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About the NZahead report card

NZahead is a report card of New Zealand’s social, economic, and environmental wellbeing. We are measuring performance so New Zealanders can improve it.


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Why a report card?

There’s an old saying that ‘what gets measured gets managed’.

Single measures (such as Gross Domestic Product per capita) are really important, but they can never tell the whole story. New Zealanders need to understand that whole story if we’re going to be able to identify linkages, set priorities and make good choices.

The NZahead report card therefore seeks to arm New Zealanders with a big picture view of our overall, long-term performance – social, economic, and environmental.

The NZahead project is meant to stimulate better conversations between all New Zealanders about what is important and what we should do about it.

Why 16 measures, and why these 16?

Sixteen measures were selected in search of a balance between capturing enough information to make broad judgments about New Zealand’s performance, without capturing so much that the details are overwhelming.

The measures have to be relevant to the quality of life of New Zealanders. The report card must include measures from the social, environmental and economic dimensions to provide a balanced view of all strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. There have to be some flow measures (such as GDP per capita) as well as some stock measures (such as household wealth) to reflect the balance between now and the future.

The measures should be reliable and accurate, and they should be frequently updated with long time series.

And we prefer measures that have direct international comparisons.

In the video clip below Lloyd Morrison describes his objectives in attempting to measure New Zealand's progress.

Not all of the measures meet every criterion. But taken as a whole we think they give a fair and balanced view of the state of New Zealand. As a result of including the measures in NZahead we hope performance on some measures will improve as more attention is directed to changing outcomes.

Who are you to make these judgements?

The entire purpose of NZahead is to encourage better conversations between New Zealanders about the country’s choices. In part that is about more and better information but it is also about having a robust dialogue. One idea or perspective is put forward, followed by counter-arguments, other ideas, questions and challenges. Strong opinion and disagreement is a sign of a democratic society’s strength and vitality, not weakness, so long as it is done respectfully.

Have we got the right measures? Should we add some, which will require deleting others? What is causing the improvement or decline in a particular measure? How are they inter-related? And what was the Institute thinking when it gave that overall grade?

We would love for you to agree or disagree about any of it. You can provide feedback through the facebook page or directly to staff via email. The most important question is the overall grade for New Zealand and you can share your view at the website, or through the facebook page.

Why is it important for you to grade New Zealand yourself? There are two good reasons:

Why an overall grade, and how is it decided?

The 16 measures are likely to be moving in different ways over time – better or worse, faster or slower. Each has different causes that create those effects, but there are also deep connections among them that play out over time: environmental performance, for example, is eventually going to show up in economic performance.

The overall grade from the Institute is a subjective judgment of what the 16 measures mean when viewed together over the long-term.

In the video below Institute Member Don Elder shares his perspective on New Zealand's future and potential benefits and uses of the NZahead project.

How can I get involved in the conversation?

Full report

Download a printable version of the full report (4.28 MB)

[Download PDF]

Summary table

Download a printable version of the summary table (129 KB)

[Download PDF]
Join the Discussion

Further information

  • New Zealand’s overall performance still average Media release in October 2011
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  • Promising steps on the economy Media release in September 2010 from Institute Director Rick Boven
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  • The top ten issues if resolved, would make the greatest contribution to the country’s long term success.
    View
  • Contact the New Zealand Institute NZahead is an ongoing project of the New Zealand Institute
    View
  • Could do better The original report card assessment in March 2010 from Institute Director Rick Boven.
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