The interest-free student loan scheme is simply not fit for purpose. This report finds that there is no compelling public policy case for universal subsidised student loans. Read more
Wellington (19 August 2016): The New Zealand Initiative has called the Productivity Commission’s latest draft report a timely reminder that system-wide change is needed to fix the country’s poorly functioning planning system. “Over the past 25 years it has become increasingly apparent that our planning system is not fit for purpose, the most obvious sign being the sharp increase in house prices in our fastest growing cities,” said Research Fellow Jason Krupp. Read more
The train-wreck was utterly predictable but we should still look back to see how it happened, how bad it was, and how we can keep it from happening again. This week, The New Zealand Initiative released its decade-on retrospective look at the government’s interest-free student loan policy. Read more
As you read this, our teachers’ unions are preparing for war. For the first time in history they are planning meetings of 60,000 teachers, nationwide, during school hours. Read more
A lot of people have done well out of the past decade of interest-free student loans. But that hardly means the policy is what is right for the country. Read more
The world premiere of a new film on New Zealand’s post 1984 economic reforms will screen in the Academy Cinema (below the Auckland Public Library) on Thursday 25 August at 6pm. This film was made by Americans for an international audience. Read more
Just over a decade ago, the government stopped charging interest on student loans. Before 2006, student loan debt drew interest after the borrower left school. Read more
Wellington (18 August 2016): New Zealand’s interest-free student loan scheme has not achieved its policy objectives and fails to help students from poorer backgrounds access tertiary education, according to the latest report from The New Zealand Initiative. Launched today, the report ‘Decade of Debt: The cost of interest-free student loans’, found the scheme has had little influence on improving equitable access to higher education. Read more
Jason Wells on NBR Radio with John Stewart discusses Initiative's charities report. Read more
Wellington (12 August 2016): The New Zealand Initiative today welcomed Minister Maggie Barry’s Heritage Earthquake Upgrade Incentive Programme (EQUIP). “Owners of heritage buildings are too often caught in an invidious position,” commented The Initiative’s Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton. Read more
If there is one country Prime Minister John Key seems to be as fond of as New Zealand, it is Switzerland. He has talked about making this “the Switzerland of the South Pacific,” although admittedly that was before the release of the Panama Papers. Read more
This week, Newshub released a new opinion poll showing a large majority of New Zealanders demand curbs to immigration. Three in five voters said so. Read more
The easiest way to catch a fish is to visit the local New World store. Commercial fishing can deliver seafood far more cost effectively than the average recreational fisher. Read more
Minister Simon Bridges has killed a few of my favourite things. By not granting tiny, low-risk iPredict an exemption from Anti Money Laundering regulations designed for the big banks, he helped to strangle it. Read more
Last week most of the country, or at the very least a third of it, heaved a high sigh of relief when the Independent Hearings Panel released its quite sensible recommendations on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP). The sigh was justifiable to some degree considering just how crazy the outcome could have been given the precursors. Read more