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Speeches and presentations
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The Economic State of the Nation, 2011
25 February 2011, Dr Roderick Deane
Dr Roderick Deane's presentation at the Annual Members' Retreat 17 February 2011.
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Catching Australia by 2025
10 September 2010, Dr Don Brash
Dr Don Brash's presentation to the 2010 Dunes Symposium.
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The New Zealand Economy: Challenges and Opportunities
9 September 2010, Dr Roderick Deane
Dr Roderick Deane's presentation to the 2010 Dunes Symposium.
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Maori, Business and the Economy
29 January 2009, Roger Kerr
It is no accident that one of the most positive recent periods for Maori - the Maori cultural renaissance, the exciting developments in Maori education and the rise of Maori commercial enterprises - all began in the freer economic environment that followed the economic reforms of the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
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Maori in the New Zealand Economy
29 January 2009, Rob McLeod
The policies or remedies that lift people from an unacceptable performance segment are not in my opinion as difficult as achieving compliance with those policies by relevant stakeholders. Most of my policy injunctions are rhetorical in nature, like the injunction to parents to do the right thing by their children; or the injunction to schools to do the right thing by their Maori students.
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Ideology, Economics and Public Policy
17 October 2008, Graham Scott
My thesis is that there has been some diminution of the place of economics in the development of public policy. I will try to explain why I think this has happened and why it is a probable contributing cause of some poorly designed state institutions that are undermining the quest for productivity improvement across the economy.
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The Case for Economic Constitutions
16 September 2007, Roger Kerr
Presentation to the ACT New Zealand Waikato/Bay of Plenty Regional Conference.
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The economic State of the Nation
2 August 2007, Roderick Deane
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The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth
31 July 2006, Roger Kerr
Roger Kerr's speech to the Rotary Club of Pakuranga
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State of the Nation
12 May 2006, Roderick Deane
Notes from an address to the CEO Forum in Wellington on 5 December 2006 (PDF format)
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Economic Success and How to Get More of It
31 October 2005, Roger Kerr
Roger Kerr's speech to the Rotary Club of Auckland today.
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Business Roundtable Perspectives on the Next Three Years
14 October 2005, Rob McLeod
Rob McLeod, Chairman, NZBR, to the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce today.
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Lessons From Labour Market Reform in New Zealand
18 March 2005, Roger Kerr
Roger Kerr to the The H R Nicholls Society's XXVI Conference in Melbourne Australia
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We Set up the Economic Conditions After 2010 Today
14 March 2005, Roger Kerr
Roger Kerr to the Shepherds' Club of Masterton
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Business, Profits and Economic Progress
13 August 2004, Roger Kerr
Speech given to the Insurance Brokers Association in Rotorua
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A Conflict of Visions
6 March 2004, Roger Kerr
Speech by Roger Kerr to the ACT New Zealand 10th Annual Conference in Christchurch
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Reigniting Reform in Australia and New Zealand
20 February 2004, Hugh Morgan
Speech by Hugh Morgan, President, Business Council of Australia to NZBR Conference at Pokeno
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Economics and Politics of Transition
12 January 2004, Roger Kerr
Speech by Roger Kerr to Mont Pelerin Society Special Regional Meeting, Sri Lanka
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Does Policy Matter?
17 July 2003, Roger Kerr
Economic growth matters for people because it brings with it things like higher incomes, wider choices, more leisure and better environmental quality. Economic growth, driven by increases in productivity, is the only long-run source of improvements in average living standards.
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Time For An Economic Debate
10 February 2003, Rob McLeod
"Towards the end of last year the New Zealand Herald ran a survey of opinion among 120 top chief executives and company chairmen. One of the questions asked was: "Did New Zealand have a growth strategy to sustain business success?" In the Herald's words:
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Getting Serious About Economic Growth
2 October 2002, Sir Ronald Trotter
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Why Growth Matters
20 August 2002, Roger Kerr
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Be More Like Australia
25 July 2002, Roger Kerr
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Agenda 2002: An Election With Vision
28 January 2002, Roger Kerr
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Getting up the OECD Rankings
26 November 2001, Roger Kerr
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Freedom And Prosperity
17 November 2001, Roger Kerr
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Benchmarking International Best Practice in Public Policies
23 October 2001, Roger Kerr
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Education and Economic Growth
10 July 2001, Roger Kerr
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The New Zealand-Australia Relationship: A Business Perspective
30 June 2001, Roger Kerr
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Economic Success: Lessons from the World
16 May 2001, Roger Kerr
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Removing Lead from the Saddlebags: Challenges for New Zealand in a Global Setting
8 March 2001, Ralph Norris
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New Zealand at The Edge
6 October 2000, Roger Kerr
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'Think Small' is No Better than 'Think Big'
14 September 2000, Roger Kerr
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Promoting Smaller and Better Government
7 August 2000, Roger Kerr
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The Chequered Path of Economic Reform in Australia and New Zealand
26 June 2000, Roger Kerr
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A Positive Agenda for the Business Sector
16 March 2000, Ralph Norris
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Can We Afford To Replay The Economic Past?
3 February 2000, Ralph Norris
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Optimism for the New Millennium
9 December 1999, Roger Kerr
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Hands-On, Hands-Off or Hand-Outs?
15 September 1999, Roger Kerr
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Myths About Economic Reform
13 September 1999, Roger Kerr
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Wake Up New Zealand
11 August 1999, Douglas Myers
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Is New Zealand on the Right Track or the Wrong Track?
20 July 1999, Roger Kerr
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The Retail Sector and the Economy
31 May 1999, Roger Kerr
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Why is New Zealand Not Doing Better?
14 May 1999, Roger Kerr
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Who Cares?
6 May 1999, Douglas Myers
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The Third Way: New Packaging, Old Product?
9 March 1999, Roger Kerr
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Turning Gain Into Pain
25 November 1998, Douglas Myers
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There's Something (Wrong) About TINA
19 November 1998, Roger Kerr
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Business in New Zealand: As It Was, Is, and Could Be
24 July 1998, Douglas Myers
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Excellence Isn't Optional
26 June 1998, Richard Bentley
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Undoing Ruin in Australia and New Zealand
19 May 1998, Roger Kerr
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Labour and The Alliance: Time For Scrutiny
23 February 1998, Douglas Myers
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What Business Is Really Saying
24 September 1997, Roger Kerr
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Economic Reform and the Fairness of 'Do-It-Yourself' Economics
22 August 1997, Roger Kerr
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From Mediocrity to Excellence - and Back Again?
11 August 1997, Roger Kerr
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Seven Deadly Economic Sins of the Twentieth Century
6 August 1997, Roger Kerr
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The Trouble with Teabreaks
22 July 1997, Roger Kerr
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Retreat from Reform: Are Australia and New Zealand Becoming Laggards Again?
29 April 1997, Bob Matthew
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Credibility Promises
13 March 1997, Douglas Myers
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Promoting Economic Growth: Challenges for Local Government
20 February 1997, Roger Kerr
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Democracy and Economic Reform
10 December 1996, Roger Kerr
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From Basket Case To Case Study
9 December 1996, Sir Ronald Trotter
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The Business Experience of Economic Reform in New Zealand
17 October 1996, Roger Kerr
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The Road Back From Social Decay to Social Cohesion
26 August 1996, Roger Kerr
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Economic Reform: The New Zealand Experience
14 June 1996, Paul Preston
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Did Someone Say 'Whose Recovery'?
