Opinion & Commentary
Opinion and Commentary contains media articles written by CIS researchers.
Categories
Kiwis put ETS on the shelf
New Zealand’s realistic policy approach, combined with its almost defunct carbon market, should be a real wake-up call for Australia to reconsider its ill-fated Carbon Tax Scheme. Read More
Land of the long white cloud faces bad weather
SINCE 2008, New Zealand has been led by former investment banker John Key's National Party. The party campaigned on growing New Zealand's economy and encouraging individual enterprise. However, three years... Read More
Kiwis facing a critical choice
New Zealand must overcome challenging economic conditions, writes Luke Malpass Read More
Spending Spree wasted decade of prosperity
NZ’s decade long spending binge was prosperity wasted. Read More
Stop pricing young workers out of the labour force
Minimum wages hurt employment prospects for the people they're intended to help. Read More
The Don reignites the war of ideas
Dr Don Brash’s return to politics will breathe new life into New Zealand’s political debate, start a healthy battle of ideas and finally see the important policies debated. Read More
Brash’s ‘extremist’ policies seen as sensible in Australia
Don Brash’s economic policies are closer to Julia Gillard’s in Australia, a country whose standard of living is significantly higher than New Zealand’s. Read More
New Zealand's risky re-regulation path
The recent rise of wrong-headed economic populism in New Zealand brings the threat of protectionism in an economy that is already woefully stagnant. Read More
New Zealand’s great regression
New Zealand was once a beacon to the Western world for classical liberal reform. No longer. Where did it all go wrong? Read More
Little John shows Kevin how it's done
Soon after John Key was elected Prime Minister of New Zealand in late 2008, he visited Kevin Rudd. The Australian Prime Minister was at the height of his popularity, soaring in the polls, saving Australia... Read More
MMP struggles in Germany, now it struggles here
MMP in Germany suffers the same problems as MMP in New Zealand and New Zealand should learn from this. Read More
The high price of subsidies
Like virtually all industry assistance schemes, the feel-good factor of the New Zealand government’s subsidy to the makers of Avatar outweighs any economic benefit. Read More
Labour should not take its eyes off the target
Twenty years after introducing inflation targeting in 1989 and revolutionising central bank governance that was to sweep the world during the 1990s, Labour is back in opposition and rejected the monetary... Read More
Hostility to aspiration and the tall poppy syndrome hold New Zealand back
In last week’s Sunday Star Times, Rod Oram dubiously claims the 2025 Taskforce's analysis is inaccurate, lazy and shallow, and dismisses the chairman’s credentials and the report’s findings. Read More
Kiwi monetary muddle
The falling U.S. dollar is sparking a dangerous debate about the New Zealand central bank's role. Read More
Smartest Kiwis nest in our warmer climate
For the half a million Kiwis living in Australia, the New Zealand government’s goal of reaching Australia’s living standards by 2025 will come as a welcome tonic, if only for the sake of their relatives... Read More
Life’s joys get a little lost down holes of health-cost analyses
Any time we make a decision that lets us enjoy a bit of fun but with some risk to our health, that decision is considered irrational and cannot generate any real enjoyment. Read More
‘Healthist’ doomsayers are spoiling all our fun
The hidden cost of healthist cost reports is the slow erosion of liberty that ensues when we take them at face value. By conflating the costs that risk-takers impose on themselves with the costs they impose... Read More
Incentivising welfare
The Key government campaigned on reforming welfare, but as the recession bites deeper we shall see if John Key and Paula Bennett are serious or not. Read More
Kiwi Crunch Time
NZ Prime Minister John Key often talks about his desire to grow New Zealand out of the global economic recession, rather than bail the country out through huge spending packages. This puts him at odds... Read More
Kiwisaver or KiwiSucker?
You’d have to be an idiot not to join KiwiSaver, according to most financial advisors. In effect the government is paying you thousands of dollars to join, and soon employers will have to contribute... Read More
Time for Politicians to treat our money more carefully
This week’s budget will be the biggest spend-up in New Zealand’s history. Even in the days of Muldoon there was nothing to rival the $54 billion spend-up that Dr Michael Cullen will unveil on Thursday. Read More
A breather before bingeing
Finance Minister Dr Cullen is in an enviable position, despite his protestations of poverty. Every year he receives billions of dollars in bonus tax that he did not expect. Most treasurers around the world... Read More
Growth needs basic rules
The New Zealand economy is one of the freest in the world. This still holds true despite its freedom rating having slipped somewhat since the bold economic reforms that ended a decade ago. Read More