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WHAT'S NEW |
3 July 2009, Edward L Glaeser
In the 1990s, American economists roamed the world preaching the virtues of fiscal restraint, the rule of law, free trade, and privatization. Today, those four policy pillars, once known as the Washington Consensus, are abandoned in the city that gave that consensus its name. These policies were never commandments from Mount Sinai, but they are important ingredients of long-run economic success. In a recession, putting today's needs ahead of tomorrow's prosperity is understandable, but even in bleak times, doing too much can be worse than doing too little. ...more.
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3 July 2009, New Zealand Business Roundtable
“While the new NZIER/Infometrics report to the government on climate change
policy provides useful insights, it is not a Regulatory Impact Statement, as required
by and defined in the terms of reference of the parliamentary select committee
reviewing the proposed Emission Trading Scheme (ETS)”, Roger Kerr, executive
director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today. ...more.
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1 July 2009, New Zealand Business Roundtable
We regard the NZIER and Infometrics as reputable consultancy organisations. Having said that, we cannot emphasise too strongly that the NZIER/Infometrics report is
not a Regulatory Impact Statement. ...more.
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1 July 2009, Steven Horwitz
Money is one human institution that is so ubiquitous that we do not often step back and try to understand exactly how it works and why. After all, when one thinks about it, it is somewhat strange that a customer can walk into a store, hand over a piece of paper with ink on it, or just transfer some bytes of information over a computer, and walk out with merchandise worth much more than the ink and paper or the bytes. ...more.
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26 June 2009, Stephen Kirchner
If the leaders of the G20 nations and the International Monetary Fund are to be believed, activist fiscal policy is essential to save the global economy from an even deeper and more protracted downturn. In this context, it is not surprising that many commentators, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his recent essay for The Monthly, should turn to the work of John Maynard Keynes for inspiration. For they will find very little support for activist fiscal policy in contemporary, mainstream economic thought. ...more.
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24 June 2009, Keith N Hylton, Geoffrey A Manne and Joshua D Wright
Last week the European Commission slapped Intel Corporation with the largest antitrust fine in the Commission's history, announcing that the sanctions were necessary to protect consumers from the egregious abuses of a "dominant firm." What did Intel do to merit this sanction? Whatever its intentions were, its actions leading up to the fine resulted inarguably in lower prices for consumers. ...more.
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23 June 2009, Roger Kerr
In his early budgets, former finance minister Michael Cullen worried a lot about the deficit in the current account of the balance of payments. In the five years before he came into office the annual deficit averaged justover 5% of GDP. He left office with deficits at record 8-9% levels. ...more.
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19 June 2009, David Neumark
Based on 20 years of research, I doubt there is ever a good time to raise the minimum wage. However, with the aggregate unemployment rate at 9.4%, the teen unemployment rate exceeding 22%, and the unemployment rate for black teens nearing 40%, next month's increase seems like the worst timing possible. ...more.
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17 June 2009, David Henderson
The attached speech was David Henderson’s contribution to a panel discussion on public policy responses to global warming, delivered to the ‘Beyond Kyoto – Green Innovation and Enterprise in the 21st Century’ conference at Oxford University. His presentation focused on the role of the IPCC and the significance of corporate social responsibility. ...more.
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15 June 2009, Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation
The video analyzes the controversial issue of tax increases targeted at investors and entrepreneurs. CF&P Foundation's educational video provides five reasons to reject the Obama's Administration's soak-the-rich approach to tax policy. Higher tax rates discourage productive behavior. Higher tax rates generate Laffer Curve responses. Higher tax rates on the rich don't help the poor. Higher tax rates reduce competitiveness. Higher tax rates on the rich lead to higher tax rates on everybody. ...more.
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12 June 2009, Susan Lee
It's been quite a spectacle for those who have followed Alan Greenspan's career for decades. Gone is the financial rock star or even the statesman testifying before Congress in a measured baritone. Instead, over the past several months, Alan Greenspan has morphed into a totally new person. ...more.
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12 June 2009, Andrei Shleifer
Between 1980 and 2005, as the world embraced free market policies, living standards rose sharply, while life expectancy, educational attainment, and democracy improved and absolute poverty declined. Is this a coincidence? A collection of essays edited by Balcerowicz and Fischer argues that indeed reliance on free market forces is key to economic growth. A book by Stiglitz and others disagrees. I review and compare the two arguments. ...more.
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10 June 2009, Roger Kerr
Commentators have suggested that the government’s decision to suspend automatic contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (the so called Cullen Fund) may spell its eventual demise. Should we mourn that outcome? Would it have any implications for future superannuation benefits, as some have suggested? The answer to both questions is no. ...more.
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10 June 2009, David Brooks
The market seems to want C.E.O.’s to offer a clear direction for their companies. There’s a tension between being resolute and being flexible. The research suggests it’s more important to be resolute, even at the cost of some flexibility. ...more.