10 May 1996, Roger Kerr
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Why Not Simply The Best?
27 February 1996, Douglas Myers
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Celebrating Creativity: Engineering in a Market Economy
10 February 1996, Roger Kerr
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No Time To Coast
27 November 1995, Bob Matthew
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The New Zealand National Economy and the International Mining Industry: Common Rules for Progress
20 November 1995, Roger Kerr
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High Achievers or Timid Gradualists?
26 June 1995, Roger Kerr
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Is New Zealand Now in the Same League As the Asian Tigers?
12 June 1995, Roger Kerr
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Moving into The Fast Lane
2 March 1995, Douglas Myers
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The Future for Trans Tasman Commercial Relations
15 October 1993, Douglas Myers
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Rating New Zealand Incorporated
24 March 1993, Bob Matthew
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The Challenges of Success
3 March 1993, Roger Kerr
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Rejoining the World: Economic Reform in Australasia
25 November 1992, Douglas Myers
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A Rattle of Teacups?
13 July 1992, Roger Kerr
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The Next 5 Years - What Now?
25 April 1992, Roger Kerr
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Achieving a Positive Economic Direction
14 April 1992, Roger Kerr
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The Future
10 April 1992, Sir Ronald Trotter
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A Window of Opportunity
7 April 1992, Douglas Myers
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Rescuing the Insolvent Society
7 April 1992, Alan Gibbs
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A Tiger on Your Tail?
3 April 1992, Douglas Myers
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Competing on the World Market
1 November 1991, David Richwhite
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Sorting Out the Playing Fields
18 September 1991, Tom Kain
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What Can Public Relations Offer New Zealand Business?
28 June 1991, Lindsay Fergusson
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Getting New Zealand Out of the Survival Frame of Mind
22 June 1991, Roger Kerr
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Escaping Mediocrity
4 June 1991, Bob Matthew
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Getting the Basics Right is the Best 'Kick Start'
25 October 1990, Douglas Myers
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Choosing Capitalism: Problems and Prospects
28 September 1990, Sir Ronald Trotter
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Books and reports
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Economic Freedom of the World 2010
20 September 2010, the Fraser Institute
The Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of
countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property.
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Do Economists Agree on Anything?
1 April 2008, Roger Kerr
Do Economists Agree on Anything? is a collection of essays and articles written between 2002 and 2007 by New Zealand Business Roundtable Executive Director Roger Kerr.
Do Economists Agree on Anything? is but one of the questions answered here. Whether it's climate change, economic growth, privatisation or school choice, Kerr is unafraid to tackle the hard issues.
Before finding the right answers, one must first ask the right questions. This collection does both. Whatever your interests, Do Economists Agree on Anything? will make you think and, more importantly, ask questions.
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2008 Budget Personal Tax Package
11 February 2008, Business Roundtable report
Economic growth is a priority objective of the government. Growth requires
improvements in productivity and workforce participation. Both would be assisted
by lower taxes.
The reduction in the rate of company tax from 1 April 2008 is a welcome move.
However, personal tax rates are more important for many small and medium-sized
businesses and professional organisations, and for new equity invested in
companies by resident taxpayers. A coherent, medium-term strategy for personal
taxation is needed which is consistent with the decisions on business taxation in the
2007 Budget. At present New Zealand's tax policy is lacking in strategic direction
and vision.
The Tax Review 2001 (McLeod Review) remains a sound guide for such a
strategy. A key recommendation was the adoption of a lower, flatter income tax
structure. This would reduce the deadweight costs, complexities and other
inefficiencies of the present system.
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Does New Zealand have a household savings crisis?
1 October 2007, NZIER
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The Outcomes of Income Transfers
15 June 2007, Mark Harrison
Released this week, The Outcomes of Income Transfers, written by economist Mark Harrison and published by the New Zealand Business Roundtable, is a detailed analysis of the benefits and costs of redistribution.
NZ $33.75
incl GST
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Why Have Kiwis Not Become Tigers?
6 December 2006, Frederic Sautet
Click here to download the pdf.
NZ $12.50
incl GST
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The Battle of Ideas: The 2006 Sir Ronald Trotter Lecture
8 August 2006, Peter J Boettke
In An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,
Adam Smith argued that there was a virtuous circle that led
to increased prosperity. The source of economic growth and
development was the gains from specialisation and trade realised through
the greater division of labour and the expansion of the market economy.
The division of labour was limited by the extent of the market. But, as
the market expands, the division of labour is refined even further and
the gains from specialisation increase productivity further again. There
are, in other words, increasing returns to the expansion of the market
arena. This Smithian virtuous circle counteracts any tendency toward
being caught in the Malthusian trap of subsistence levels of production
and represents, instead, the progressive march of modernity.
In the lectures and notebooks that he used in writing his great treatise,
Smith summarised his position in the following manner: "Little else is
requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest
form of barbarism, but peace, easy taxes and a reasonable administration
of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things"
(1976a [1776], xl). Smith goes further and argues in the next passage that:
"All governments which thwart this natural course, which force things
into another channel or which endeavour to arrest the progress of society at a particular point, are unnatural, and to support themselves are obliged
to be oppressive and tyrannical" (ibid).
Evidence from the history of economic development supports
Smith - both in terms of the path to successful development and the
consequences of steering off that path. But one must unpack the basic
institutional infrastructure that serves as the background to Smith's policy
prescription. Smith's system of natural liberty (or Hume's of property,
contract and consent) consists of a network of complementary institutions
that all serve to minimise the threat of predation from both public and
private actors.
NZ $12.50
incl GST
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Human Progress - And Collapse?
14 September 2005, Wolfgang Kasper
Abstract
Against the human experience of long-term stagnation and misery, the record of
growing prosperity over the past two centuries and, in particular, the last 50 years, is
astounding. Economic growth owes much to the mobilisation of resources and
structural flexibility, but this depends on the 'software of economic development' -
institutions, which change slowly. Now, old fears and growth-impeding policies are
being justified on environmental grounds. One example is Jared Diamond's recent
book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, which discusses the possibility of a
swift descent of the world into social disintegration. To anyone familiar with longterm
economic history and the theory of growth, the book is pure millennial pessimism.
It could become self-fulfilling if environmentalist doomsayers win the political argument
with the doers - the engineers, entrepreneurs and economists.
