Reports & Media

It’s easier to seek forgiveness than permission. And it might be more effective as well. Read more

Labour’s Phil Twyford has been talking a lot of good sense on housing supply, but I am having a hard time making sense of his policies on foreign buyers. So far, the good outweighs the bad. Read more

It is with sincere regret we advise you that this will be our last Insights newsletter. This time next week, the majority of us will be on our way back to where we came from. Read more

There is a lot of fizz in the sugar tax debate, not only because soft drinks are involved. Keen to protect their irresponsible compatriots from themselves, an armada of “experts” wants to ban or at least tax anything sweet. Read more

It’s easier to seek forgiveness than permission. And it might be more effective as well. Read more

One of my favourite jokes about Switzerland goes something like this: An American walks into a Swiss bank with heavy sacks in each of his hands. He goes to the teller, brings his face close to the glass and whispers, “I have two million dollars with me. Read more

I hate self-inflicted wounds. New Zealand’s use of public data, or lack thereof, counts. Read more

Thanks to YouTube, there is likely to be an entire generation whose only knowledge of Hayek and Keynes is through rap (for those of you born before 1990, just go on the interweb and search for the Hayek and Keynes epic rap battle). Most undergraduate economics students will be able to summarise the great divide between Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes on monetary and fiscal policy. Read more

Will the coming flag referendum pick the right flag? It looks like we might never know. Read more

Last weekend was significant on two fronts: The government announced a major review of our planning system; and the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup. While the latter was celebrated and received all the attention it deserves, the former may be the more important event in the long run. Read more

If you look at the United Kingdom and Switzerland, it would be easy to conclude that the two countries have very little in common when it comes to localism. On one side is Britain, a country that abandoned localism to increasingly concentrate decision making in London over the last 100 years. Read more

A doctor, a policy researcher and a marine biologist walk into a bar…at 4:30 in the morning. We were sandwiched between two elderly ladies sipping cups of Earl Grey, and a dozen young men dressed patriotically in All Blacks t-shirts, downing triple-shot flat whites faster than the barista could keep up. Read more