Don't shoot standards in the foot
The idea of politicians in Wellington dictating exactly what should happen in every school is usually something to be balked at. Schools have a better sense of what works for their kids than the bureaucrats...
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We're often frustrated by political decisions that seem to go against the will of the nation. But are our MPs really betraying us when they don't do what we want them to? Are politicians calculators who tally public opinion, or people we trust to work out what is best for the country? In an upcoming lecture, Richard Ekins will ask whether MPs and Parliament should use independent judgment or channel the will of the people.
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Raising GST a good way to patch up New Zealand's leaky tax base
"The Government should bite the bullet and use GST more for collecting tax, as the Tax Working Group has recommended," says Steve Thomas, Researcher at the Maxim Institute. "That way we could lower personal income and corporate taxes."
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Government injects money to youth initiatives
Maxim Institute Researcher Steve Thomas, speaks to Jim Mora and his panel about the Government's new spending on youth initiatives, explaining why they may help in the short-term but are not a long-term solution.
Listen to the interview
We are used to thinking of private education in terms of green playing fields and elites. But in the slums of Hyderabad, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and China, private education confounds our stereotypes. A book by educationalist James Tooley tells the story of private education among the world's poor.
Read a review of The Beautiful Tree
The straight-shooting Cardinal
In his collection of essays God and Caesar George Pell, the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, offers a series of rigorous and sometimes elegant meditations on democracy, freedom, society, social order and the role the Catholic Church can and should play in the modern world.
Read a review of God and Caesar
Abolish school zones for fair enrolment policy
It's rough on kids when they're judged by their parents' income. But that's exactly what school zoning policy does. The current policy, based on geographic school zones and a random ballot of spare places, leads to "selection by mortgage." Where you live can decide the quality of education your children receive. This policy systematically locks many lower-income children out of good schools.
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Would you like to know more about Maxim Institute? Maxim Institute has produced a short introductory video which provides an explanation of who we are, what we do and why we do it.
Watch the video here