NZ $12.50
incl GST
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The Case for a
Flat Tax
17 December 2004, Richard A Epstein
Originally, I intended to take a non-economic approach to this topic and
examine how a concept of fairness would lead one to support a flat or
proportional tax. I have deviated from that path and instead will start the
analysis with an explanation of how a flat tax derives from a constitutional
norm. The non-economic issues, however, never recede entirely from view,
for there turns out to be a latent connection between ideas of economic
efficiency and certain bedrock instincts that lie beneath that elusive notion
of 'fairness'. However, here there is a paradox, because in dealing with fairness
our instincts often provide us with a tremendously reliable mechanism to
govern human affairs, precisely because they depend on snap judgments that
have proved themselves reliable over time. When people try to rethink their
instincts case by case, they are apt to stress the refinements and ignore the
basics, and come up with conclusions that are wrong. There is little doubt
that in dealing with one-on-one personal interactions first impressions really
do matter. It is more difficult to show that these impressions work as well
for large-scale social issues like taxation. But it is equally wrong to disregard
them entirely. As a working approximation, policymakers will often do better
if they follow a hard, intuitive rule, unless there is powerful evidence to take
a different path. Often, many arguments about fairness amount to intuitive
judgments that are dressed up in some grander moral form.
NZ $12.50
incl GST
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Losing Sight of the Lodestar of Economic Freedom: A Report Card on New Zealand's Economic Reforms
1 December 2002, Wolfgang Kasper
In Losing Sight of the Lodestar of Economic Freedom Wolfgang Kasper looks at New Zealand's economic performance since the reforms of the 1980s and explores why the economy has not produced faster and more sustained growth.
Even though a recent New Zealand Treasury briefing to the incoming government reports that "? New Zealand's growth performance over the 1990s has been significantly better than in the previous two decades" and "good policy foundations and favourable external conditions have lifted New Zealand's growth rate towards the OCED average", living standards in New Zealand remain well below those of more affluent countries.
Losing Sight of the Lodestar of Economic Freedom examines the institutions and policies that govern changes to economic growth and asks, among other things, if they have been universal, consistent, transparent and well explained. Kasper follows this with a series of questions and answers on New Zealand's economic record and, whilst taking into account the level of economic freedom and the social and political aspects of economic reform, rates New Zealand's performance as a bare 'Pass'. He puts this performance into perspective by comparing it with that of Australia, which in its report card for 1980 to 2002 he awards a 'Credit' score.
Kasper concludes that the New Zealand public will have to choose between rapid growth that challenges and changes established structures and requires a willingness to accept the costs and risks of new ideas, or slow growth with the safety of redistribution and protective governmental intervention.
Wolfgang Kasper is emeritus professor of economics, University of New South Wales, and senior fellow, Centre for Independent Studies, Sydney, Australia.
NZ $22.50
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Getting Serious About Economic Growth (a collected volume)
1 December 2002, New Zealand Business Roundtable
A collection of speeches, submissions and articles. It includes a paper by Bryce Wilkinson, consultant to the
NZBR, and an article by Phil Barry, author of a NZBR report
published in 2002, The Changing Balance Between the Public and Private Sectors.
NZ $33.75
incl GST
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The Changing Balance Between the Public and Private Sectors
1 September 2002, Phil Barry
In the early 1990s, the World Bank identified four prerequisites for achieving sustainable economic growth: - sound macroeconomic policies; - competitive domestic markets and openness to international trade; - more and better private and public investment in people; and - achieving the 'right' balance between the roles of the public and private sectors.
NZ $24.95
incl GST
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The Tasmanian Experience: Lessons for New Zealand
2 January 2002, Jeffrey Rae
NZ $22.50
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How Do We Compare? New Zealand Public Policy Directions in an International Context
1 April 2001, Phil Barry
There is no summary available for this publication.
NZ $22.50
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The Struggle for a Free Economy and Society in Russia: The 2000 Sir Ronald Trotter Lecture
25 October 2000, Yegor Gaidar
NZ $12.50
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Wake Up New Zealand
1 October 1999, New Zealand Business Roundtable
There is no summary available for this publication.
NZ $33.75
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The Changing Fortunes of Economic Liberalism: Yesterday Today and Tomorrow
1 February 1999, David Henderson
David Henderson reviews the recent history of economic liberalisation and its association with ongoing technical progress, the spread of democracy and improved prospects for peace.
Dating back 250 years, economic liberalism went into decline for much of the twentieth century until reforming governments, both 'left' and 'right', in every region of the world adopted programmes to liberalise their economies and make international transactions freer. However, despite the resulting improvements in economic performance, anti-liberal ideas remain strong and the fortunes of economic liberalism remain clouded.
NZ $28.00
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1 February 1999, David Henderson
Over the past two decades, economic policies across the world, and economic systems with them, have changed their character, their complexion. To an extent that few anticipated before the event, a large and growing array of governments have adopted measures, and in some cases whole programmes, with the intention and the effect of making
their economies freer, more open and less regulated: both individually and in concert, they have taken the path of economic reform.
NZ $28.00
incl GST
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The Links Between Economic Growth And Social Cohesion
1 August 1996, Winton Bates
There is no summary available for this publication.
NZ $22.50
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Economic Reform: New Zealand in an International Perspective
1 August 1996, David Henderson
The theme of this paper is comparative liberalisation. My aim is to set within a comparative historical framework the remarkable economic reforms in New Zealand which began with the change of government in July 1984. The period covered extends from the mid-1970s to the present day. The comparisons made are with the other 23 countries which over the whole of this period were members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD. Hence I try to identify similarities and differences - to distinguish those aspects of economic reform in this country which have parallels in many, or even all, the other OECD countries, and those which are peculiar to New Zealand. I shall offer some personal answers to the question, how has New Zealand been different? In doing so, I shall draw on work undertaken by my former colleagues within the OECD Secretariat, including the Organisation's latest published survey of the New Zealand economy.
The remainder of the paper is in two parts. Chapter one outlines the historical background. It reviews the situation of the New Zealand economy in mid-1984, and the configuration of economic policies then in place, in an international comparative context. In Chapter two I offer a comparative sketch of liberalisation in New Zealand and elsewhere, looking successively at the character, the causation, and the content and scope of the process.
NZ $12.50
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Moving into the Fast Lane
1 March 1996, New Zealand Business Roundtable in association with the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Wellington Chamber of Commerce
There is no summary available for this publication.
NZ $22.50
incl GST
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Submissions
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Submission on the Welfare Working Group paper Reducing Long-Term Benefit Dependency: The Options
23 December 2010, New Zealand Business Roundtable
1.2 We see the issue of welfare dependency and welfare costs as hugely important – economically, fiscally and socially. The WWG’s work should be seen in the context of the precarious current economic situation, with an anaemic GDP growth outlook and dangerous external vulnerabilities due to very high foreign indebtedness. Within a short period of time demographic trends will add to fiscal pressures with the prospect of higher government spending on superannuation, health and welfare.
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Submission to the Ministry of Economic Development on the Discussion Document 'Cartel Criminalisation'
30 March 2010, New Zealand Business Roundtable
We agree with the view of the 2025 Taskforce that “In
economies with open markets, competition policy is likely to be, at
most, a minor contributor to economic performance.” We note, for
example, that two other small and open economies, Hong Kong and
Singapore, attained levels of per capita income much higher than
New Zealand’s before they developed comparable antitrust laws.
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2025 TASKFORCE: INVITATION TO HAVE YOUR SAY
29 October 2009, New Zealand Business Roundtable
“On a first examination, the Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce appears to have produced an outstanding and robust report that deserves the support of the government and parliament”, the executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, Roger Kerr, said today. “Poor quality regulation has been a perennial problem which has become worse in recent years. Less and better regulation must be a key element of the government’s programme for substantially raising New Zealand living standards.
