Dr Oliver Hartwich talks about the "great cash wall" of China on RadioLIVE. Read more
The Greens’ proposal that election campaign promises be costed has drawn the praise it is due: it is an excellent proposal. But it is a harder job than it might seem. Read more
There is nothing wrong with being an old grump. With a lifetime of disappointments to reflect on, old grumps have earned the right to grouse about how things used to be back in their day. Read more
Retirement savings, lavish family holidays or private dance lessons: these are some of what the cost of a private education in New Zealand could buy according to the New Zealand Herald's calculations. The paper ran a story last Sunday questioning why New Zealand parents choose private schools for their kids. Read more
Albert Einstein said, “for an idea that does not first seem insane, there is no hope.” If Einstein is right, there is hope for the Greens’ proposal to establish a new office to cost political parties’ new policies. It did not take long for the government to reject the Greens’ idea out of hand. Read more
‘Never let a good crisis go to waste.’ For a long time, this was the unofficial motto of the EU. Whatever challenges it faced, overcoming them often enabled it to progress with the process of political and economic integration. Read more
Wellington (27 January 2016): Public policy think tank The New Zealand Initiative commends Prime Minister John Key’s statements on housing in his State of the Nation speech delivered today. Dr Oliver Hartwich, executive director of the Initiative said that Key’s stance on Auckland housing is promising, and looks to relieve some of the pressures of the ongoing housing crisis. Read more
In the schooling world, the word ‘incentive’ may conjure all sorts of negative vibes. Particularly if the word implies receiving an external reward for doing something that one would otherwise do purely for intrinsic satisfaction. Read more
Oxfam does fantastic work in the developing world. It is one of the relatively few charities endorsed by The Life You Can Save: the Peter Singer-inspired NGO that ranks charities by their effectiveness. Read more
For all those who have set their New Year's resolutions, how’s that going? Will 2016 be the year you finally get slimmer, richer, and more attractive? Read more
"Education is a right! Stop the debt sentence!" These were the slogans emblazoned on placards, held by students rallying against the University of Auckland’s 2015 fee hikes. Read more
I prefer making New Year's resolutions for other people rather than for myself. And in that spirit, can we make 2016 the year of not obsessing about whether New Zealand Inc. Read more
Insights 48/16 Dec: My Christmas Wishlist Insights 47/9 Dec: John Key: the quiet achiever | John Key, quite an underachiever | Free to booze Insights 46/2 Dec: Does Castro trump Trump? | Tobacco and taxi regs | Time to work on my karma Insights 45/25 Nov: Local partner, ready and willing | A welcome shake-up | Hot Tub Talk Machine Insights 44/18 Nov: Shaky silver linings | Property rights are human rights | Protecting consumers from themselves Insights 43/11 Nov: Give Trump a chance | The Chaos Ladder | NEET policies need tidying Insights 42/4 Nov: The end of the campaign | When size matters | Is reality optional in academia? Read more
As we begin year seven of the euro crisis, observers may ask what all the fuss was about. Wasn’t the euro supposed to collapse? Read more
There is no poverty in New Zealand because the poor are not living in slums. Some people in so-called poverty even have cars and ovens. Whether you agree or disagree with the above statement, you are right. Read more