Imagine the outrage if it were revealed that our medical schools ignored scientific research in the training of doctors. Yet, when it comes to training teachers, ignoring science seems acceptable. Read more
That is the sign all Ministers of Finance should have on their desk. Treasury’s latest pre-election economic and fiscal update this week forecast cumulative fiscal deficits of $17 billion for the four years ended June 2027. Read more
Dr. Michael Johnston appeared on Nine To Noon, hosted by Kathryn Ryan, to discuss the Initiative's new report on teacher education. You can also find the interview here. Read more
Victoria University of Wellington has defended its plans to stop teaching German, Italian, Latin and Greek and to cease research in Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and French. ‘It’s not like anybody speaks these languages anymore,’ Ex Nihilo Vice Provost Brenda Boffin told us in an exclusive interview, ‘except for the 1.1 billion or so Chinese speakers, the 559 million Hispanophones, the 310 million speakers of French, the hundred and twenty million or so speakers of German and Japanese, and the almost 70 million Italian-speakers.’ When we mentioned that China and Japan together accounted for over $15 billion in exports last year, and that Germany, Mexico and France accounted for over a billion more, Prof. Read more
The most important component of any system of school education is its teachers. But, New Zealand’s teacher education programmes do not ensure that new teachers are well prepared for the classroom. Read more
Who Teaches The Teachers, The New Zealand Initiative's new report, discusses the current issues with teacher training in New Zealand. Join Dr. Oliver Hartwich and Dr. Michael Johnston for a discussion about the new report. Read more
Dr. Michael Johnston is joined by Adjunct Fellow Stephanie Martin and Dr. Kevin Knight, founder and owner of the New Zealand Graduate School of Education in Christchurch, for a discussion about the issues currently facing the training of our teachers. The New Zealand Initiative · EPS. Read more
Good teachers need to be many things. They must be experts in the knowledge they teach. Read more
Tuesday’s Treasury’s pre-election forecasts confirmed that Government spending exceeds revenue by more than what was forecast in the May 2023 Budget. Far too many commentators are concluding the increase is not too bad. Read more
In June, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand told us something surprising. It said it had never banned experts in monetary policy from serving as external members of the Monetary Policy Committee. Read more
It is brave to invite an historian to speak at a conference about the future. As the Scottish historian Tom Devine once quipped, the future was not his time period. Read more
Join Dr. Eric Crampton and Scott Wilson for a discussion about the recently released Government Policy Statement on land transport and a wider conversation about transport policy. You can also read Scott Wilson's recent blog post about what's wrong with New Zealand's land transport funding system here. Read more
Some surveys require interpretation. Others speak for themselves. Read more
It was a sunny morning in 2040. I got on my electric bike and rode through my Auckland neighbourhood. Read more
Dr. Eric Crampton took part in the Free Speech Union Debate on whether we should tax the wealthy, initially moving to argue that the tax system is currently unfair for everyone. You can watch the entire debate here. Read more