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Submission on the 2007 Budget Policy Statement
20 February 2007, New Zealand Business Roundtable
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Submission on the New Zealand Bill of Rights (Private Property Rights) Amendment Bill
12 August 2005, New Zealand Business Roundtable
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Proposed Declaration of Unlisted under the Securities Markets Act
16 March 2005, New Zealand Business Roundtable
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Review of the Financial Reporting Act Part II
24 February 2005, New Zealand Business Roundtable
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Submission on the Domestic Food Review NZFSA Paper Principles and Possible Methods for a Cost Recovery Framework
24 February 2005, New Zealand Business Roundtable
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Submission on the 2004 Budget Policy Statement
11 February 2004, New Zealand Business Roundtable
The government's own projections make it clear that New Zealand will not achieve its 'top priority' goal of increasing sustainable growth under current policies.
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2003 Budget Policy Statement
12 January 2003, New Zealand Business Roundtable
In this submission, section 2 reviews the outlook for economic growth in the light of the government's growth targets. Section 3 comments on the government's fiscal strategy in relation to its growth objective. Section 4 reviews New Zealand's experience to date with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994. Section 5 provides our conclusions and recommendations.
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Articles
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If We Know What To Do Why Don't We Do It?
17 June 2011, Roger Kerr
Last week journalist Deborah Hill Cone posed an interesting question. If we know what it takes to be a prosperous country, why don’t we do it?, she asked.
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OECD Report on New Zealand a Curate’s Egg
6 May 2011, Roger Kerr
The latest OECD report on New Zealand, out last week, attracted little media attention. This is unsurprising. It didn’t contain much that was original or insightful. Nevertheless, the report has political overtones.
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Opportunities and Challenges In The Year Ahead
28 January 2011, Roger Kerr
So far the government’s efforts to promote faster productivity and income growth have been modest. None compare with past changes such as
import liberalisation, the floating of the dollar or the Reserve Bank Act.
Nevertheless, in the current year and beyond there are several items on the government’s agenda that could be as significant as those earlier moves.
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Free Trade Agreements and Free Trade
14 January 2011, Roger Kerr
A very interesting and important report by the Australian Productivity Commission was released last month. Implicitly, its conclusions call into question the emphasis of New Zealand’s trade policy.
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Australia-New Zealand Income Gap 38% and Rising
29 November 2010, Roger Kerr, the Dominion Post
“Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”
Don Brash and members of the 2025 Taskforce could be forgiven for reflecting on these lines from Thomas Gray’s famous Elegy.
Their second high quality report released earlier this month should have sparked wide public debate, but didn’t.
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Are We Misled by Economists?
12 November 2010, Wolfgang Kasper
In a recent article (Herald, 26 October), economics teacher Peter Lyons ran a valiant attack against ‘neoclassical economics’. He described this as an unrealistic ideology, which has dominated New Zealand’s political life. He is right on the first point and wrong on the second.
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This Year's 2025 Taskforce Report an Important Stocktake
13 September 2010, Roger Kerr, Otago Daily Times
Achieving the goal of catching up with Australian income levels by 2025 would hugely benefit most New Zealanders and alleviate many social problems – stretched household budgets, the availability of high-paying jobs, housing affordability, resource constraints in health, education and environmental protection, and our ability to cope with an aging population.
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What’s All This About New Zealand Management?
27 August 2010, Roger Kerr, the Otago Daily Times
Last month Rebecca Macfie wrote an article in the Listener entitled “Our slack bosses”. In it she argued that “one of New Zealand’s dirtiest little secrets is that our businesses are not very well managed” and that “the poor quality of New Zealand managers is holding the country back”.
Journalist Rod Oram has made similar claims. Do they stand up to scrutiny?
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The Dubious Benefits of Fiscal Stimulus
13 August 2010, Roger Kerr, Otago Daily Times
John Maynard Keynes once wrote: “There is no harm in being sometimes wrong – especially if one is promptly found out.” Unfortunately for the world, the problems with Keynes’ ideas were not discovered promptly, and the lessons were too soon forgotten as Keynesian thinking enjoyed a revival with the recent global financial crisis and subsequent recession.
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New Insights on New Zealand’s Productivity Performance
30 July 2010, Roger Kerr, Otago Daily Times
In recent years Statistics NZ has done an excellent job of shedding light on the productivity performance of the economy. It made a further contribution with a release last month of productivity statistics at the industry level for the years 1978-2008.
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Prudent Course is to Delay ETS Implementation
7 June 2010, Roger Kerr, The Dominion Post
There is wide support in the business community for New Zealand moving with other countries on climate change measures as a responsible international citizen and to protect our commercial interests. There is also support for using a market approach – an ETS or a carbon tax/subsidy regime.
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The Struggle for Consensus on Good Policies
4 June 2010, Roger Kerr, Otago Daily Times
Blimey, stone the crows! A few weeks ago something happened in Australia that I never believed possible. An inveterate critic of Australia’s economic reforms over the past 25 years came out and said he was wrong.
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Vaulting Matilda
23 April 2010, Roger Kerr, Otago Daily Times
The government has an objective of raising New Zealand incomes to Australian levels by 2025. This will require major improvements in New Zealand institutions and policies, since these mainly determine economic performance.
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Understanding Profits
9 April 2010, Roger Kerr
A recent correspondent to the New Zealand Herald, arguing against operating water and wastewater services on commercial lines, wrote that business has “little concern for society’s needs. Profit is all … Water services are, in themselves, expensive. To add profit to charges is unforgivable.”
Wow! Where does one start in dealing with common misconceptions about the roles of business and profits?
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Figures Highlight New Zealand's Productivity Crisis
26 March 2010, Roger Kerr
Last week Statistics New Zealand delivered a damning verdict on the
economic stewardship of the Clark-Cullen government.
It released productivity data for the year to March 2009, effectively the last
year of that government’s term of office.
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Does Economic Reform Mean Pain?
26 February 2010, Roger Kerr
Writing in the Dominion Post around the time of the release of the taskforce report on catching up with Australian income levels by 2025, prime minister John Key said, “Neither do New Zealanders need or want the government to embark on a hugely radical, disruptive policy agenda.”
The implicit reference is to New Zealand’s painful economic reforms of the 1980s and early 1990s. But do they bear comparison with what is needed today to catch up to Australia?
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Budget 2010 Will Be Test of Government's Resolve
29 January 2010, Roger Kerr
Last month the government released its Budget Policy Statement (BPS) for 2010, along with its 2009 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update.
Shortly the Finance and Expenditure Committee of parliament will be considering submissions on the BPS and the process of putting together the budget will be in full swing.
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Tax Reform Depends on Spending Restraint
15 January 2010, Roger Kerr
Expectations about the forthcoming report of the Victoria University-led Tax Working Group may be inflated. This is not a criticism of the TWG or its
likely lines of thinking.
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The 2025 Taskforce Report and the Media
18 December 2009, Roger Kerr
How well did journalists communicate the 2025 Taskforce report to the public?
