Policies
to Improve Productivity & Grow the Economy
30
August 08
Charles
Finny
The
major impediment to growth in
New Zealand
is our poor productivity performance.
With the general election approaching, the New
Zealand Chambers of Commerce (
NZCCI
) has just released its Election Manifesto... More
>>>
The Bottom
Billion
30 July 08
Mike Moore
This
week Trade Ministers assemble in Geneva
to try and make progress at the World Trade Organisation
on the Doha Development trade round. The global
economy needs the boost that further trade liberalisation
deliveres. More
>>>
Legal
Empowerment for the Poor
16 July 08
Mike Moore
Look at the worst places to
live in the world – Burma, North Korea, Zimbabwe. What
have they in common? No
democracy, no human, civil, commercial and legal rights.
More
>>>
Mike
Moore needs some reminders of Labour’s past
9 July 08
Michael Littlewood
In his rush to judgement (The Politics of Retirement, 18 June 2008, nzcpr
midweek), Mike Moore slides by some inconvenient
truths about the last 30 or so years of
New Zealand’s superannuation history. More
>>>
Massive
increase in spending, little increase in benefit
15
June 2008
15
June 2008
Muriel Newman
Since taking
office, Labour has spent $85 billion more than if core
government spending had been held at 1999 levels. The
question is whether this massive additional spending has
been of benefit?... More
>>>
Political Agendas
Put Economy at Risk
13 April 08
Muriel Newman
Prime
Minister Helen Clark is right when she says blocking the
sale of a 40 percent interest in Auckland International
Airport is a defining issue. Such political intervention
is arrogant, damaging and reckless. It defines New Zealand
as a state controlled economy.
More >>>
Five
Ideas to Super-Size NZ's Economy
12 April 08
Phil Rennie
Yet for the last 30 years the Aussies have been flogging
us at something far more important than sport – economic
performance. The average wage in
Australia
is now a third higher than in
New Zealand
, which means more exciting and rewarding jobs, more
opportunities for young people and better social outcomes.
More
>>>
Motivating
a Nation
30 March
08
Muriel Newman
There is such a
notable lack of debate about crucial public policy issues
that you could be excused for not realising that we are
already a quarter of the way through to the latest
possible date for the 2008 election. That’s why Sir
Roger Douglas’s entry into the debate about the future
direction of the country has been so interesting...
More >>>
“Kids
– it’s time to come home”
29 March 08
Sir
Roger Douglas
Thirty years ago, I told the Labour Party conference that
New Zealand
stood at the economic crossroads.
That there were no soft options left.
That unless we changed our ways,
New Zealand
was headed for disaster.
That proved to be dead right. More
>>>
Free
Market Capitalism
24 February
08
Muriel Newman
A
“rich prick”. That’s what Finance Minister Michael
Cullen called the Leader of the National Party two months ago.
That vitriolic attack during a Parliamentary debate revealed
the Labour Party’s loathing of capitalism...
More >>>
The
Romance of Capitalism
23 February 08
Professor Peter Saunders
Capitalism lacks romantic appeal.
Arguments in favour of private property rights and
free market exchange do not set the pulse racing in the
way that fiery speeches about socialism, fascism or
environmentalism can. ... More
>>>
Declining
Productivity as a Way of Life
16 February 08
Richard Epstein
It is now eighteen years since I first visited New Zealand
as a guest of the New Zealand Business Roundtable.
Yet that period of time is long enough to document
the early rise in growth during the period between
1992-2000, followed by the much more anemic growth in the
period between 2000 and 2006....
More
>>>
Financial
Literacy:
What’s the Buzz?
2 December 07
Prof Lawrence Rose
What is a
basis point, and what does it have to do with changes in
interest rates? Should your savings be put into Kiwi
Saver or into paying off a house mortgage? Should you be
worried about the recent collapse of so many finance companies
over the past 18 months? What is an exchange rate and
why does the New Zealand Exchange Rate change so much? Should
I sell my Warehouse shares or buy more? More
>>>
An
Idea Whose Time Has Come
Muriel Newman
28
October 2007
With the average Kiwi family being
more than $5,000 better off living in Australia than New
Zealand, it is no wonder that almost 500 New Zealanders a
week are packing up for life across the Tasman.
