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I had the misfortune recently to lunch with an economist. Economists are generally despondent about government stupidity, ineptitude and profligacy. Read more
Judging by the length of Labour’s manifesto proposals for workplace relations reform, you might think New Zealand’s labour markets were not working well for workers. If re-elected, Labour will persist with plans of former Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Ian Lees-Galloway to introduce compulsory industry-wide collective bargaining (dubbed ‘Fair Pay Agreements’). Read more
Times are tough, I get it. All this talk of a “new normal” but only Coco’s Cantina in Auckland seems serious about getting us there. Read more
Too much money is spent on education. New Zealand invests billions into schooling its children. Read more
Treasury released its economic and fiscal forecasts to 2033/34 last week. Because it is politically neutral and fully informed, Treasury is best placed to make such pre-election forecasts. Read more
The real fun in Treasury fiscal updates is rarely in the headlines. It’s rather in the finer print where the assumptions underpinning the main estimates are laid out, and where different scenarios are played out. Read more
Dear minister, Let’s cut to the chase: New Zealand’s economy is in a perilous state. The covid-19 crisis is a one-in-100-year shock. Read more
In this week’s New Zealand Initiative podcast, a scheduled release of the second quarter GDP statistics revealed the country’s economy dropped 12%, rather than the feared 16%. But coupled with the government’s money printing plans, the true state of the New Zealand economy is tough to judge at this point. Read more
Back in March, the World Happiness Index 2020 placed New Zealand eighth with a score of 7.3, tucked between Austria and Sweden. Every country ranking higher was Nordic (aside from Switzerland) and I notice they also have plenty of Ikea stores. Read more
We should thank Ruth Richardson for requiring Treasury to publish pre-election economic and fiscal forecasts. Compliments also to Treasury for maintaining their quality over nearly three decades. Read more