New travel charge borderline at best - NZIER Insight 56
November 26, 2015
The Government wants to make travellers pay for the costs of border control but the border charge is a poor user charge and an inefficient tax: it will dampen services exports and hence economic growth more than other revenue raising options. If we need additional border control it wo … Read more
Robot nation? The impact of disruptive technologies on Kiwis - NZIER Insight 55
October 21, 2015
The pace of technological change is accelerating and the upcoming wave of automation may impact jobs and societies as much as occurred in the industrial revolution. That’s one finding of a new research paper produced for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) by the N … Read more
TPP an impressive achievement - NZIER Insight 54
October 6, 2015
Today’s announcement that the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) has been concluded is good news for Kiwi firms and households. It’s not perfect, and the dairy sector in particular will naturally be frustrated. But TPP offers valuable benefits – and limited costs – across the e … Read more
El Niño: don't scare the cows - NZIER Insight 53
September 22, 2015
This summer will be a scorcher. MetService is forecasting the most severe El Niño in over 20 years. Past El Niño events have hit farmers hard and tipped New Zealand into recession. But farming today is not the farming of yesteryear and we need to examine local conditions one region at … Read more
Speed dating central bank style - NZIER Insight 52
September 1, 2015
From next year, the Reserve Bank will let go one chance each year to meet and set interest rates. That means the Reserve Bank could easily fall behind the run rate on the interest rate settings required to manage the economy. The Reserve Bank is also tweaking when they meet to try and … Read more
Sitting down on the job - NZIER Insight 51
July 31, 2015
New Zealand is now one of the most obese countries in the world. The impact on our health comes with substantial economic costs. A range of factors are known to be important, with changes in diet being fingered as one of the culprits. Another less obvious factor is that the economic t … Read more
Trans-Tasman relationship close, but could be closer - NZIER Inisght 50
February 25, 2015
New Zealand and Australia share many things: a tariff-free border, a free labour market, joint institutions, hosting rights to the Cricket World Cup 2015 (go the Black Caps!) and a mutual distaste for English rugby. Ahead of the 10th Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum in Auckland … Read more
Funding the world's most liveable city: the missing third leg? NZIER Insight 49
November 13, 2014
Auckland's potential will only be unlocked if investment funding can be found to deal with infrastructure bottlenecks. This Insight explores the role of private capital in funding Auckland's infrastructure. It concludes that greater effort to attract private capital through the provis … Read more
The power of price - NZIER Insight 48
October 30, 2014
This week Auckland Council presented two options for raising additional funding for land transport projects - introducing user-charges to use the motorway network, or increasing rates and fuel taxes. NZIER welcomes the opportunity to publicly debate road pricing. We see user-charges a … Read more
Costly investment decisions require improved population forecasts - NZIER Insight 47
August 25, 2014
Investing wisely today for the New Zealand of tomorrow requires a detailed understanding of how many people there will be and where we will work and live. Billions of dollars of infrastructure spending are at stake. Yet past estimates of New Zealand's population, on which these invest … Read more