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
Dr James Kierstead talked to Ingrid Hipkiss on RNZ's Morning Report about his research showing A grades are becoming the most common at New Zealand universities, rising from 35% to nearly 50% at some institutions. Dr Kierstead explained that grade inflation is driven by academics' incentives around student numbers and feedback, arguing it dilutes the value of top grades and undermines motivation for hard work. Read more
Dr James Kierstead discussed grade inflation at New Zealand universities on Newstalk ZB. He explained that A grades have increased from 22% to 36% of all grades since 2006, while B and C grades have fallen, with the Initiative's analysis finding no evidence students are getting smarter—suggesting academics have incentives to award higher grades. 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
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
The opening episode traces the intellectual and personal journey that gave birth to the idea of "Competitive Urban Land Markets" (CLM). It follows Chris Parker’s path from his early attempt at NZIER to broaden traditional cost–benefit models so they could capture the transformative effects of infrastructure investment, to his move into Auckland Council as Chief Economist, where he began to see high land prices not as signs of prosperity but as symptoms of monopoly and institutional failure. 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
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
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
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
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that Uber did not merely facilitate connections between four drivers and their various passengers – as Uber has maintained. And that the four drivers were not contractors for Uber either. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The New Zealand Initiative welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill (FTAAB). Read more
Announcements earlier this month make the Emissions Trading Scheme a bit less credible over the longer term. The problem can be fixed – and relatively easily. Read more
In this episode, Michael talks to Sir Ian Taylor, founder of Animation Research, about what schools should prioritise in a rapidly changing world. The conversation explores whether traditional literacy still matters when machines can read, and whether curiosity-driven learning or knowledge-rich curricula better equip students for critical thinking in an unpredictable future. Read more
The Government deserves credit for wanting to make it easier for new supermarkets and other large projects to get off the ground. The Government’s broad approach is sound. Read more