New Zealand’s interest-free student loan scheme has not achieved its policy objectives and fails to help students from poorer backgrounds access tertiary education, according to this report from The New Zealand Initiative. Eliminating interest-charges on all student loans was a superb decision in political expediency; politicians compete for votes and people will naturally vote for...

Open for Business: Removing the barriers to foreign investment is the third report released by The New Zealand Initiative on foreign direct investment. This final report in The New Zealand Initiative’s series on global financial links has found that New Zealand has an overly restrictive regulatory structure on inward capital flows, particularly relating to land...

This report is the second of three that aims to promote public debate about New Zealand’s global links, including the contentious issues of foreign ownership and net external indebtedness. Key points: Openness to the rest of the world through trade and capital is key to the prosperity of nations. Merchandise world trade has grown much...