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The accommodation supplement is supposed to make housing more affordable for low income tenants. But whether it can really do that job depends a lot on market conditions. Read more

You do not need prices in a land of plenty. Prices are a wonderful way of coordinating competing demands on scarce resources. Read more

An unusual event took place among the leaders of New Zealand’s largest companies last week. Whether it was Air New Zealand’s Christopher Luxon, ASB Bank’s Barbara Chapman or delegation leader Fraser Whineray from Mercury, en masse they put aside their desk jobs to participate in The New Zealand Initiative’s week-long Go Swiss trip. Read more

When economist Paul Samuelson was challenged to come up with an economic principle that was both true and non-obvious, he cited comparative advantage. That two people, or countries, can be made better off by trading, even if one of them is better at producing everything that they might trade, is hardly intuitive. Read more

Infrastructure financing can be tough for fast-growing councils hitting up against their debt limits. When interest payments, as a fraction of expenditures, are up against the cap, new borrowing for infrastructure has to quickly provide a return that offsets the interest costs. Read more

The past fortnight has seen more local news stories about scary sea-level rise and earthquake building risks. It seems these days the public is being constantly urged by scientists, engineers and others to take costly action to reduce the potential for loss from natural disasters. Read more

Much ink has been spilled recently over Auckland Council’s decision to try recover tourism promotion costs from inner-city accommodation providers using a targeted rate. Judging by the temperature of the rhetoric, that ink is boiling hot. Read more

George W Bush’s most famous quote is the one he got so fantastically wrong. Repeating an old Tennessee saying, he meant to say “fool me once, shame on you. Read more