blog | Page 20 | The Morgan Foundation

Why benefit numbers decreasing is a stupid metric for success

Jess Berentson-ShawApril 7, 2016Tax and Welfare

I recently attended a conference entitled ‘Evidence to Action’. It was a conference primarily aimed at those in the public service and the not for profit sector. It is an annual event put on by a small government outfit called … Read More

Coleman vs Health Experts – Who is Right and Who is Wrong on the Sugar Tax?

Jess Berentson-ShawApril 6, 2016Health

We all know the story of the Emperor who has no clothes. Due to a nasty bout of self-importance and misinformation fed to him by those with a clear agenda, His Royal Greatness steps out in public totally starker’s to … Read More

Big thinking on the UBI is not for the fainthearted (or weak headed)

Susan GuthrieApril 5, 2016Tax and Welfare

The recent Basic Income debate has brought to light both criticisms of the existing welfare system, and of alternatives to it, such as the Big Kahuna’s tax and welfare proposal. Criticism is the easy part, designing something which would work … Read More

Minister Coleman sings from Big Food song sheet

Geoff SimmonsApril 4, 2016Health

Over the weekend, 70 medical specialists called on the Government to introduce a sugar tax. The Minister’s response was straight from the Big Food lobby song sheet – claiming there is no evidence to support such a tax. The academics … Read More

Can Obese People Really Be Considered “Poor”?

Gareth MorganApril 1, 2016Uncategorized

We know that having a lower income means you are far more likely to be obese -particularly the children of low income families. A corporate-funded New Zealand think tank has published a report which questions whether the word “poverty” is … Read More

Rodney Hide’s arguments against corporate tax are dubious and naive

Gareth MorganMarch 31, 2016Tax and Welfare

Lately Rodney Hide has informed us that multinationals equilibrate their after-tax returns across all the markets they operate in. So if one country (NZ for example) hikes up company taxes then the multinationals simply invest elsewhere where the after-tax return … Read More

It’s getting (very) hot in here

Paul YoungMarch 30, 2016Environment

It’s been a sweltering Kiwi summer, and analysis released last week shows we aren’t the only ones feeling the heat. First NASA and then NOAA (the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) released their latest global temperature data showing that … Read More

Will Bill English Really Save Our Broken Families?

Jess Berentson-ShawMarch 29, 2016Uncategorized

‘English was polite but unapologetic: “Some families are broken.’ This was Bill English quoted in a recent article, which appeared to be about how government data could be used to identify and fix at risk families. The author said that: … Read More

Taxpayers Union Critique of the UBI just bonkers – again

Gareth MorganMarch 29, 2016Uncategorized

Today the Taxpayers Union – a lobby group that advocates minimal tax and State-provided education, health and social services – has released a report suggesting that the Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) will result in sky high tax rates and leave … Read More

NZIER Completes Independent Review of ‘Big Kahuna’ Proposal

Gareth MorganMarch 28, 2016Economics, Tax and Welfare

In 2011 Gareth Morgan and Susan Guthrie published The Big Kahuna: Turning Tax and Welfare on its Head. “We reviewed New Zealand’s tax and welfare systems together, and found that both were broken and in need of complete overhaul,” says … Read More