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 MoreFighting Past Inflation Battles
Turmoil 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 MoreCorroboration: The key January 6 moment where Trump is exposed
A stunning day of testimony at the January 6 committee hearings in Washington DC has corroborated the key, but under-reported, part of Cassidy Hutchinson’s damning evidence against Donald Trump
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 MoreFor a true 'Partnership for the Blue Pacific', we'll need more Pacific partners
New alliances are cropping up in the Pacific, but in whose interests? Are New Zealand and its partners willing to walk the walk required to achieve genuine peace and development or will we fail to learn lessons from elsewhere?
Read MoreHow Rationally do Economic Actors Behave?
Behavioural economics challenges our assumptions about the relevance of rational economic man.
Read MoreRoe V Wade ruling shows why abortion is the answer to so many questions about US politics
Today’s US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade is a lesson to non-American’s that abortion remains the deepest, most divisive, most defining issue in US politics. And its impact will be felt far beyond the realm of reproductive rights
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 MoreNew look, but can Labour find a new focus?
Jacinda Ardern has turned necessity into an opportunity, as she starts to reset the look of Labour’s leadership for a new chapter. Her biggest weaknesses are dealt with as she looks for more from new faces
Read MoreWill We Be Thinking Big Again Soon?
Perhaps we are reaching the stage of the 1870s, the 1930s and the 1970s of growing unease about the state of the New Zealand economy. It is not stagnating, but it is not obviously going anywhere either. Will we have another ‘Think Big’ and if so, what will be the balance between the private and public involvement?
Read MoreAre Shareholders Or Managers in Charge of A Firm?
‘Dark Towers’, a book on Deutsche Bank, throws light on a long running economic dispute.
Read MoreWhere is the Economy Going?
Budget 2022: What does Treasury think is happening to the economy whose evolution underpins the budget policies?
Read MoreImproving Taxing Income
The informed discussion on the next steps in tax policy is about improving the income tax base, not about taxing wealth directly.
Read MoreNew Rules for Government Budget Management
While the new fiscal rules may not be contentious, what they mean for macroeconomic management is not explained.
Read MoreDo We Have a Population Policy?
Population growth has some effect on economic growth, but it is complicated especially where infrastructure is involved. We need to think more about it.
Read MoreWhat is Really Causing the Sharp Price Rises
Reductions in effective productivity, largely as a result of events overseas, require reductions in real incomes. Ignore that and you cannot defeat inflation.
Read MoreThe Economic Costs of Warfare
We do not go to war for free; we need to factor its economic costs and its consequences into public discussions.
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