Media
Economics
From the price of milk to how easy it is to find a job, the way each of us live and many of the choices we get to make depend on how we answer the economic questions facing New Zealand. We approach these questions knowing that economics isn’t just financial, it’s about the wellbeing of every person.
Most Recent Activity
Policy Paper | Back to Work
By Julian Wood
Nations around the world are expecting low or negative growth and higher unemployment rates as a result of fighting COVID-19….
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Investing in a resilient workforce
By Julian Wood
When the Government closed New Zealand’s borders in response to COVID-19, flaws in our labour market were exposed. Not only…
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COVID-19 economic analysis – 20.05.2020
By Julian Wood
The following is an overview and commentary on economic information available from Treasury, the Reserve Bank, and the Government’s 2020/21…
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Invest in people alongside new infrastructure
By Julian Wood
The euphoria we are all feeling after entering Level 2 will be tempered by the pain of pay cuts and…
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COVID-19 economic analysis – 22.04.2020
By Julian Wood
Analysis of Treasury’s scenario forecasts (released 13 April) and weekly economic commentary (released 17 April), by Senior Researcher Julian Wood…
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But now, who pays?
By Julian Wood
On Tuesday last week, the New Zealand Treasury outlined five economic scenarios that aimed to depict how the economy may…
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Migration Policy Paper: A Welcome That Works
By Julian Wood
Over the last 30 years, New Zealand has become over reliant on temporary work migration as a way to solve…
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A welcome that works
By Julian Wood
In the 90’s the regions cried out for workers to pick fruit, plant trees and generally do a range of…
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Checking our climate blind spots
By Julian Wood
When it comes to emissions it is easy for us to obsess about factories and farmers as if these activities…
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Preparing for economic downturn
By Julian Wood
There’s been a lot of recent chat about a possible economic downturn, and many seem to be living under the…
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The pitfalls and priorities of Public Private Partnerships
By Julian Wood
New Zealand has a long and contentious history of private public partnerships (or PPPs). The biggest argument in favour of…
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We can’t afford to sleep on climate risks any longer
By Julian Wood
The story of Rip Van Winkle, first published 200 years ago, resonates deeply with me. I too feel like I…
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Budget reveals wellbeing will cost more than Rules allow
By Julian Wood
The figures announced in last week’s Wellbeing Budget stretches the Government’s self-imposed Budget Responsibility Rules (keeping the level of net…
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Making New Zealand “sexy”
By Julian Wood
In contrast with our apparently “sexy” accent, New Zealand is struggling when it comes to being attractive as a long-term…
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Provincial Growth Fund | Conclusions and Recommendations
By Julian Wood
Perhaps we cannot raise the winds. But each of us can put up the sail, so that when the wind…
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Provincial Growth Fund | Comparative Analysis
By Julian Wood
We will undertake a comparative analysis of how the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) aligns with the Regional Action Plans (RAPs)….
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Provincial Growth Fund Overview
By Julian Wood
The PGF, officially launched on 2 August 2018, is a three year, three billion dollar commitment by the current coalition…
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Smart Specialisation
By Julian Wood
BEST PRACTICE – A SMART SPECIALISATION REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT STRATEGY Across the OECD many have turned toward what has become…
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Spatial Policy | The case for and against
By Julian Wood
INTRODUCTION In 2017, the coalition Government announced the $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), dramatically changing the New Zealand regional…
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Think Big 2.0: The Provincial Growth Fund risks turning into a fiasco
By Alex Penk
This article was written by Alex Penk and Julian Wood, and first published on The Spinoff on 26 February, on…
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