Recently the New Zealand electricity sector has been taking a bit of a hammering. According to a Commerce Commission sanctioned report, consumers have been overcharged by $4.3b over a six year period (how’s that for a headline!). More specifically, the report concluded each of the four big generators – Meridian, Contact, Genesis and Mighty River …
Category Archive: Regulation
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2009/05/25/in-defence-of-the-new-zealand-wholesale-electricity-market/
Apr 18 2009
Plastic bags: industry-based solution versus regulation
Foodstuffs have recently announced that they will voluntarily introduce a 5c charge per plastic bag consumed through their New World and 4 Square supermarkets, with the revenue generated being used for an “environmental initiative” (previous post on the issue here). Foodstuffs account for over half of all supermarket sales in New Zealand through their New …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2009/04/18/plastic-bags-industry-based-solution-versus-regulation/
Mar 18 2009
Where the streets have no signs
Eric Crampton points to an example of offsetting behaviour in driving reported by Popular Mechanics: …modifying roads and intersections so drivers are less comfortable—by making driving, in some ways, more dangerous—forces people to slow down and pay attention, producing a change in behavior that, paradoxically, results in more safety. This is also true for pedestrians, …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2009/03/18/where-the-streets-have-no-signs/
Jan 09 2009
A justification for taxing congestion: Multiple equilibria with a roading alternative?
Recent posts below (see “Taxing congestion: how I might justify it“) have sought reasons as to why toll-roads are so often touted as an economically efficient measure. For my part, I am quite sceptical that the are universally efficient, and struggle to find a compelling reason why they are even efficient most of the time. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2009/01/09/a-justification-for-taxing-congestionmultiple-equilibria-with-a-roading-alternative/
Dec 02 2008
National chooses not to rule ‘by decree’
It looks like National has decided not to continue with the previous government’s plans to introduce a standard for lightbulb efficiency. They say We want to encourage people to [switch], we think there may be benefits for them to do it, but it should be a choice they make as consumers. It’s a good point: …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/12/02/national-chooses-not-to-rule-by-decree/
Nov 06 2008
Com Com investigating mobile termination rates
For those of you who don’t subscribe to the Commerce Commission’s media releases, they have just announced that they are investigating mobile termination rates. (Reasons here). In simple terms, the termination rate is what vodafone charges telecom every time a telecom customer calls a vodafone customer and vice-versa. The CC has decided that the rates …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/11/06/com-com-investigating-mobile-termination-rates/
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