Capital Tax the Best Option for Economy

Gareth MorganTax and Welfare

In its election campaign Labour promoted a capital gains tax. That at least recognises that we have a terrible hole in our tax base, and what results is a misallocation of capital to the detriment of the economy. Capital Tax … Read More

Changing Times in Frozen South

Gareth MorganEnvironment

The biology of our far south – the southern ocean, the sub-Antarctic islands, and that slice of Antarctica known as the Ross Protectorate – is changing. On our sub-Antarctic islands, populations of rockhopper penguins are down by 94 per cent, … Read More

High Risk Shift in Vital Chiller Ocean

Gareth MorganEnvironment

Yesterday, we looked at how the race for resources is heating up in the Antarctic. That’s not the only thing getting hotter. In our 2009 book Poles Apart, written with John McCrystal, we surveyed the evidence for global warming. The … Read More

Inequality will Lead us to a Grim Future

Gareth MorganTax and Welfare

Prime Minister John Key’s newly elected government should be bold enough to confront the message from a December 5 OECD report. It confirms rising inequality in developed economies is a major problem that needs addressing urgently – and yes, New … Read More

Fishing Quota needs to be Cast Wider

Gareth MorganFisheries Management

Two weeks ago in this column we described how New Zealand bravely confronted the tragedy of the commons that was destroying our $200-million-a-year (0.2 per cent of GDP) commercial fisheries. That came in the form of the quota management system … Read More