Some seemed not to have read it at all, or at least taken it in. For example, Martin van Beynen of the Christchurch Press simply asserted that Australia was rich because of minerals, even though the Taskforce devoted 10 paragraphs to debunking this myth.
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2025 Taskforce Report Challenges Political Parties
6 December 2009, Roger Kerr
Observing negative reactions to the first report of the 2025 Taskforce, one of New Zealand’s best economists emailed me saying his wife was very glad that “circumstances mean our kids have US citizenship and can eventually escape the sinking ship if things go on as they are.”
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2025 Report must be Game Changing
6 November 2009, Roger Kerr
Shortly the taskforce set up to advise the government on how to close the
income gap with Australia by 2025 will submit its report.
The Business Roundtable strongly supports this goal and believes it is
achievable, but only with outstanding economic management.
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Its Record in Catching Australia Will Define the Key Government
20 July 2009, Roger Kerr
Shortly the government is expected to set up an advisory group to report onhow to achieve its goal of lifting New Zealand's per capita income levels tothose of Australia by 2025.Former Reserve Bank governor Don Brash is tipped to be named as chairman.The goal is the counterpart to the Labour government's "top priority"economic goal of getting New Zealand back into the top half of the OECD.Initially it aimed to do so by 2010 but later any target date was dropped.
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Correcting New Zealand's External Imbalance
19 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.
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The 2009 Budget - What's Next
2 June 2009, Roger Kerr
A review of the 2009 Budget and its implications for economic growth.
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New Zealand's Shrinking Sharemarket
22 May 2009, Roger Kerr
Remember the claims about New Zealand's 'wild west' sharemarket when the Labour government came to office in 1999?
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OECD Recipe Falls Short of Necessary Growth Strategy
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.
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Labour's Legacy: a Lost Decade for Productivity
27 March 2009, Roger Kerr
Productivity is often misunderstood. It is not about working longer hours. Labour productivity is measured as a ratio of output (what workers produce) to labour input (typically hours worked). Working longer hours may increase production but not productivity.
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Jobs Summit a Platform for Progress
9 March 2009, Roger Kerr
There were no calls for more fiscal stimulus. Participants seemingly understood that the existing stimulus is large and that any further boost could put our credit rating at risk. This would raise the cost of borrowing for all New Zealand firms and households.
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The Importance of Economics Education
27 February 2009, Roger Kerr
Of course, there is seldom complete agreement among economists just as there is rarely complete agreement in other scientific fields, but the degree of consensus on many issues provides a sound basis for much public policy.
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Taxpayers Down the Drain on Government Investments
2 January 2009, Roger Kerr
...the question that should be asked is why taxpayers were forced to bear these risks. The Business Roundtable argued that a better way to provide for future superannuation costs was to continue to repay debt. The household analogy applies: it is not prudent for households with mortgages to invest in the sharemarket.
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Economic Challenges for the New Government
1 December 2008, Roger Kerr
The Business Roundtable pointed out repeatedly that the Labour-led government's anti-growth policies and focus on income redistribution made its goal of getting New Zealand back into the top half of the OECD income range unachievable. Unfortunately that assessment proved to be correct.
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Institutions and Policies Matter Most for Prosperity
21 November 2008, Roger Kerr
Action will be needed across a broad front, and will need to be maintained consistently, not in an erratic fashion. The Confidence and Supply Agreement contains some important elements of a programme that would improve institutional quality.
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Cool Heads Needed in Economic Turmoil
17 October 2008, Roger Kerr
Just as in the 1930s depression, the stagflation of the 1970s and the Asian economic crises of the 1990s, many of the current problems are government-made. Governments and businesses need to learn from their mistakes.
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Should We Worry About the Flight of the Kiwi?
12 September 2008, Roger Kerr
In the year to July 2008, net emigration of New Zealanders to Australia (permanent and long-term) was 32,000 ? Is this a problem? If so, what can be done about it?
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Right and Left Thinking an Ideological Straitjacket
15 August 2008, Roger Kerr
With the Olympic Games in full swing, an analogy is relevant: Australia is already well ahead of New Zealand in the race for prosperity, and unless it wakes up from its slumber of the past 10-15 years Australia is likely to show this country a clean pair of heels.
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Bringing on the Innovators
20 June 2008, Roger Kerr
Governments around the world seek to create the conditions that give rise to successful entrepreneurs like Biro, Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, Henry Ford, Bill Gates and the countless other achievers whose inventions transform lives and help drive a country's economic growth.
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In Economics It's the Long Run that Matters
23 May 2008, Roger Kerr
"In the long run", economist John Maynard Keynes said, "we are all dead." To which the best reply is, "Yes, but some of us have children."
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Privatisation: New Zealand Swimming Against the Tide
8 May 2008, Roger Kerr
With the National Party's decision not to move any state-owned enterprises to the private sector in its first term if elected this year, we appear to have a new political consensus between the major parties in New Zealand: privatisation is bad.
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Closing the Gaps with Australia Not Likely with Present Policies
25 April 2008, Roger Kerr
The government's flagship 'Closing the Gaps' programme, focused on closing gaps between Maori and non-Maori and put in place after it was elected in 1999, was abandoned within a year. Its focus then shifted to closing the income gaps with the top half of the OECD. However, 10 years later (taking into account forecasts), it will not have moved New Zealand one rung up the ladder.The National Party talks about closing the wage gap with Australia, but it is doubtful whether the policies it has so far put forward would do anything to narrow it. The task is extremely challenging.
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Budget Tax Package Should Focus on Economic Growth
3 April 2008, Rob McLeod
The forthcoming budget will announce significant personal income tax reductions. Not all tax cuts are created equal. What form should the tax package take? This article was published in the NZ Herald today.
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New Zealand's Productivity Crisis
24 March 2008, Roger Kerr
Ten days ago, arguably the most important statistical data of the year, on the economy's productivity performance, were released by Statistics New Zealand.Extraordinarily, there was minimal media coverage and no immediate political reactions.
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Economic Freedom: New Zealand Losing Ground
11 February 2008, Roger Kerr
Economies with higher levels of economic freedom enjoy higher living standards.This insight in economics goes back at least to Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which argued that basic institutions that protect the freedom of individuals to pursue their own economic interests while constraining anti-social behaviour result in greater prosperity for the larger society.
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Shifting the Goal Posts: A Saga of Recent Budgets
8 February 2008, Roger Kerr
The annual budget is the vehicle governments use to present their economic goals, policy thinking and programmes to the public.So as we await this year's budget, it's timely to review the current government's successive budgets to check its goals and track its progress in achieving them.
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The Real Downsides of Remoteness
14 December 2007, Roger Kerr
The downsides of being a small and remote country are often misunderstood.
Its small population and distance from markets did not stop New Zealand being one of the world's wealthiest countries a hundred years ago. Small, open economies can do just fine.
Much more important are the problems of not knowing at first hand what other countries are doing, and failing to absorb into local institutions and policies the lessons from their successes and mistakes.
