In an increasingly tumultuous geopolitical landscape, New Zealand's role on the international stage is increasing in importance. New Zealand, along with many others, has been invited to attend next week’s 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Read more
Background Yesterday the Treasury hosted a seminar on New Zealand’s lagging productivity growth rate. It shared the slot with the New Zealand Productivity Commission (NZPC) and Motu, a Wellington-based research institute. Read more
The New Zealand Economics Association annual meetings are a great way of keeping abreast of what the country’s economists are working on. And sometimes they’re downright depressing. Read more
Seeking Ireland’s secrets Few countries feel so similar as New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland. We are both island nations with much larger neighbours. Read more
The Third Law of Demand Once you see it, you see it everywhere. Married couples who’ve left the kids home with a sitter go out to nicer restaurants than childless couples who have the same income. Read more
So, we are in a ‘technical recession’. Sounds bad. Read more
For most of the 2010s, if schools wanted funding for new classrooms, the Ministry of Education insisted that they build Modern Learning Environments (MLEs). These are large, open-plan classrooms, sometimes housing more than a hundred children and their teachers. Read more
Parliament’s Environment Committee released its reports on the Natural and Built Environment and Spatial Planning Bills this week. The (Labour) majority recommends that modified Bills be enacted. Read more
Victoria University of WELLINGTON has announced a new $30-million research project to figure out how the university managed to dig itself a $30 million financial hole. ‘Some have suggested that spending more than you take in can have that effect over the long run,’ said Associate-Assistant Vice-Dean Barbara Boffin, ‘But it’s obviously something we need to investigate further.’ The losses were definitely not due to a new AI programme designed to find every instance of the university’s name anywhere in the world and capitalize every letter of the word WELLINGTON, said Super-Pro-Vice-Chancellor Tom Toady. Read more
New Zealand has produced some impressive scientists during its short history. Ernest Rutherford, dubbed ‘the father of nuclear physics’, must surely be foremost among them. Read more
At the start of National Blood Donor Week, the New Zealand Blood Service warned that it will need more donors. According to the Blood Service’s Asuke Burge, “If we can’t meet demand, it means we are going to be forced to compete in the global market, for particularly plasma products. Read more
Over thirteen thousand more full-time equivalent workers joined the public service from 2017 to 2022 – a 28% increase. It contrasts sharply with Australia’s modest increase. Read more
When it comes to pointlessness, the Companies (Directors Duties) Amendment Bill takes some beating. When drawn from the ballot, the Bill proposed amending section 131 of the Companies Act 1993 dealing with the duty of directors to act in the best interests of the company. Read more
Too many minutes are lost every day pondering trivial matters. We think too much about who the next Prime Minister might be, how crime is hurting our businesses or whether our children are being taught the skills they need at school. Read more
The Green Party’s proposed wealth tax plays to greed and envy. It blithely proposes that everyone can be lifted out of poverty by imposing a heavy wealth tax on a mere 0.7% of the population. Read more