Insights

‘Insights’ is the weekly newsletter of The New Zealand Initiative. Every Friday it provides comment pieces on domestic and global policy issues and the state of the world as such. It is a newsletter serious enough for a think tank – and lighthearted enough for an enjoyable Friday afternoon read. Please subscribe to ‘Insights’ by visiting the website of The New Zealand Initiative: www.nzinitiative.org.nz

Insights

‘C’ is for competition

14/03/2014
To promote competition, the most important things regulators can do is to just let it evolve. Competition does not need encouragement, nor does it need to be mandated. It is just what happens naturally when scarce resources meet unlimited demands. Rainforests do not need gardeners, either.

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Insights

‘A’ for Adam Smith

28/02/2014
Two hundred and thirty eight years after The Wealth of Nations, Smith’s timeless ideas are still relevant and inspirational – both for policymakers and for economists. Smith remains the best teacher for anyone aspiring to understand how altruism and self-interest belong together in society.

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Insights

Showering cash is no substitute for policy

31/01/2014
There is no shortage of issues in New Zealand that need to be tackled: the housing affordability crisis, or the challenges to our superannuation system, to name just two examples. But the opposition did not provide any game-changing policy ideas on either of them.

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Insights

Why ferries should not be a political issue

24/01/2014
A privatised Interislander would face the pressures of the market without any obstacles or lifelines from politics. It would also spare us from politicians judging or prescribing what ought to be commercial decisions of Interislander’s management.

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Insights

Good policy in times of rushed politics

20/12/2013
As we are about to enter an election year, political debate may focus more on the fight for power rather than the question of what to do with it once it is attained or secured. This does not make the job of think tanks like us any easier, but it makes our work all the more important.

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Insights

Remaining on the world’s radar

29/11/2013
It does not lack irony that as I am invited on a programme to ensure that Hong Kong retains its global visibility, I come to realise that New Zealand would probably need an image campaign more than them.

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Insights

KiwiAssure provides no assurance

08/11/2013
To ensure markets are competitive, the best option governments have is to keep markets contestable by new entrants. Even the vague potential of market entry can discipline established companies.

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Insights

Ronald Coase (1910-2013)

06/09/2013
Coase’s theorem has important implications for economic policy. Wherever externalities occur, clearly defined and enforceable property rights can reduce the need for government intervention.

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