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10 June 2009, Roger Kerr
One of the most frequently cited statements in economics is John Maynard Keynes’ observation that “Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.”
For decades after those words were written, and extending even to the present time, Keynes was that influential defunct economist. ...more.
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5 June 2009, Andrei Shleifer
The last quarter century has witnessed remarkable progress of mankind, says economist Andrei Shleifer. The world's per capita inflation-adjusted income rose from $5,400 in 1980 to $8,500 in 2005. Schooling and life expectancy grew rapidly, while infant mortality and poverty fell just as fast. ...more.
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5 June 2009, Roger Kerr
Earlier this year the minister for the environment Dr Nick Smith floated the idea of a levy on lightweight plastic bags under the Waste Minimisation Act. Prime Minister John Key quickly ruled it out. However, we are likely to hear similar proposals to reduce the use of plastic bags and other “extended producer responsibility” measures in the future.How should we evaluate such proposals? They offer a case study in how to conduct sound, evidence-based, public policy analysis. ...more.
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3 June 2009, Bjørn Lomborg
Some business leaders are cozying up with politicians and scientists to demandswift, drastic action on global warming. This is a new twist on a very old practice:companies using public policy to line their own pockets. ...more.
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2 June 2009, Roger Kerr
A review of the 2009 Budget and its implications for economic growth. ...more.
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29 May 2009, Bob Packwood
There is a global trend in government spending as a percentage of gross domestic product, and that is up, up, up. Fifty years ago all governments in the United States — federal, state and local — together spent about 20 percent of the G.D.P. In 2010 that figure could approach 35 percent. This pattern is generally true of Western democracies. Thirty years ago, they typically spent less of their G.D.P. than they spend now. Today Britain exceeds 40 percent. France and Italy border on 50 percent and the Nordic countries spend even more. ...more.
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28 May 2009, Mark Steyn
In most of the developed world, the state has gradually annexed all the responsibilities of adulthood—health care, child care, care of the elderly—to the point where it's effectively severed its citizens from humanity's primal instincts, not least the survival instinct. Hillary ...more.
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28 May 2009, New Zealand Business Roundtable
The 2009 Budget is a first step on the long road to raising the economy’s rate of productivity growth and correcting structural
imbalances. ...more.
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27 May 2009, The Economist
For those who believe that climate change is a serious problem, the decisions that America makes now are of momentous importance. In Copenhagen in December, the world will decide whether to reinvigorate or abandon its effort to avert serious climate change, and what America does between now and then will in large part determine the outcome. So the fact that Barack Obama clearly intends to turn America from being a laggard into a leader in this task is therefore encouraging. ...more.
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22 May 2009, Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore
With states facing nearly $100 billion in combined budget deficits this year, we're seeing more governors than ever proposing the Barack Obama solution to balancing the budget: Soak the rich. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon want to raise income tax rates on the top 1% or 2% or 5% of their citizens. New Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn wants a 50% increase in the income tax rate on the wealthy because this is the ...more.
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22 May 2009, Roger Kerr
Remember the claims about New Zealand’s ‘wild west’ sharemarket when the Labour government came to office in 1999? ...more.
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20 May 2009, Kevin Donnelly
During her time as Minister for Education, Julia Gillard has made her stance, and that of the Government, very clear on school curriculum.Mirroring concerns about falling standards and state and territory dumbed-down curriculums, Gillard describes herself as a traditionalist and argues for a back-to-basics approach to learning, where the subject disciplines are centre stage. As such, it should not surprise that the most recent round of national curriculum documents, released yesterday by the National Curriculum Board (appointed by the Rudd Government), embody a conservative approach. ...more.
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15 May 2009, Martin Feldstein
Historians and economists who've studied the 1930s conclude that the tax increases passed during that decade derailed the recovery and slowed the decline in unemployment. That was true of the 1935 tax on corporate earnings and of the 1937 introduction of the payroll tax. Japan did the same destructive thing by raising its value-added tax rate in 1997. ...more.
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13 May 2009, Paul Kagame
At recent meetings of the Group of 20 and the International Monetary Fund, world leaders have gathered to discuss the global economic crisis. Unfortunately, it seems that many still believe they can solve the problems of the poor with sentimentality and promises of massive infusions of aid, which often do not materialise. We who live in, and lead, the world’s poorest nations are convinced that the leaders of the rich world and multilateral institutions have a heart for the poor. But they also need to have a mind for the poor. ...more.
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12 May 2009, Peter Shirtcliffe
Advice regarding the skills and attributes necessary to achieve in business. ...more.
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8 May 2009, Richard A Epstein
Two basic principles that animated our Constitution appear to have no traction today. One holds that property is the guardian of every other right. The second asserts that voluntary exchange is the source of general peace and prosperity. Today's Supreme Court looks to neither principle for guidance. ...more.
