Nick Clark: Bad vibrations

Future historians may seek to understand why early 21st century New Zealand struggled to get value from its infrastructure spending. They will need to look no further than Auckland's achievement in speed bump construction and subsequent destruction.

Eric Crampton: Beehive shouldn’t assume bigger is better for local government

An Infrastructure Commission report finds no evidence of economies of scale in council services and suggests countries do better when local councils have more, rather than less, responsibility for infrastructure provision, writes Dr Eric Crampton. So why centralise services like Three Waters?

In 2010, the National-led government launched a rather substantial experiment. Auckland City’s smaller councils were forced to amalgamate into a supercity structure.

The amalgamation was supposed to bring a lot of benefits, from transport coordination to improved efficiency. A Royal Commission had projected that reduced Council overheads could provide efficiency gains of $76–$113 million a year.

If it had, it would be worth knowing.