Given that it is increasingly difficult to get affordable earthquake insurance, we may have to radically revise the system.
Read MoreHow Are We Covered for Earthquakes?
Economy
What State is the Economy In?
‘There is little doubt we face a fully-fledged economic crisis, beyond the current cost of living crisis.’ (Matthew Hooton, New Zealand Herald , 30 September 2022)
Read MoreThe Belt and Road Initiative
Where does New Zealand fit into China’s plans to link better to the world?
Read MoreDoes Market Liberalisation Work?
The evidence from the past is that the neoliberal crash-through approach proposed by the new Truss-Kwarteng British government does not lift economic performance.
Read MoreThree Waters: Yet Again a Centralist Solution is Being Imposed Upon Local Communities
The proposal to organise fresh water, storm water and waste water into four entities reflects the contempt that New Zealand’s central government has for local communities.
Read MoreShould We Be Relying On Storing Waste Carbon in Trees?
The carbon, energy and dollar cycles do not integrate well.
Read MoreGorbachev’s Legacy
The aim of a decent liberal Russia is still there; its achievement is likely to be a long way off.
Read MoreIs Social Investment Analysis a Good Idea?
We should try to to evaluate our social policies systematically. But big data has limitations.
Read MorePaying the Cost of Brexit.
Why is the British Economy in Greater Trouble Than Most Others?
Read MoreHow Financial Institutions Fail
What to do when they do.
Read MoreThe Rise of the Market Economy
Economic history alerts us to long term trends, so that we are not trapped into thinking today’s circumstances will be forever.
Read MoreHow Should We Run the Public Health System?
Two-and-a-half years on, the Government’s merged mega-polytechnic, the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology – Te Pūkenga, is facing a deficit which is double the planned one. Will Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) be facing similar troubles in December 2024?
Read MoreFighting Past Inflation Battles
Too many commentators on current price pressures have not understood that this time it is very different from the 1970s. Their prescriptions may accelerate inflation.
Read MoreTurmoil in the National Caucus
Andrea Vance’s ‘Blue Blood: The Inside Story of the National Party in Crisis’ provides broader insights about how Parliament works than just National’s troubles.
Read MoreTrade Deals Are a-Changin'
Are We Keeping Up With the Changing Global Trade Patterns?
Read MoreThe relevance of Piketty’s 'A Brief History of Equality' to New Zealand.
The ongoing decline in market income inequality stopped in the 1980s. Since then it has been stable, while 1990 public policy actively increased disposable income inequality.
Read MoreAre We Facing Secular Stagnation?
We cannot be sure, but the answer matters even in the short term.
Read MoreHow Rationally do Economic Actors Behave?
Behavioural economics challenges our assumptions about the relevance of rational economic man.
Read MoreSHOCK! HORROR! The New Zealand Economy is in Recession!!!!! Or are we?
The takeaways from the just released data are:
1. Any estimate of GDP is subject to error.
2. The 0.2 percent decrease in the March 2022 quarter is not precise and will be revised, with the mild likelihood that it will eventually be higher.
3. New Zealand has no ‘official' definition of a recession.
4. The New Zealand economy seems to be stagnating. Whether we are in a recession (or going into one) or it is something more structural we cannot yet tell.
Read MoreWhat is the Medium-Term Future for the New Zealand Economy?
The outlook does not look that promising.
Read More