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Good Institutions and Policies, Not Mining, Account for Australia's Prosperity
30 November 2007, Roger Kerr
Speaking on TV One's Agenda programme recently, finance minister Michael Cullen said, "Don't forget Australia's wealth is very largely built on its quite crude minerals exports, particularly gas and coal."
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Productivity: New Zealand's Biggest Economic Problem
12 November 2007, Roger Kerr
Writing in the Australian Financial Review recently, respected Australian economist Fred Argy noted that Australian living standards, measured by real net national disposable income per head, "have soared by about 16 percent or nearly A$8,000 (NZ$9,500) a person in just the past five years - a great leap forward unequalled in any similar period in recent history."
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Public Policy Riddles
7 September 2007, Roger Kerr
Two Bedouins are riding their camels through the desert. One of them starts complaining about how slow their camel is. The other responds that theirs is slower. They finally bet on the issue. The oasis is three miles off and they agree that the person whose camel gets to the oasis last wins the bet.
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Catching Up With Australia: Policies Must Match Goals
13 August 2007, Roger Kerr
The government came into office committed to raising New Zealand's rate of economic growth. It said that lifting the average incomes of New Zealanders into the top half of the OECD range was its "top priority" goal.
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Will KiwiSaver Boost Economic Growth?
1 June 2007, Roger Kerr
There is much controversy about whether KiwiSaver is a 'solution' to a non-existent problem of poor savings in New Zealand, and about whether it makes sense as a retirement income policy.
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Across the Tasman: Australia Rising
4 May 2007, Roger Kerr
This article was first published in the Otago Daily Times (4 May 2007)
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It's Time to Cool It
20 April 2007, Roger Kerr
This article was first published in the Otago Daily Times 20/04/2007
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The Lever of Riches
23 March 2007, Roger Kerr
This article was first published in the Otago Daily Times today.
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It's Getting Better All the Time
9 March 2007, Roger Kerr
This article was published in the Otago Daily Times today.
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Budget 2006: Read It and Weep
2 June 2006, Roger Kerr
What are we to make of the 2006 budget, two weeks after the dust has settled?
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Productivity Growth in New Zealand: Will the Naysayers Eat Their Words?
7 April 2006, Roger Kerr
How often have we been told that New Zealand is a productivity laggard?
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Does Treasury Advice Represent Value for Money?
2 December 2005, Roger Kerr
A fortnight ago the Treasury's Briefing to the Incoming Government was released.
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Why the Greens' Charm Offensive Failed
7 October 2005, Roger Kerr
Last week the Green Party invited representatives of business to a briefing aimed at demonstrating that there was no reason to be frightened about its influence on the new government.
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Why the rise of China and India can benefit us all
21 September 2005, Roger Kerr
This article was first published in the Reform Journal on 18 September 2005.
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Market-Oriented Policies are Mainstream
14 September 2005, Roger Kerr
This article was first published in the Otago Daily Times (10 September)
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Election Policies Should be Viewed Through a Growth Lens
9 August 2005, Roger Kerr
Beyond ensuring the provision of public goods (such as biosecurity and the court system), and leaving aside the production of private goods that could be more efficiently produced by the private sector, governments are not directly involved in wealth creation. Most of their other activities involve wealth redistribution.
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ECA didn't make the sky fall in
8 March 2005, Richard Epstein
When the Employment Contracts Act of 1991 was passed, after extensive fanfare and debate, unions and some politicians suggested the sky would fall in on ordinary working-class people.
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Best efficiency gains flow from hands-off approach
1 March 2005, Richard Epstein
The single most important thing to understand about the operation of a standard labour market in the world today is that it is immensely boring.
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Budget Policy Statement Shows Need for Credible Growth Strategy
25 February 2005, Roger Kerr
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The Case for Flat Taxes
1 February 2005, Richard A Epstein
The flat tax is robust and unique, and outstrips its competitors in fairness and efficiency.
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In Economics Everything Takes Time
28 January 2005, Roger Kerr
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A Deficit of Understanding
15 January 2005, Roger Kerr
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Reducing Barriers to Investment in Infrastructure
31 December 2004, Roger Kerr
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Key issues for Maori are also those of wider society
3 December 2004, Roger Kerr
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Competition Vital for Efficiency as Savings Debate Continues
19 November 2004, Roger Kerr
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Learning a Lesson in Welfare from the United States
5 November 2004, Roger Kerr
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Australia Endorses Reform
20 October 2004, Roger Kerr
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The Case for a Flat Tax
8 October 2004, Roger Kerr
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The Fiscal Responsibility Act: A Stocktake After Ten Years
24 September 2004, Roger Kerr
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The Record of Progress
10 September 2004, Roger Kerr
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Is There a Problem With New Zealand's Management Capability?
27 August 2004, Roger Kerr
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The Role of Business in Historical Perspective and Today
30 July 2004, Roger Kerr
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It's Yesterday's Schools Once More
20 July 2004, Roger Kerr
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A Refreshing Return to Sanity
1 March 2004, Roger Kerr
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Australia-US trade deal spells danger for New Zealand
13 February 2004, Roger Kerr
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Asian Giants on the Rise
9 February 2004, Roger Kerr
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Memo to Margaret Wilson: Please Engage
4 February 2004, Roger Kerr
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Employment Law Changes a Blast from the Past
30 January 2004, Roger Kerr
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Growth and Innovation: Yeah Right!
22 January 2004, Roger Kerr
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OECD Gives New Zealand a D Grade
22 December 2003, Roger Kerr
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was, in its own words, set up "to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in member countries", while contributing to world trade and development generally.
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Competition shouldn't be incarcerated: The case for privately managed prisons
26 November 2003, Roger Kerr
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Clock ticking on objectives
26 November 2003, Roger Kerr
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Why is Australia doing so well?
24 August 2003, Roger Kerr
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Infrastructure: Why we need the 'failed' policies
15 July 2003, Bill Gallagher
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Economic freedom gains ground - but not in New Zealand
14 July 2003, Roger Kerr
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Productivity rises fatten pay packets
4 July 2003, Roger Kerr
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Economic reform: The rhetoric and the reality
24 April 2003, Roger Kerr
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Protectionism: Time to quit the habit
14 April 2003, Roger Kerr
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Labour's economic drive loses momentum
13 March 2003, Roger Kerr
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Getting back on the Australian radar screen
7 March 2003, Roger Kerr
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Making the boat go faster
10 January 2003, Bill Day
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R & D subsidy-seeking habit hard to break
6 January 2003, Roger Kerr
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Yes, we're small - so think big
1 January 2003, Winton Bates
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Economic transformation: action is lagging behind words
29 November 2002, Dr Murray Horn
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Perspectives
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Issue 452 We Don't Need a Tax Increase
10 May 2011, Richard W. Rahn
President Obama and many other Democrats - and even a few Republicans - claim that the huge deficits the United States is experiencing result from the George W. Bush-era tax rate cuts. Is this true, and must we have a tax rate increase? The short answer is no.
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Issue 418 Britain's Borrowed-Time Bomb
21 December 2010, Eamonn Butler
Britain has managed to preserve its AAA credit rating during the world financial crisis, but its luck will run out unless it gets to grips with the spiralling costs of its welfare state. Its obligations to future pensioners, the cost of free medical care to an aging population and scores of other state benefits are imposing a growing burden that Britain's next generation may prove unable to afford.