According to the Australian Immigration statistics,
23,906 people who were born in New Zealand settled in
Australia during the 2006-07 year. This is a 25 percent
increase on the year earlier. More >>>
Are Tax Cuts Inflationary?
Phil Rennie
27 October 07
The latest excuse from the government
for not giving us tax cuts (despite an $8 billion surplus)
is the fear of inflation. But do tax cuts really cause
inflation? More >>>
Accepting
Accountability
Muriel Newman
28
July 2007
In a
week when lies in Parliament led to the unceremonious
departure of Labour’s 10th Government
Minister, another statement made during Question Time
deserves closer scrutiny.
More
>>>
NZ
Dollar: End game or new game altogether?
Prof
Roger Bowden
28 July 07
Just
as expected, Dr Bollard has announced a rise of 0.25% in
the official cash rate (OCR), to bring it to 8.25%.
Thursday’s announcement also contained another bit of
information, that the Reserve Bank thought it had gone far
enough for the time being, and yet another hike down the
track is not anticipated. Provided, that is, the economy
kept itself in restraint. More
>>>
Struggle
Street
Muriel Newman
8
July 2007
While
we were away in Europe for two weeks, we did see New
Zealand featuring in the news – but no, it wasn’t
about the America’s Cup. It was about the Reserve
Bank’s unprecedented foray into the currency markets!
But more on that later…
More
>>>
All
Eyes on Slovakia's Flat Tax
Harvard
Business School. More
>>>
A Missed
Opportunity
Muriel Newman
20
May 2007
People are getting sick and tired of this government
telling us how to run our lives - what we can and can’t
eat, how to raise our kids, and now, to add insult to
injury, the key message in the budget is that they know
far better than you or I how to spend our own money.
More
>>>
It's
Not Your Money Dr Cullen
Roger Kerr
20 May 07
A
commentator recently wrote as follows: "The notion that it
is better to allow people to keep more of their own money than
to snatch it from them as tax and then return it to them as a
credit against that tax, is alien to a man who really believes
that the national income is his, and it is for him to decide
how much of his money to share with citizens." The
man in question was not finance minister Michael Cullen,
though it could have been. Rather, it was Gordon Brown, the
British chancellor of the exchequer and soon to be prime
minister when Tony Blair steps down next month. More
>>>
Old
Problems New Solutions
Muriel Newman
18 March
07
A new report by the
Centre for Independent Studies, New Zealand’s
Spending Binge by Phil Rennie, highlights the fact
that core government spending is now almost $20 billion
higher than it was in 2000. In spite of that, the social
benefits being delivered “have shown negligible
improvements”.
More >>>
State Culpability
Muriel Newman
17 Dec 06
In
his book Liberalism, written in 1927, distinguished
economist Ludwig von Mises observed, “The task of the state
consists solely and exclusively in guaranteeing the protection
of life, health, liberty, and private property against violent
attacks”.
More >>>
Do
Tax Cuts Make a Difference?
Phil
Rennie
10
Dec 06
With a budget surplus of over
$11 billion the government is fast running out of excuses
not to cut tax. Intuitively we
might think the answer is obvious: of course they do. That
is, if you believe that individuals can spend their money
more efficiently and effectively than politicians and the
bureaucracy. More
>>>
Big government the problem
Muriel
Newman
11 Nov 06
It was a
Professor of History at the University
of Singapore, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, who first
developed the law that explains the relentless growth in
public sector bureaucracies. Parkinson’s Law states that
work expands so as to fill the time available for its
completion.
More >>>
The
Swedish model looks more attractive
Johan
Norberg
14
Oct 06
What’s the
difference between
Sweden
and the
US
? Well, only one of the countries has introduced school
vouchers, abolished the death tax and partially privatised
the pension system. All those reforms that President Bush
has struggled to introduce in the
US
have been successfully implemented in
Sweden
. And the Swedish social democrats has accepted the first
change, participated on the second and took the initiative
to the third.
More
>>>
The Decline of Socialism
Muriel Newman
14 Oct 06
There
was a time when New Zealand was one of the most
progressive countries on earth. Most famously, we were
first to give women the vote, but we also led the way in
our early approach to social welfare, and in the
economic reforms of the eighties. What we failed to do
during that period, however – due largely to Prime
Minister David Lange’s thirst for a cup of tea - was
to implement a much-needed social reform programme.
