As a commentator on European affairs, there is no question I have heard more often in recent months than who will replace Angela Merkel. Two years ago, Germany’s long-serving Chancellor announced she would not be running for a fifth term in the 2021 election. Read more
Amid all of the discussions of the Climate Commission’s draft report on New Zealand’s climate change response, it is too easy to lose track of the target. The goal isn’t to reach specific electric vehicle targets, though we would expect more people to shift away from petrol as petrol costs increase and as electric vehicles become more competitive. Read more
Research Assistant Leonard Hong joined Bernard Hickey for an interview to discuss his latest report, The Need to Build: Demographic drivers of the housing market. In the report, Leonard Hong modelled 36 scenarios and found that New Zealand's population gets older and larger by 2038. Read more
During the pilot episode of M*A*S*H, surgeon ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce wrote a letter home explaining the difference between surgery at a Korean War mobile surgical hospital, and the surgery back home. In normal surgery, you have time to get everything right. Read more
Humans are complicated. We are intelligent species that dominated the world with our knowledge and brilliance. Read more
At the New Zealand Economics Forum 2021, held at the University of Waikato, Matt Burgess participated in a panel discussion on Economic policy and the environment - challenges and opportunities. You can read Matt's full speech below. Read more
Following the release of our latest report, Educational Performance and Funding in New Zealand: Are our children getting the education they deserve? Senior Fellow and co-author of the report Dr David Law delves into the results and explains that a high level of education spending doesn't always equate to a high level of performance in our schools. Read more
In the last twelve months, there have been a growing number of stories about New Zealand’s educational decline. Stories of falling mathematics performance and illiterate teenagers in the media make for grim reading. Read more
Watch Dr Eric Crampton, Cameron Bagrie, Professor Paul Dalziel's panel session, Getting the mix right: Monetary policy, fiscal policy and the wellbeing of the nation, from the New Zealand Economics Forum 2021 held at the University of Waikato.
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A well-functioning education system that delivers good outcomes for all is essential to New Zealand's future prosperity and the wellbeing of its people. However, there have been a number of recent reports highlighting our declining educational performance. Read more
A well-functioning education system is vital to equip our children for life. However, a new report from The New Zealand Initiative says it is not clear whether the education system is serving our children as well as it should. Read more
Academic debates are rarely high stakes. Compared with the kind of work the Climate Change Commission is doing, debates among academics are of almost no consequence at all. Read more
A well-functioning education system is vital to equip our children for life. Educational Performance and Funding in New Zealand: Are our children getting the education they deserve? Read more
The Government’s announcement of a review into Pharmac declares that its budget, and the total amount allocated to pharmaceuticals, will be out of scope. This ignores the most serious weakness with current arrangements: that no one really knows whether they are improving health outcomes, let alone the well-being of New Zealanders, according to a substantial report, Pharmac: The right prescription? Read more
The nationwide housing shortage and soaring prices are only going to get worse. Leonard Hong, author of our The Need to Build report, tells Kathryn Ryan on Radio NZ that demand-side solutions such as the bright-line test are just tinkering around the edges. Read more