Roger Partridge

1 week ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Roger Partridge

This year, the Government will spend nearly $190 billion. Yet we know remarkably little about whether those billions represent value-for-money. The centrepiece of public sector performance is the Budget – a 700-page ledger of planned spending by department and programme. But it is not a performance report. It tells us how much the Government is doing, not what it is accomplishing. It measures dollars appropriated, not lives improved.

1 week ago | nzherald.co.nz | Roger Partridge

New Zealand is spending nearly $190 billion this year, but outcomes remain elusive, Roger Partridge writes. Photo / Mark MitchellOpinion by Roger PartridgeRoger Partridge is chair and a senior fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. THE FACTSThe Government will spend nearly $190 billion this year, but performance reporting focuses on spending, not outcomes. The Finance and Expenditure Committee is investigating whether current performance reporting meets modern expectations.

2 weeks ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Roger Partridge

Few ideas haunt economic debate as relentlessly as “trickle-down.” Perhaps it’s the appeal of attacking something that no one has ever argued. The theory supposedly claims that making the rich richer benefits everyone as wealth “trickles down.” It sounds plausible and feels unfair – making it the perfect villain. There’s just one problem. No economist ever proposed this theory. No Minister of Finance ever modelled it.

2 weeks ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Roger Partridge

In November 2023, Ayaan Hirsi Ali stunned many of her long-time admirers by announcing her conversion to Christianity. “We can’t counter Islamism with purely secular tools,” she explained. As Peter Savodnik has documented, Hirsi Ali is far from alone. This conversion trend spans figures from Jordan Peterson to tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel.

2 weeks ago | quillette.com | Roger Partridge

In November 2023, Ayaan Hirsi Ali stunned many of her long-time admirers by announcing her conversion to Christianity. “We can’t counter Islamism with purely secular tools,” she explained. As Peter Savodnik has documented, Hirsi Ali is far from alone. This conversion trend spans figures from Jordan Peterson to tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel.