A flight to safety
All going well, the Alert 4 lockdown will end in two weeks. But life will not return to normal. Read more
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All going well, the Alert 4 lockdown will end in two weeks. But life will not return to normal. Read more
The world has had mixed success containing Covid-19 with Singapore as a standout example during the early phases of the pandemic. Our Research Assistant Leonard Hong talks to chief editor Nathan Smith about Singapore’s approach and shares the lessons for New Zealand. Read more
Wellington, 9 April - A new report Quantifying the wellbeing costs of Covid-19 by the New Zealand Initiative shows how an economic hit of about 6.1% of GDP would be justified if it meant saving 33,600 lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. The figures, compiled by research fellow Dr Bryce Wilkinson, were generated by updating a Ministry of Health model from 2017 and plugging in the available data on Covid-19. Read more
Wellington, 8 April - Singapore has set a high standard for dealing with Covid-19 and despite its decision to enter a lockdown this week, New Zealand can learn a lot from the country, according to a new report Lessons from abroad: Singapore’s Covid-19 containment model from the New Zealand Initiative. Although Singapore has enacted a “circuit breaker” lockdown to defend against some new sources of coronavirus, it could make this choice due to its earlier efforts to identify, control and contain the pandemic threatening its territory. Read more
If the Government’s decision to suspend most of the economy and send most Kiwis home for a month is successful, I will be one of the first to applaud. Covid-19 has cast me in the role of a vulnerable New Zealander. Read more
We all know those newspaper segments which feature a previously famous person. And then we read these articles wondering why we have not heard from them for such a long time, and sometimes we may even be surprised to hear that they are still alive. Read more
Wellington, 7 April - The Government’s current wage subsidy scheme may insufficiently protect Kiwis from the worst effects of the Covid-19 crisis, according to a new report from the New Zealand Initiative. Comparing New Zealand with Australia and Canada, the report Relief measures: comparing Covid-19 wage subsidy schemes by Dr David Law shows significant differences between the three in the construction of wage subsidy schemes. Read more
Following the release of his report Short-time work to maintain employment, David Law discusses the benefits of short-time work with Kerre McIver on Newstalk ZB.
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You'd think it would be easy to figure out just what is an essential service when there's need for pandemic lock-downs. Food services and health services obviously make the cut; movie theatres and concerts, not so much. Read more
Professor Sir David Skegg raised the 64-thousand-dollar (or perhaps 64 billion-dollar) question in his testimony before Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee this week. He asked whether the government had a clear the strategic objective for its unprecedented level-four lockdown. Read more