Ideas@TheCentre

Canberra, Wii have a problem

The morning after held an unpleasant surprise. My right arm was sore, and my left shoulder hurt at every move. It felt as if I had dug a trench right through our garden. In fact, my wife and I had only spent an evening in front of the telly. If only we had known what we were getting ourselves into when we decided to get a Nintendo Wii game console.

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National Business Review

MMP struggles in Germany and here

Given Germany’s experience, it is high time New Zealand starting thinking carefully about the future of its electoral system. Has MMP cured the ills it was meant to or has it just made the system more complex?

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Business Spectator

The flawed giant of Europe

Australians worried about their productivity performance in international rankings may relax a little. There is not much in the German experience that they should wish to copy.

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Research reports

Superseding MMP: Real Electoral reform for New Zealand

After 13 years of Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representation, Prime Minister John Key has said it is time to ‘kick the tyres’ and see how much support the system enjoys. New Zealand will hold a referendum on the electoral system coinciding with the next election, which may well be a close contest. With this referendum looming, it is both desirable and necessary to revisit New Zealand’s electoral system, its peculiarities, and its history. Beyond that, this is also the time to consider alternatives to MMP.

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The Dominion Post

Question time on whether NZ needs to reinstate an upper house

MMP has, in some ways, proved to be the worst of all worlds. It was meant to provide consensual decision-making, prevent an outright parliamentary majority pulling away from the will of voters and, thus, make Parliament representative. It was also meant to provide different local and national representation, and the proportional element was supposed to increase diversity within Parliament.

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Business Spectator

Europe’s China blindness

The Europeans are ignoring both the opportunities and dangers of China at their peril. Closing their eyes to the Chinese awakening will not put the Chinese dragon back to sleep.

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Ideas@TheCentre

Right concerns, wrong policy

Abbott’s scheme, while meant to create a more family friendly society, will only enlarge the welfare state and increase taxes. But looking at Japan, Canada or Germany we can see that imposing bigger tax burdens and increasing the welfare state are not conducive to lifting either productivity or fertility.

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Business Spectator

No more hope or glory for Britain

The stakes for Britain could hardly be higher. A return to the pre-crisis times of ‘Cool Britannia’, let alone Elgar’s Land of Hope and Glory is nowhere in sight. And instead of only printing Adam Smith’s portrait on their bank notes, British policy-makers should rather have read the great master.

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The Australian

Learning about Hayek the hard way

IN his masterpiece, The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich Hayek considered the follies of mistaken policies to conclude: “We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish.” If only Kevin Rudd heeded this advice, his much-televised apologies for the government’s insulation fiasco and other policy blunders would be more credible.

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