Category Archive

A land tax just for foreigners? Come on John, you’re better than this

Gareth MorganApril 27, 2016Economics

John Key has floated the idea of an annual land tax on foreign buyers of residential real estate as one response to the influx of money into the Auckland market particularly. Land tax is part of one of the biggest … 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

Which do you prefer – Dairy bailouts or foreign ownership?

Gareth MorganMarch 15, 2016Economics

The dairy industry in New Zealand decided some time ago that it preferred to pursue growth through increasing the volume of raw milk produced and specifically eschewed the notion that it would pursue the most profitable opportunities in the sector … Read More

The beach, the monkey and rationality

Gareth MorganFebruary 14, 2016Economics, Environment

One of the tenets of classical economics is that markets are rational (in other words, logical), that in the end if enough people participate, the outcome will be optimal. This assumption is often criticised and is why governments intervene via … Read More

Unemployment is down? But does that mean those people have found work? Whiteboard Friday

Gareth MorganFebruary 5, 2016Economics

The latest New Zealand unemployment figures are down, but does that mean that more people are working. Geoff explains in this week’s whiteboard Friday Unemployment is down? But does that mean those people have found work? Whiteboard Friday was last … Read More

Why is China Having a Financial Meltdown and it affects NZ

Gareth MorganJanuary 28, 2016Economics

Global stockmarkets are down 8% this year and China is fingered as the main cause of the drop. People are rightly asking why. Over the last 15 years I have started travelling to China frequently. In particular I went beyond … Read More

5 points showing Kiwi businesses want ambitious climate action

Gareth MorganNovember 16, 2015Economics, Environment

Businesses are often seen as the bad guys when it comes to climate change, lobbying governments to stymie action and water down commitments. That seems to be true in some cases – as we’ve seen recently with Exxon Mobil’s alleged … Read More

Who’s New Zealand’s real rich? The results may surprise you

Geoff SimmonsNovember 8, 2015Economics

Over the weekend Max Rashbrooke’s latest book Wealth and New Zealand was released, giving a rare insight into the wealth of New Zealanders. We don’t see this sort of information very often because of lack of data. Because we tax … Read More

Should we really ditch Kiwirail?

Geoff SimmonsOctober 29, 2015Economics

Yesterday, Kiwirail finally spoke out against Treasury’s advice that they should be scrapped. Until now, the public discussion has been limited to a bizarre joust between Steven Joyce, Bill English and Treasury on one side, with Mainfreight on the other … Read More

Uber vs the Taxis

Geoff SimmonsOctober 19, 2015Economics

Regulation is important, but unless it is nimble and well managed it can become a bigger problem than whatever it was intended to solve. We’ve seen one example of that in with minimum parking requirements, but another, much bigger regulatory … Read More

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