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The article is a reflection by Dennis Wesselbaum, the former Editor-in-Chief of the New Zealand Economic Papers (NZEP). Wesselbaum discusses his experiences and lessons learned during his four-year tenure as EIC. He highlights the importance of organization and working diligently as an editor, including the process of desk rejecting submissions that are clearly flawed or unrelated to New Zealand. Wesselbaum also discusses the challenges of finding referees and the need for shorter papers in response to declining reading times. He concludes by discussing the future of publishing, including the rise of open access and concerns about AI. [Extracted from the article]

The 2020 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (officially known as The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel), was awarded to two professors from Stanford University, Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, 'for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats'. What is probably less well-known is the notable impact made by two New Zealand economists, both economics graduates from the University of Canterbury, in shaping the theory of auctions for which the prize was awarded. This paper looks at the 'web of influence' among the two New Zealand economists and the two new Nobel prize winners in as far as the development of auction theory is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Zealand Treasury working papers were inadvertently omitted from the December 2000 issue of New Zealand Economic Papers. New Zealand Treasury Working Papers 00/26 Conserving Biodiversity - Institutions, Policies [...]

This paper reviews changes in New Zealand universities since the introduction of the Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) in 2003, and evaluates changes in relation to the stated objectives. This stocktake of research findings is in part a response to the official report of the Review Panel, which made no attempt to review evidence of performance. A key objective was to achieve an improvement in research quality. It is suggested that improvements have been related closely to the incentives created by the scheme, and achieved by considerable staff turnover. The present stocktake of the changed nature of universities and the details of the evaluation process suggests that substantial simplifications could usefully be made while maintaining incentives that are at the heart of any PBRF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central bank independence is an important development in macroeconomics. It has become a lynchpin of modern central banking. The period since the Global Financial Crisis and the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic era posed new challenges for central banks, with potential implications for central bank independence. This paper reviews the scope and rationale for central bank independence and the reasons it spread internationally after the 1980s. It reviews evidence of the effects of central bank independence on inflation, output volatility, financial stability and fiscal policy. The paper considers political threats and contemporary policy issues that could influence the form of central bank independence and credibility. These issues include matters relating to assessments of monetary policy during the pandemic, the scope of central bank mandates, interpretations of inflation dynamics, the funding of central bank operations, and the interaction between fiscal and monetary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]