More >>>
Unsung
Heroes
Muriel
Newman
5 August 06
New Zealand’s unsung heroes are small businesses. These
enterprises, which largely begin their life as
family-based operations, keep the wheels of commerce
turning. They provide the goods and services that
consumers need and in the process, create the jobs and
wealth that are
necessary for the healthy functioning of our economy.
More
>>>
Economic
Transformation (Budget)
Muriel
Newman
20 May 06
The
Budget is an annual summary or plan of the intended
revenues and expenditures of a government, providing
a public blueprint of their economic agenda.
This week, the Labour Government
expressed in a loud and clear fashion that, despite calls
for tax cuts and official advice in favour of lowering
taxes, they do not intend to deviate from their tax and
spend approach.
More >>>
Lucky
for Some Unlucky for Others
Muriel
Newman
14 May 06
It
has often been said that you make your own luck, and when you
read
Australia
’s 2006 budget it is easy to understand why they have been
called the “lucky” country. More
>>>
Freedom
and Prosperity
Muriel
Newman
22 April 06
In his fascinating
1998 treatise on economics “Eat the Rich”, PJ
O’Rourke investigated why some parts of the world are
rich and others are poor. He compared the state of affairs
in a range of countries from
Cuba
to
Hong Kong
,
Albania
to the
USA
, and concluded that the whole miracle of the modern
industrial economy is based on the wealth-creating
attributes of hard work, education, and responsibility,
along with property rights, the rule of law and a
democratic government. Muriel
Newman
22 April 06
In his fascinating
1998 treatise on economics “Eat the Rich”, PJ
O’Rourke investigated why some parts of the world are
rich and others are poor. He compared the state of affairs
in a range of countries from
Cuba
to
Hong Kong
,
Albania
to the
USA
, and concluded that the whole miracle of the modern
industrial economy is based on the wealth-creating
attributes of hard work, education, and responsibility,
along with property rights, the rule of law and a
democratic government. More
>>>
Rich
Country Poor Families
Muriel
Newman
1 April 06
In a sense, New
Zealand
is one of the richest countries on earth. We have a great
climate, beautiful countryside, and a more leisurely pace
of life. Our people are friendly, hard working and caring.
We are close to each other in a way that comes from being
a small country remote from the rest of the world. More
>>>
Consequences
Govt Spending
Dr
Daniel Mitchell
22 March 2006
Economic
theory does not necessarily tell us the proper size of
government. Instead, economic theory tells us to examine
costs and benefits in order to determine whether resources
are allocated in a manner that increases or decreases
economic growth.
More
>>>
Sweden,
the Untold Story
Johan
Norberg
3 Mar 06
The
rest of the world often looks to Sweden
as a model – a form of socialism that managed to produce
wealth. The third way. The best of both worlds.
More
>>>
The Virtue of Self-interest
Muriel
Newman
18 Feb 06
Most New Zealanders
believe that we live in one of the most wonderful places
on earth remote from the world's trouble spots and, with
our stunning landscapes and natural beauty, many claim
that we, not Australia, are the “lucky” country.
More >>>
Ten
Years Adrift
Doug
Myers
18 February 2006
Although
I’ve been back briefly over the summer for the past 4
years, New Zealand hardly makes the front pages of the
Anglo-American print media I’m addicted to, and
inevitably one loses contact. I’m conscious of that and
also Tom Stoppard’s line about
Russia
that one must be careful about becoming a spurious expert
about any place just because it has an airport. More
>>>
A Letter to the Prime Minister
Muriel
Newman
28 Jan 06
The economy is in
trouble. So much so that the Prime Minister has signalled
it will become her government's major priority. More >>>
Time for a Flat Tax?
Muriel
Newman
26 Nov 05
In 1990, my husband Frank and I
co-authored the book How to Grow Rich: secrets to better
money management, a guide to financial independence. It
became a best seller, both here, in Australia, and
interestingly, in Hong Kong. More >>>
Why NZ Needs a Flat Tax
Richard
Epstein
25 November 2005
Many libertarians put themselves into an impossible box
when they claim that government should survive off
voluntary contributions, without any form of compulsory
taxation. The obvious response is that ordinary people,
each endowed with a modicum of self-interest, will each
shirk on their voluntary contributions, thereby starving
government of the revenues needed for two vital functions:
to preserve liberty and to create and maintain needed
infrastructure, such as public roads and rivers. More
>>>
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