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Issue 415 The Pilgrims' Real Thanksgiving Lesson
6 December 2010, Benjamin Powell
We are direct beneficiaries of the economics lesson the pilgrims learned in 1623. Today we have a much better developed and well-defined set of property rights. Our economic system offers incentives for us—in the form of prices and profits—to coordinate our individual behavior for the mutual benefit of all; even those we may not personally know.
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Issue 414 Thus Does the Economy Grow
25 November 2010, Keith Hennessey
The American people did not give power to congressional Republicans; they took it away from congressional Democrats. Republicans now have an opportunity to prove that they deserve majority status — that they can operate not just as an opposition party, but as responsible leaders who are willing to make hard choices and solve problems.
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Issue 412 Your Sovereignty & Trade
16 November 2010, Donald J Bourdreaux
Consumer sovereignty is the right and ability of consumers to spend their money as they see fit. You exercise your consumer sovereignty when you choose to buy salmon for dinner rather than pork or beef or tofu. I exercise my consumer sovereignty when I continue to buy my favorite brand of breakfast cereal -- and when I switch to another brand.
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Issue 411 We Must Learn to Cherish Opportunity and Creativity
11 November 2010, Rupert Murdoch
In a free society, you do not succeed just by having the right ideas. You succeed by having the confidence to defend those ideas when they are under assault - and to see them through when experts are counseling compromise.
Margaret Thatcher described the process this way: "I'm extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end."
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Issue 402 Russians Catching Up
6 October 2010, Donald J Boudreaux
There's no question that -- at least in Moscow and St. Petersburg -- Russia has advanced economically by leaps and bounds since the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991. My sense that this is the case was confirmed by seeing photos of these cities from 20 years ago and talking to many Russians who well remember what life there was like under the Soviets.
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Issue 398 Cuba to Lay Off 500,000 Workers
16 September 2010, The Associated Press
Cuba announced Monday it will cast off at least half a million state employees by mid-2011 and reduce restrictions on private enterprise to help them find new jobs — the most dramatic step yet in President Raul Castro's push to radically remake employment on the communist-run island.
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Issue 383 Pain Ahead for Indebted Europe
15 July 2010, Henry Ergas
A SPECTRE is haunting Europe: the spectre of public debt. The debt-to-gross domestic product ratio for the European Union is projected to reach 80 per cent this year. Some recent growth in public indebtedness reflects weak economic conditions, but structural budget deficits have also increased sharply.
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Issue 381 Prune and Grow
8 July 2010, David Brooks
Sixteen months ago, Congress passed a stimulus package that will end up costing each average taxpayer $7,798. Economists were divided then about whether this spending was worth it, and they are just as divided now.
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Issue 374 Will Africa Finally Take Off?
10 June 2010, Gary Becker
After many decades of hopelessness, there are finally grounds for believing that sub-Saharan Africa may be close to taking off toward sustained economic growth. Africa has rebounded from the worldwide recession faster than many other nations. The International Monetary Fund estimates that African GDP rose by 4.7 per cent in 2009, and the Fund forecasts that Africa’s growth will increase still further to almost 6 per cent in 2010.
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Issue 350 Why weren’t there Housing Bubbles Everywhere?
9 March 2010, Thomas Sowell
During bad times, the blame game is the biggest game in Washington. Wall Street "greed" or "predatory" lenders seem to be favorite targets to blame for our current economic woes.
When government policy is mentioned at all in handing out blame, it is usually blamed for not imposing enough regulation on the private sector. But there is still the question whether any of these explanations can stand up under scrutiny.
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Issue 342 The Best is Yet to Come
4 February 2010, Adrian Wooldridge
Two years ago, as the world flirted with a second Great Depression, Gregg Easterbrook was in the midst of writing a book about the coming economic boom. A less confident writer might have abandoned the project in despair. But Mr. Easterbrook, a graduate of the New Republic's school of contrarian journalism, forged on regardless. The result is a book that is both a pleasure to read and a valuable corrective to the gloom that currently envelops us.
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Issue 338 The U.S Isn’t as Free as It Used to Be
22 January 2010, Terry Miller
The United States is losing ground to its major competitors in the global marketplace, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom released today by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This year, of the world's 20 largest economies, the U.S. suffered the largest drop in overall economic freedom. Its score declined to 78 from 80.7 on the 0 to 100 Index scale.
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Issue 329 Bentham vs. Hume
14 December 2009, David Brooks
I’d like to introduce you to two friends of mine, Mr. Bentham and Mr. Hume.
Mr. Bentham knows everything. He went to Stanford, then to the Kennedy school before getting a business degree. He’s got multivariate regressions coming out of his ears, and he sprinkles C.B.O. reports on his corn flakes for added fiber.
Mr. Hume is very smart, too, but he doesn’t seem to make much use of his intelligence. He worked on Wall Street for a little while, but he never could accurately predict how the market was going to move tomorrow or the day after that.
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Issue 327 Stimulus Spending Doesn't Work
9 December 2009, Robert J Barro and Charles J Redlick
The global recession and financial crisis have refocused attention on government stimulus packages. These packages typically emphasize spending, predicated on the view that the expenditure "multipliers" are greater than one—so that gross domestic product expands by more than government spending itself.
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Issue 324 How California can get its Groove Back
30 November 2009, Michael J Boskin & John F Cogan
For many decades California residents enjoyed a rising standard of living, an outstanding education system, and unprecedented upward mobility. Yet now, despite state leadership in technology, agriculture and entertainment, California's economy radically underperforms. While uncontrolled spending, excessive regulation and litigation have helped create a dismal business environment, the tax system is central to the state's economic woes.
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Issue 322 Learning to Love Insider Trading
25 November 2009, Donald J. Bourdreaux
Here’s a hot tip: Want to keep companies honest, make the markets work more efficiently and encourage investors to diversify? Let insiders buy and sell, argues Donald J. Bourdreaux.
It's Halloween season, and the scariest demons in the world of business are insider traders, lurking behind every stockbroker's desk and four-star restaurant banquette. They whisper dark corporate secrets into the ears of venal speculators, and inflict pain and agony upon ordinary investors.
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Issue 319 Elinor Ostrom on the Market, the State, and the Third Sector
18 November 2009, Paul Dragos Aligica
When economists show that market arrangements fail, they usually make the simple recommendation that “the” state should take care of these problems. Elinor Ostrom has demonstrated empirically that “the” state may not be “the” solution
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Issue 291 Obama Needs a Move to the Middle
19 August 2009, Michael J Boskin
While strong recoveries sometimes follow deep recessions, historically recoveries following financial crises have been slow and painful. The specter of massive future tax hikes and inflation is worsening the outlook. We need a better, more coherent policy path back to a strong market economy-not to a European style social-welfare state, permanent government lifelines and stagflation.
