An inflation crisis of the Government’s making
What if the same politicians now trying to save us from high prices caused our current situation? [...]
Cost of living
High hurdles for international newcomers
If you are concerned about New Zealand's cost of living, you should think about those regulations that have a limiting effect on supply and competition. [...]
Missing benefits of the high dollar
As the New Zealand dollar reached an all-time high against the British pound and keeps rising against the US dollar, the euro and other major currencies, New Zealand manufacturers are renewing their complaints about the damaging effects of our strong currency. However, currency movements usually produce losers and winners. Just as domestic exporters suffer from a rising kiwi dollar, domestic importers benefit from increased international purchasing power. [...]
Christmas pudding without butter
Milton Friedman once quipped that if you put the government in charge of the Sahara Desert, there would be a shortage of sand within five years. In the very same way, an interventionist and protectionist government can create a staple food shortage even in the most highly developed nation on the planet. [...]
World class economy, first class prices
No doubt the Australian economy has performed well in the past decades. But for Australian consumers to benefit from this development, government needs to step out of the way and stop needlessly inflating prices. [...]
Let the online bargain hunt begin, properly
Thanks to the high dollar, Australians have become the world's most savvy online bargain hunters. Parcels with cheaper DVDs from the US, computer games from Hong Kong and books from Britain arrive on our shores in their thousands every day. [...]
Price Drivers: Five Case Studies in How Government is Making Australia Unaffordable
Government influences price levels in more ways than is immediately apparent. Through its direct and indirect interventions in the market, government is one of the most important price drivers in Australia and responsible for the rising cost of living. To make life more affordable, government needs to remove regulatory obstacles. [...]
Talk is cheap, everything else is not
It was in a busy shopping street in the city centre of Lübeck where I spotted them. Glowing in bright yellow, the fruits at the market stall looked exactly as I remembered them from Australia. But when I saw the price of 79 Euro cents per kilo (approximately AU$1), I wondered whether they were really bananas. [...]
Ripped off and overcharged? Not necessarily
Consumers have no right to demand a certain price. But they have a right not to buy things when they find them too expensive. And that's a message that even the most extortionate businessman understands. [...]
Planning and the economy: a complex relationship
What sounds like a paradoxical experience may not be so much of a paradox after all. House prices, quality of life and economic growth are very much interlinked in Britain's recent history, and it is not always easy to disentangle the three. However, if we want to understand why they are connected, it is necessary to subject them to an economic analysis, and that means analysing the way Britain's built environment has been planned. [...]