Dr Eric Crampton: Can culture drive innovation? The answer lies in the books

Everyone knows that culture matters, at least in a vague sense. But showing how it matters has been like pinning jelly to a wall.

I don’t know how many opinion pieces I’ve read blaming New Zealand’s ‘tall poppy syndrome’ for weak innovation and productivity growth. But how could you test whether it is true?

David Farrar: We need productivity gains, not minimum wage rises

Radio NZ reports:

New Zealand’s minimum wage might have increased substantially over the past five years, but it hasn’t helped lift the wages of the population overall.

As a result, the median wage has drawn significantly closer to the minimum, and commentators say it will take a big productivity boost to boost incomes more generally.

Dr Don Brash: At the end of year two, how are they doing?

With less than a year to go to the next general election, polls suggest that the current Government could well lose to a Labour-led coalition, despite the mess which the last Labour Government left just two years ago. Is that negativity warranted?

There are all kinds of criteria one might use to assess the Government but in recent years I have consistently used just five.

Dr Don Brash: Do rising house prices damage economic growth?

In recent years, when addressing Rotary and other audiences, I often talk about the five big challenges facing New Zealand – persistently slow growth in productivity, and therefore in income levels; ridiculously unaffordable house prices; the increasing division of our society into those with a Maori ancestor and those without; the unsustainable path which government fiscal policy has been on for the last decade or so; and the foreign policy dilemma we’re facing in a situation where our traditional ally seems hell-bent on provoking war with our largest trading partner.

Until today, I hadn’t given enough thought to the possibility that rising house prices may have been part of the cause of our lousy productivity growth.

Michael Reddell: Productivity growth languishing

I hadn’t had a look for a while at the OECD labour productivity (real GDP per hour worked) data, but the release of the latest OECD Economic Outlook the other day prompted me to spend some time in the (less user-friendly than it was) OECD database.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Is NZ's Unprincipled Parliament the True Reason why Productivity Growth has Collapsed?

NZ's Parliament calls itself our "House of Representatives". That's an empty description, given we now have a sitting Member who ran on the List for the Greens, but now has been kicked out of that party. So now the member does not represent a Seat, nor a Party. How can it be a House of Representatives when it has members who represent nothing? This week it got worse.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: NZ's Productivity Growth, measured in terms of output of Olympic Medals, is Astonishing.

In the 1924 Paris Olympics, New Zealand won one bronze medal in total. It was in athletics for the 100m by Arthur Porritt. The race was later immortalized in the film, Chariots of Fire. NZ had a population of around 1 million back then. Just over 100 years later, the tally is 9 golds, 7 silvers and 2 bronzes, which after adjusting for population increase, is a huge rise.

David Farrar: More observations from PCE Simon Upton

Last week I blogged a speech from Simon Upton, highlighting five inconvenient truths he highlighted to the Environmental Defence Society. A reader has suggested I also cover the rest of his speech, which also had good food for thought.

Dr Bryce Wilkinson: What activist kids should know about productivity growth

It is fashionable to see climate as the main threat to the future quality of life of young people today. The word “climate” is commonly followed by “crisis” or “emergency”.

School kids are being organised and encouraged to march the streets. While it is commendable that young people are taking an interest in important issues, agitating for uncosted policies assumes New Zealand households have no competing spending priorities.

Dr Bryce Wilkinson: New Zealand's productivity puzzle

Imagine two farmers, each with a plot of land. One farmer finds ways to make his land just 1% more productive each year - a bit better irrigation, a new crop rotation strategy, or a slight improvement in fertiliser use. The other farmer, content with his current methods, sees no need for change.

Fast forward 20 years, and the difference between the two farms is dramatic. The innovative farmer's land is now 22% more productive, while the passive farmer's plot has stagnated. Which farm would an heir prefer to inherit?

Bryce Wilkinson: Productivity growth - The key to future wellbeing

Who really cares about the wellbeing of future generations? Those who do should care greatly about productivity growth.

Nothing really compares to productivity growth for making the good things in life more affordable.

Last week, Statistics New Zealand reported that labour productivity here grew at an average annual growth rate of 1.3 percent between 1996 and 2022. For Australia it was 1.9 percent.

What does this mean and how much does it matter?