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
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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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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Making the Provincial Growth Fund a risk worth taking
By Julian Wood
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) represents a once in a generation opportunity to support a sustainable future for New Zealand’s…
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Regional Development Policy Paper | A Risk Worth Taking
By Julian Wood
One year into the $3B Provincial Growth Fund, Maxim Institute’s new research A Risk Worth Taking – Ensuring the Provincial…
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The status of our own history
By Danielle van Dalen
While many of us are raised with storybook histories of pharaohs, kings, queens, and notable events from all over the…
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Make the change, don’t keep the change
By Jeremy Vargo
Quick question. If a checkout operator gives you too much money back in change, do you tell them and give…
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The collision of research and real life
By Alex Penk
I’ve never been to Maraenui, but I’ve now had a pretty eye-opening introduction to the Napier suburb. The devastation caused…
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Losing All Blacks nothing to fear
By Julian Wood
In a surprise move, a group of the top 1 percent of male New Zealand income earners are appealing for…
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Sabotaging the lifts in New Zealand’s tower of wealth
By Julian Wood
If you haven’t seen the 2018 Side Eye Inequality Tower by Toby Morris and Max Rashbrooke, it’s well worth a…
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Irresponsible lenders on borrowed time
By Julian Wood
While borrowing money at an annualised interest rate of up to 693% wouldn’t appear at the top of anyone’s wish…
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Housing Panel – Live Q+A
THREE PERSPECTIVES ON HOW WE MOVE FORWARD A decent, affordable place to live is a basic need for every person,…
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Time to take a risk for the regions – Newsroom column
By Alex Penk
To lay out an explanation for the recommendations in our Taking the Right Risks policy paper on regional development, Alex Penk…
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Alex Penk talks with Mike Hosking – Regional development policy paper
Upon the release of our regional development paper, Taking the Right Risks, Alex Penk was interviewed by Mike Hosking on…
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