Speculative bubbles have occurred in the New Zealand housing market
Read MoreMinsky and the Housing Market
Mum knows better than Maureen where the winds of climate change are blowing
The terrible damage of Cyclone Gabrielle has the potential to up-end election year just as it has up-ended so many lives. For National it brings danger (enter Maureen Pugh), for the Greens, opportunity
Read MoreSo What is Special About Housing?
This column is adapted from a paper I gave to Southland U3A on Friday, February 17. Later I shall post a column which will analyse housing bubbles.
Read MoreWhat is Happening on the Inflationary Front?
Keynes warned us that practical men and women are but slaves of defunct economists. The comment is particularly relevant as we try to understand the prospects for inflation.
Read MoreOil, Water and Money: The RNZ/TVNZ Merger
The problems inherent in the failed RNZ-TVNZ merger go way back. Bad policy was finished off by bad politics, writes a former Broadcasting Minister
Read MoreHow to read Chipp-ese: Translating Chris Hipkins' first post-cab statement
At Chris Hipkins’ first post-cabinet press conference as PM we got introduced to the new language of Chipp-ese. So reading between the lines, what did his words really mean?
Read MoreAotearoa New Zealand as a "little experiment". The rights, wrongs & other wrongs of Christoper Luxon
Christopher Luxon’s description of New Zealand as “a little experiment” prompts questions about the story tell ourselves about our country… and some other history he needs to factcheck
Read MoreCo-governance
The (new) Prime Minister said nobody understands what co-governance means, later modified to that there were so many varying interpretations that there was no common understanding.
Read MoreChristmas Briefing Papers
What Was the Prime Minister Reading in the Runup to Election Year?
Read MoreIntroducing Chippy, the new bloke
As ‘Chippy’ the new Prime Minister is sworn in today he has the chance to reset his party and its chances at this October’s election. So what arrows does he have in his quiver? Two stand out…
Read MoreBullshit Work
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?
Read MoreJacinda Ardern: "For me, it's time". So how will she be remembered?
Jacinda Ardern’s has announced her resignation ahead of this year’s election. So how will New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister be remembered? What’s her legacy amidst years of crisis?
Read MoreThe Economy in 2023?
The figure is from the Treasury forecasts. It shows the May (Budget) and December (Half Year) tracks of GDP.
The two most comprehensive forecasts of the New Zealand economy are by the Reserve Bank and the Treasury. They are especially important because they inform monetary and fiscal policy. What do they say?
Read MoreSlouching towards Christmas in this Year of Covid
Two years into the pandemic, 2022 has become our true ‘Year of Covid’ and as we crawl towards Christmas, the disease isn’t letting go of us… or the government
Read MoreWhere Does Modern Monetary Theory Fit Into Macroeconomics?
Is it a new way of thinking about the economy or an old way, that was problematic in the past, dressed up to appear novel?
Read MoreShould We Nationalise the Electricity Industry?
More competition is often proposed as a means of moderating monopolies and oligopolies. It may be better to reduce competition for the electricity industry meeting our climate change needs.
Read MoreThe Coming Recession?
Is leaving inflation fighting to the Reserve Bank all we can do?
Read MoreThe Crypto Casino
Financial activity is too often gambling. Cryptocurrencies are the latest example
Read MoreAre We in a Stagflation?
Recently, I have often been asked whether we (New Zealand or the World) are experiencing a stagflation. There is no meaningful ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. You have to define the term before deciding what is going on.
Read MoreThe End of Neoliberalism?
Gary Gerstle’s The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era is a frustrating book. It is an impressive sweeping history of American politics and economic policy from the New Deal in the 1930s to today, predicting that we are coming to the end of the ‘neoliberal’ era. However, Gerstle never defines what he means by ‘neoliberal’ other than with examples through the narrative, so it is difficult to be able to identify what is coming to an end and when.
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