Robert Hickson • Nov 01, 2017 •
Metropolis, the Jetsons, Blade Runner. Imagining cities of the future is a popular past-time. The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has just announced his vision of the mega-city of the future – Neom. With web site. And the price tag too (half a trillion dollars in case you missed it). This struck me as … Read More
Eric Crampton • Feb 22, 2017 •
The push for more localist approaches to policy problems in New Zealand continues to gather steam. Earlier this month, the McGuinness Institute argued for what they’re calling Demarcation Zones for policy trials. Their formulation differs a bit from what we at the Initiative proposed in 2015, but the core idea is similar: let local communities take on additional … Read More
Eric Crampton • Nov 25, 2016 •
Wellington’s quake-prone heritage-listed buildings remain scary. My column in this week’s NBR ($) suggests prioritising the risky heritage buildings, pulling the heritage listings from the scariest ones, and putting public money into the ones where the heritage amenity is really worth it. Or, Council could just buy the buildings from their owners, fix them itself, and sell them afterwards – … Read More
Michael Reddell • Oct 22, 2015 •
The New Zealand Initiative was out this week with a new report, In the Zone: Creating a Toolbox for Regional Prosperity. If I’ve understood correctly their proposal, local authorities would be able to seek approval from central government to run policy experiments in their own areas (freeing up the Overseas Investment Act, legalising drugs, prohibiting prostitution, banning private schools, … Read More
Eric Crampton • Jul 21, 2015 •
I like the idea of strengthening local government. There should be better links between Council performance and Council revenues, to both encourage and facilitate local economic growth. And central government should have an open door should local bodie... Read More
Eric Crampton • Jun 21, 2015 •
I've worried that perhaps Councils haven't fought back against the NIMBYs because they haven't quite enough skin in the game.The basic model in my head has run as follows:Councillors need to be re-elected. High preference intensity local NIMBYs get dis... Read More