Some environmentalists believe that a pristine environment is a goal to be achieved regardless of the costs to human communities. Suri Ratnapala explains the need to balance threats to the environment with the threat to constitutional government that arises from ill-advised policy responses to the challenges of environmental protection. Read more
Competing to win is the fifth paper in a series that forms part of the New Zealand Institute’s research project on Creating a global New Zealand economy. This paper follows on from our first four papers No country is an island, Dancing with the stars?, The flight of the Kiwi, and Developing Kiwi global champions. Read more
Developing Kiwi global champions is the fourth paper in a series that forms part of the New Zealand Institute’s research project on Creating a global New Zealand economy. This paper follows on from our first three papers No country is an island, Dancing with the Stars?, and The flight of the Kiwi. Read more
In An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith argued that there was a virtuous circle that led to increased prosperity. The source of economic growth and development was the gains from specialisation and trade realised through the greater division of labour and the expansion of the market economy. Read more
The three essential elements of successful school choice policies are: the freedom to open, expand and close schools in response to increased or reduced demand; funding following the student, putting all schools on the same footing; and independent management, so that schools are free to innovate in areas such as teaching practices, teacher pay, and school organisation. The report draws on a wide range of evidence including a study of the impact of Chicago’s charter schools on the environment. Read more
The flight of the Kiwi is the third paper in a series that forms part of the New Zealand Institute's research project on Creating a global New Zealand economy. This paper follows on from our first two papers No country is an island and Dancing with the stars?. Read more
Modest growth in New Zealand is not the result of an overdose of reforms or bad cultural attitudes. The problem, in short, is that the reform process has not been completed, and needs to be continued and extended. Read more
The labour market is like any other market: pay and conditions are largely determined by supply and demand, rather than through a power struggle between employees and employers. Geoff Hogbin exposes the fallacies behind the arguments for labour regulation, and makes the case for a freely functioning labour market as the best protection for employers and employees alike. Read more
Provisionally entitled Te Oranga o te Iwi Maori: A Study of Maori Economic and Social Progress, the book will look at factors and institutions that have influenced Maori development and ways of building on past achievements. The first Working Paper, Maori Economic Development: Glimpses from Statistical Sources, was undertaken by Wellington-based Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. Read more
Dancing with the stars? Is the second paper in a series that forms part of the New Zealand research project on ‘Creating a global New Zealand economy’. Read more
I sometimes describe my cultural and economic point of view as being that of a cultural optimist; that is, I expect the future in a commercial economy to bring us more choices and more diverse choices. If we put aside the concerns of the current day and look back at world history, it has been the globalising eras that have brought us cultural diversity. Read more
No country is an island is the first paper in a series that forms part of the New Zealand Institute’s research project on ‘Creating a global New Zealand economy’. Read more
Against the human experience of long-term stagnation and misery, the record of growing prosperity over the past two centuries and, in particular, the last 50 years, is astounding. Economic growth owes much to the mobilisation of resources and structural flexibility, but this depends on the 'software of economic development' - institutions, which change slowly. Read more
'The rule of law' is at once one of the most persistent and mysterious phrases in jurisprudence. I am not aware of anyone who is opposed to the rule of law. Read more
I have been assigned a fiendishly large topic. How do you deal with so vast a subject? Read more