The New Zealand Initiative

We are a nonpartisan, independent think tank focused on public policy. Our goal is to contribute to a better and more resilient New Zealand.

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Parliament is asking tough questions about whether taxpayers are getting value for money

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.
This land is your land to make the best use of

1 week ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Eric Crampton

Imagine that you owned a vacant piece of land. You were trying to decide whether to put solar panels on it to generate electricity or plant trees to sequester carbon and earn carbon credits. It would be strange to also have to weigh how good that land might be for horticulture or for raising sheep, if you had already ruled both out. To read the full article on the Newsroom website, click here.
The obstacles in place for any new supermarket player

1 week ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Eric Crampton

There are already too many reasons for international supermarket chains to decide our small set of islands far from everywhere are not worth bothering about. Adding one more seems bad if government has prioritised retail grocery competition. To read the full article on The Post website, click here.
“Trickle-down,” again

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.
Podcast: How to legislate for academic freedom

2 weeks ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | James Kierstead |Ian Pace

Podcast: How to legislate for academic freedom In this episode, James talks to Professor Ian Pace from City, Saint George's University of London about academic freedom, discussing the challenges facing universities, including political pressures, institutional neutrality, and the need for legislation to protect free speech and critical inquiry in academic settings.
Webinar video: Smart Support for Councillors: AI Tools for Local Leaders

2 weeks ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Oliver Hartwich |Nick Clark |Tim Brown

Webinar video: Smart Support for Councillors: AI Tools for Local Leaders Local democracy in New Zealand is facing a troubling imbalance: mostly part-time councillors must process complex information prepared by full-time professional staff, often receiving hundreds of pages just days before critical votes. Could AI help rebalance this information asymmetry and strengthen democratic oversight?
Classical Liberalism Without Strong Gods

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.
When populists cannot be tamed

2 weeks ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Oliver Hartwich

In two weeks, we will take a delegation of New Zealand Initiative members to the Netherlands. We had hoped to study Dutch excellence in infrastructure, technology and regulatory reform. Now it looks like we will also land in a nation nursing a political hangover. On June 3, the right-wing populist Geert Wilders destroyed the government he helped create just 11 months ago. His Party for Freedom withdrew support.
Newstalk ZB: John MacDonald discusses Dr Michael Johnston's report on modern learning environments

3 weeks ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Michael Johnston |John MacDonald |John Macdonald

Reports & Media > Media > Newstalk ZB: John MacDonald discusses Dr Michael Johnston's report on modern learning environments Newstalk ZB: John MacDonald discusses Dr Michael Johnston's report on modern learning environments John MacDonald discussed Dr Michael Johnston's report on Newstalk ZB, revisiting The New Zealand Initiative's research on modern learning environments.
Learning from letters

3 weeks ago | nzinitiative.org.nz | Eric Crampton

We can learn a lot from newspapers’ Letters to the Editor pages. This week, I had a column in the Stuff newspapers on the Initiative’s proposed fast-track for new supermarkets. I noted that existing district plans block new supermarkets that might compete with existing ones. So, we suggested enabling large-scale entry by a new player, overriding anticompetitive parts of district plans, and handling plan changes and consents for all sites at one go.