MEDIA

Wellington, 31 March - The New Zealand Initiative welcomes the Government’s plans to ramp up testing for Covid-19 beyond 3500 per day to get the country closer to reopening its economy. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press briefing this afternoon the Government has completed approximately 21,000 tests for the coronavirus Covid-19 already and is on track to issue 3500 tests per day. Read more

Eric Crampton talks to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB about restarting the economy after the Covid-19 lockdown. Read more

Wellington, 27 March - The pandemic-induced recession creates a strong case for the Government to support struggling workers with targeted assistance, rather than a Universal Basic Income (UBI), according to the new policy paper Stay on Target by The New Zealand Initiative. As the Government searches for fresh and innovative ideas to prepare for the worst economic effects of shutting down the country’s commerce over four weeks, it has tentatively proposed the introduction of a universal basic income scheme. Read more

Wellington, 26 March 2020 – Mixing the New Zealand Initiative’s research with ideas from dozens of the largest Kiwi firms, the think tank has produced a comprehensive touchstone document on the best range of Covid-19 policy responses. Written by the Initiative’s chief economist Eric Crampton, with research assistance from Leonard Hong, Effective Treatment: Public policy prescription for a pandemic warns that without sound, quick and careful policy adjustments implemented by the Government, New Zealand risks slipping into a deep recession. Read more

Wellington, 26 March - Asking the public for submissions on pending legislation while the country is in pandemic lockdown risks making a farce of democracy and unnecessarily distracting the Government, according to a new policy paper by the New Zealand Initiative. The business of government must go on, said the Initiative’s chief economist Dr Eric Crampton, but politicians can afford to put less urgent matters aside for the time being. Read more

Wellington, 24 March 2020 – The New Zealand Initiative says the Government must change its approach towards wage subsidies to avoid a mass lay-off of jobs and the potential destruction of many companies. In a new paper called Short-time work to maintain employment, New Zealand could preserve an extra 3-4% of jobs – even during the harshest economic impact of the Covid-19 shutdowns – by adopting a successful European policy tested during the GFC. Read more

Eric Crampton looked at potential economic policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in his regular Radio New Zealand Nights slot, Read more

Wellington 23 March 2020 - BusinessNZ and The New Zealand Initiative are encouraging the Government to go further with its economic support package, saying the support package announced last week was the right first step and was greatly appreciated but needed to go further. The New Zealand Initiative’s Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich and BusinessNZ’s CEO Kirk Hope noted the Australian Government’s move yesterday, launching a second amount of support and signaling that more was coming. Read more

Oliver Hartwich talks to Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB about the Government's Covid-19 economic support package. He argues it is a good first step, but more work needs to be done. Read more

Wellington, 17 March 2020 - We welcome the Government’s measures to tackle Covid-19 in New Zealand. In particular, we welcome the recently announced travel restrictions, the increased health funding and the support to business. Read more

Eric Crampton joins Radio New Zealand's The Panel to talk about the coronavirus economic package released by the government to help mitigate the impact of border restrictions. Read more

Wellington, 16 March 2020 - The New Zealand Initiative welcomes the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s move to cut interest rates and suspend the tightening of bank capital requirements. However, the Initiative’s Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton warns that more will be necessary. Read more

There is no doubt that COVID-19 will impact global economies. The Project has asked some of the country’s smartest financial experts, including our Chief Economist Eric Crampton, for their advice on how people can keep their money safe. Read more

Wellington, 6 March 2020 – A groundbreaking new tool could give parents and principals the first objective measurement of New Zealand school performance, says a new report released today by The New Zealand Initiative. Insights and Excellence: School success in New Zealand demonstrates the quality of information, analysis and reporting that could be provided to every parent and principal in the country using the data already collected by the Ministry of Education and other government agencies. Read more

On TVNZ Breakfast, John Campbell talks to our Chief Economist Eric Crampton and Southern Cross Campus Principal Robin Staples about our new report presenting a groundbreaking new tool for measuring school performance objectively and fairly. In Insights and Excellence: School success in New Zealand, we present three case studies showing how three secondary schools, including Southern Cross Campus, performed before and after our tool separated the contribution of family background from the contribution of each school. Read more