest egg. The Government’s weekend signal of higher KiwiSaver contributions has given that argument new life, encouraging some to reach again for the comparison. Read more
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faces an impossible choice. Sign the “peace plan” drafted primarily by a New York real estate developer and a Moscow financier. Read more
When NCEA was introduced in 2002, one of its goals was to improve the uptake and reputation of educational pathways leading to trades and industry. It was assumed that assessing vocational skills for NCEA alongside subjects like mathematics and history would help to accomplish this. Read more
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that four Uber drivers have actually been Uber employees all along. In the Court’s view, Uber had enough control over those drivers’ businesses that they couldn’t be considered contractors. Read more
Wellington has solved New Zealand’s 50-year productivity puzzle. According to a new 60-page joint briefing from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the answer is simple. Read more
When serious allegations threaten an institution’s reputation or its leader’s credibility, the temptation to bury them may be overwhelming. In New Zealand’s public institutions, a structural flaw makes this suppression not just tempting but rational. Read more
Something peculiar is happening in New Zealand politics. Labour, routed just two years ago with their worst result since proportional representation began in 1996, has surged to 38 per cent in the latest political poll. Read more
The Supreme Court’s Uber judgment (Rasier Operations BV v E Tū Inc [2025] NZSC 162) has delivered clarity of a sort. The Court dismissed Uber’s appeal, upholding the finding that drivers are employees when logged into the Uber app. Read more