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We are all familiar with nightmares. They can be terrifying. 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
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
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
In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s 1818 classic, Victor Frankenstein claims to have created his monster for the betterment of humankind. Of course, Frankenstein’s undertaking proved more arrogant conceit than utopian undertaking. Read more
Former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson once quipped that a week is a long time in politics, so you can be forgiven if you’ve forgotten about National’s latest fix to the housing crisis: a $1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund. Launched at the party’s conference, the fund would allow debt-constrained councils to borrow on an off-the-books basis to put in the infrastructure necessary for housing development. Read more
That is the question that policymakers in New Zealand have been pondering for over 170 years. It is not a simple question to answer. Read more
Wellington (25 July 2016): The people of the larger Wellington area were right to vote against amalgamation and avoid the expensive tangle of red tape. We are seeing Auckland struggling to be efficient and address issues effectively and in a timely way. Read more
Tax policy is usually about picking your poison. Set company taxes too high relative to international norms and firms will want to set up abroad. Read more
Distance makes the heart grow fonder, so they say. But sometimes distance can also make you see things more clearly – not just if you are farsighted. Read more