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Issue 288 Beware sorry fate of fads
5 August 2009, John Roskam
A decade ago we were told we should be more like the ʺCeltic Tigerʺ ‐ Ireland. In the heady days
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Issue 285 Thanks Due to Monetary Policy
24 July 2009, Tony Makin
Fiscal stimulus has had less effect than other measures.IN most recent commentary on the state of the economy, it has become routine to credit federal fiscal stimulus, particularly the cash handouts to households, for any positive economic news. Whether it is the avoidance so far of a technical recession, higher than expected retail sales, or other miscellaneous measures of spending, we have been led to believe that things would have been much worse without the unprecedented fiscal activism.
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Issue 265 Tax Increases Could Kill the Recovery
15 May 2009, Martin Feldstein
The barrage of tax increases proposed in President Barack Obama's budget could, if enacted by Congress, kill any chance of an early and sustained recovery.
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Issue 259 Do Not Let the Cure Destroy Capitalism
24 April 2009, By Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy
Capitalism has been wounded by the global recession, which unfortunately will get worse before it gets better. 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.
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Issue 255 Follow the Kiwi leader, not Obama
8 April 2009, Tony Makin
Despite the federal fiscal stimuli we had to have, Australia is almost certain to experience the recession it was not supposed to have.
So, with earlier stimulatory measures failing to work as expected, what alternatives would work better?
The answer is: those primarily focused on the production rather than the spending side of the economy.
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Issue 253 Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics
1 April 2009, Peter Ferrara
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama said, "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified." Or as administration spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in January, the touchstone is, "What will have the biggest and most immediate impact on creating private sector jobs and strengthening the middle class? We're guided by what works, not by any ideology or special interests."
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Issue 75, Nordic Stars
8 April 2006, Af Chresten Anderson
All Europe needs to do to save its ailing welfare states, goes the current thinking in Brussels, is copy the "Nordic Model." By this popular notion, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland have found the magic formula to marry high growth with "social justice." This much misunderstood model is likely to be discussed at a European Union summit next week devoted to the economy.
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Issue 64, Are Tax Cuts Inflationary
25 July 2005, Roger Kerr
In arguing against tax cuts, one point that finance minister Michael Cullen asserts is that they would push up prices, and that the Reserve Bank would have to raise interest rates to curb inflation
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Issue 63, Why people are wrong to oppose economic growth
18 July 2005, Winton Bates
After a brief appearance in the 1970s, opposition to economic growth had resurfaced.
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A strange sort of charm offensive
1 August 2000, Ralph Norris
There is no summary available for this publication.
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The pause that refreshes: a Coca-Cola year
5 December 1995, Roger Kerr
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Media Releases
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Economic Freedom Fell Globally and in New Zealand in 2008
20 September 2010, New Zealand Business Roundtable
New Zealand lost ground in 2008 in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2010 Annual Report, released today in New Zealand by the New Zealand Business Roundtable. The report takes the annual series up to 2008, the most recent year for which data are available.
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Sound Steps But No Step Change in Budget
20 May 2010, New Zealand Business Roundtable
“The government deserves credit for correcting some of the economic mistakes of its predecessor but is still well away from putting the economy on a strong and balanced growth path”, Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today.
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Does New Zealand have a household saving crisis?
1 October 2007, NZIER
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New Study Examines Effects of Income Redistribution
16 June 2007, New Zealand Business Roundtable
"A new empirical study of the effects of income redistribution underlines its limitations compared to wealth creation as a means of alleviating poverty", Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today.
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Business to Government: Curb Spending and Get Productivity Up
1 May 2007, Roger Kerr
"A select committee inquiry into pressures on inflation and the export sector will be a waste of time if its focus is to be on monetary policy", Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today.
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Budget Policy Statement Falls Short of Government's Goals
14 February 2007, Roger Kerr
"The projections in the Budget Policy Statement, which go out over 10 years from when the government was first elected in 1999, are clear evidence that its economic policies are not succeeding", Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today.
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Australia Overtakes New Zealand in Economic Freedom Rankings
17 January 2007, New Zealand Business Roundtable
"An interesting feature of the 2007 Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom just released is that for the first time in many years Australia, at 3rd place, outranks New Zealand, at 5th place, in the rankings for economic freedom", Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today.
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Inclusion of Property Rights in Bill of Rights Act Supported
10 December 2006, New Zealand Business Roundtable
The Business Roundtable told the Justice and Electoral Select Committee today that it supported MP Gordon Copeland's bill incorporating private property rights in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (copy of submission attached)...
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New Report Stresses Importance of Environment for Entrepreneurship
12 June 2006, Frederic Sautet
A study for the New Zealand Business Roundtable by economist Frederic Sautet released today emphasises the importance of an economic environment which is more conducive to entrepreneurship if New Zealand is to grow and prosper.
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Government Must Reassess Growth Strategy
18 May 2006, New Zealand Business Roundtable
"One stark fact stands out from the Budget: New Zealand is not in sight of climbing back up the international income rankings", Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable said today. "This should be the central focus of Budget analysis."
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Review of Jared Diamond's 'Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'
12 September 2005, New Zealand Business Roundtable
The Business Roundtable has released a third paper in its Occasional Paper series, a review of Jared Diamond's book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Wolfgang Kasper, professor of economics emeritus and a senior fellow of the Centre for Independent Studies, Sydney.
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OECD Report Says New Zealand Could Do Better
5 July 2005, Roger Kerr
"This week's OECD report on New Zealand is disappointingly bland but some important messages can be read between the lines", Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, said today.
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E-Connects
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Europe: What Future?
28 July 2010, Dr Robin Harris
The pretense that the European Union is successful and stable—and that the euro is a successful and stable currency—has been exploded by events surrounding the financial bailout of Greece. No one knows where the contagion will spread or how it may end. The world’s financial markets have occasionally teetered on the edge of panic.
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"Mostly Free" - The Startling Decline of America's Economic Freedom and What to Do About It
26 July 2010, Terry Miller and Kim R Holmes
In 2010, for the first time ever, the United States has fallen from the ranks of the economically “free” as
measured by the Index of Economic Freedom, published annually by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall
Street Journal.
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The Rahn Curve and the Growth-Maximizing Level of Government
19 July 2010, Centre for Freedom and Prosperity
Government spending can promote economic growth if money is used for core "public goods" such as rule of law and property rights. But the burden of government spending in the United States and other industrialized nations is far higher than needed to finance such activities.
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Economics 101 on "Learning From Sweden's Free Market Renaissance"
8 March 2010, Centre for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation
Sweden is a powerful example of the importance of public policy. The Nordic nation became rich between 1870 and 1970 when government was very small, but then began to stagnate as welfare state policies were implemented in the 1970s and 1980s. The CF&P Foundation video explains that Sweden is now shifting back to economic freedom in hopes of undoing the damage caused by an excessive welfare state
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Feeble Critiques: Capitalism's Petty Detractors
10 November 2009, Jagdish Bhagwati
When the twin crises erupted on Wall Street and Main Street, each one of them fierce in itself but far more frightening when they interacted, populists rushed forward to celebrate the demise of capitalism and, for added gratification, plunge their pitchforks into its dead corpse. Since then, they have had their champagne parties. By now, however, the fizz is gone and the rush to judgment by capitalism’s obituarists has left us with tattered myths and egregious fallacies that invite scrutiny and refutation.
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