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8 May 2009, Roger Kerr
The government is concerned about the financial performance of state-owned enterprises. Many of them appear to have been achieving low returns on the large amounts of capital tied up in them. The same is true of some local government assets, such as shareholdings in port companies. Poor financial performance is a sign that scarce capital is being used inefficiently or being allocated to the wrong uses. ...more.
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6 May 2009, Bernard Lewis
[I]t is becoming increasingly clear that electoral reform of some kind is imperative if Israeli democracy is to survive. The latest election reveals in an acute form the gaping inadequacies and, worse still, the looming dangers of the existing electoral process and the resulting political structure: indecisive, splintered and at times corrupt. ...more.
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1 May 2009, Arne Duncan
When parents recognize which schools are failing to educate their children, they will demand more effective options for their kids. They won't care whether they are charters, non-charters or some other model. As President Barack Obama has called for, states should eliminate restrictions that limit the growth of excellent charter schools, move forward in improving or restructuring chronically failing schools, and hold all schools accountable for results. ...more.
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29 April 2009, Mark Wooden
The government submission also recognises what business owners have long known - there is a negative relationship between wage increases and employment. So if jobs really are the priority for this government, it should be arguing for a freeze on minimum wages. ...more.
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27 April 2009, New Zealand Business Roundtable
“Tax Freedom Day this year is 11 May, as far as the central government tax burden is concerned”, Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today. ...more.
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27 April 2009, Roger Kerr
In a meeting with the OECD mission preparing the report, the Business Roundtable argued that it should note for a start the simple point that fast growth (say 4% plus per capita annually) could not be achieved on a sustained basis with total government spending at New Zealand’s level of over 40% of GDP – no other OECD country had achieved that. ...more.
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24 April 2009, Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy
As governments continue to determine how many restrictions to place on markets, especially financial markets, the destruction of wealth from the recession should be placed in the context of the enormous creation of wealth and improved well-being during the past three decades. Financial and other reforms must not risk destroying the source of these gains in prosperity. ...more.
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24 April 2009, Roger Kerr
The recession is likely to remain the dominant issue for international policymakers this year. Governments will almost certainly not take costly action until economies recover. ...more.
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22 April 2009, Stephen Moore
The green lobby has lectured us for years that global warming is all about the sanctity of science. Those who question the "scientific consensus" on catastrophic atmospheric changes are belittled as "deniers." Now, in assessing the costs, the greens readily cook the books and throw good science out the window. ...more.
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22 April 2009, Dan Mitchell
Much of the corruption in Washington is, in fact, legal. Politicians and other insiders are calling for more ethics laws and lobbying rules. Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute explores a different hypothesis: that big government is inherently corrupting. Running time 5'39". ...more.
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17 April 2009, John Roskam
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has spent so much that a few days ago, on the eve of the G20 meeting, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development told him he had run out of money. If the recession is somehow even worse, or goes on longer than expected, there'll be nothing more for the British government to spend. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has passed into legislation the biggest budget deficit in American postwar history. ...more.
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15 April 2009, Terry L Anderson
Two vital steps in this direction are to strengthen property rights and the rule of law on reservations. Virtually every study of international development shows that both of these are crucial to prosperity. Indian country is no different. ...more.
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14 April 2009,
On 7 April Stephen Jennings talked to John Campbell about what motivates him, the opportunities Russia and Africa present, and how Kiwis can use their own opportunities better. Running time 4'25 ...more.
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14 April 2009, Nine to Noon
Stephen Jennings talked to Nine to Noon's Kathryn Ryan on 7 April about the world's new emerging powers, the economic crisis, and the Sir Ronald Trotter Lecture. Running time 32'46 ...more.
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9 April 2009, Roger Kerr
Being paid according to the number of years spent teaching is obviously a very crude proxy for performance. It does little to reward effort and success and reflect how valuable a teacher is to a school. ...more.
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8 April 2009, Tony Makin
Rather than following aggregate demand-oriented approaches adopted by the US, Britain and other countries, federal policymakers should look to New Zealand, which so far has avoided measures aimed directly at inflating consumption spending. Instead, the NZ Government has emphasised supply-side measures that will flatten marginal taxes levied on individuals, improve infrastructure and quickly lower the regulatory burden on business. ...more.
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5 April 2009, Bjorn Lomborg
Even if a billion people turn off their lights this Saturday, the entire event will be equivalent to switching off China's emissions for six short seconds. In economic terms, the environmental and humanitarian benefits from the efforts of the entire developed world would add up to just $21,000. ...more.
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4 April 2009, New Zealand Business Roundtable
The Sir Ronald Trotter Lecture is to be delivered on Tuesday 7 April by Renaissance Group founder Stephen Jennings at Te Papa Tongarewa to a sell-out crowd of 450. ...more.
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