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Trading with India

by Brian Easton January 16, 2026
Trading with India

Free trade deals can be complicated; so is their analysis.

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Tags: free trade agreements, FTA, India
2 Comments

It Aint Easy Being Small

by Brian Easton January 09, 2026
It Aint Easy Being Small

New Zealand is a small, isolated nation and needs to design itself accordingly. We should avoid uncritically imitating larger nations.

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Tags: population size, size of economy, mediocre, competition
2 Comments

How the Trump Doctrine is different... the rise of unbridled power

by Tim Watkin January 07, 2026
How the Trump Doctrine is different... the rise of unbridled power

US foreign policy, especially in Latin America, has often been at the point of a gun. But the Trump Doctrine is going places previous US administrations haven’t. Let’s not miss what’s new

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Tags: Donald Trump, Trump Doctrine, Venezuela, Greenland, authoritarian, Western Hemisphere
1 Comment

Summer Thoughts.

by Brian Easton January 02, 2026
Summer Thoughts.

This column is a response to the complaint that we have poor economic performance because we have summer holidays. It praises them

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Tags: Wellbeing, GDP, Environmental destruction
1 Comment

Consolidating the Fisc

by Brian Easton December 19, 2025
Consolidating the Fisc

The government is still borrowing for consumption.

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Tags: Fiscal Consolodation, HYEFU 2025, Ruther Richardson, Nicola Willis
2 Comments

Lessons from Brexit

by Brian Easton December 12, 2025
Lessons from Brexit

How we connect economically with the world is critical.

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Tags: Brexit, Economic Growth, Open economy, Supply chains
2 Comments

Is New Zealand the Best Place to Be?

by Brian Easton December 05, 2025
Is New Zealand the Best Place to Be?

The Minister of Finance says it is but, parochialism aside, are we doing anything to ensure it really is?

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Tags: wellbeing, migration
3 Comments

The Politics of Different Economic Strategies

by Brian Easton November 28, 2025
The Politics of Different Economic Strategies

The tensions between different approaches to the economy are surfacing as the election nears.

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Tags: Interventionism, neoliberalism, Holyoake, Peters, Seymour, ACT, National, NZF
Comment

Should We Privatise More Government Businesses?

by Brian Easton November 22, 2025
Should We Privatise More Government Businesses?

Pragmatic analysis says maybe we should, but we should also consider nationalisation. We should certainly consider better regulation.

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Tags: Public Ownership, Privatisation
Comment

The G85 Economy

by Brian Easton November 14, 2025
The G85 Economy

The pressure to globalise is consolidating towards a global world in which the US is a marginal player.

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Tags: globalisation, trade deals, migration, plurilateral, multilateral
1 Comment

Fiscal Policy Should Focus More on Net Worth

by Brian Easton November 07, 2025
Fiscal Policy Should Focus More on Net Worth

We should follow the Golden Rule of Fiscal Management and not borrow for consumption in the medium run.

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Tags: Golden Fiscal Rule, Investment, Consumption, Debt ratio
3 Comments

The Next Crash

by Brian Easton October 31, 2025
The Next Crash

Queen Elizabeth II famously asked about the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, ‘Why did no one see it coming?’

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Tags: finance crisis, Minskey
Comment

Underlying Economic Growth

by Brian Easton October 24, 2025
Underlying Economic Growth

What do the 2025 Nobel awards in economics say to us?

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Tags: economic development, enlightenment, scientific revolution, Nobel prize for economics, Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt
2 Comments

Tribute to Jim Bolger

by Brian Easton October 20, 2025
Tribute to Jim Bolger

This review of ‘Conversations about our country with Jim Bolger’ by David Cohen was first published in the ‘NZ International Review’ .

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Tags: Jim Bolger
Comment

Avoiding the Horrendous Fiscal Crisis.

by Brian Easton October 17, 2025
Avoiding the Horrendous Fiscal Crisis.

Our current fiscal settings promise that we will eventually face a public debt explosion. A major cause would arise from the aging population. Is there anything we can do?

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Tags: long term fiscal projections, retirement
2 Comments

Remembering Jim Bolger: A decent man, a fascinating political mix, a tough negotiator

by Tim Watkin October 16, 2025
Remembering Jim Bolger: A decent man, a fascinating political mix, a tough negotiator

With the passing of Jim Bolger, New Zealand has lost a politician defined by another era, but who helped usher in the modern age of coalitions and managers. A politician who was never popular but who has become increasingly admired

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Tags: Jim Bolger, New Zealand Politics, obituary, neoliberal economics, treaty settlements
2 Comments

Fiscal Choices: Scandinavia or America?

by Brian Easton October 11, 2025
Fiscal Choices: Scandinavia or America?

New Zealand has ‘Scandinavian ambitions in terms of quality of life, but a US attitude to tax’: Lara Clark.

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Tags: Welfare State, Fiscal choices, Tax, Public Spending
3 Comments

Political Bullying

by Brian Easton October 03, 2025
Political Bullying

It even happens in New Zealand. Local autonomy suffers.

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Tags: local government, central government, political bullying
3 Comments

Around the Corner?

by Brian Easton September 26, 2025
Around the Corner?

What the latest Statistics New Zealand GDP figures might be telling us.

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Tags: State of economy, GDP June Quarter 2025
Comment

Is the Capital in Capitalism Coming to an End?

by Brian Easton September 19, 2025
Is the Capital in Capitalism Coming to an End?

Big Corporations Are Not What We Think They Are

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Tags: John Kay, The Corporation in the 21st Century, Mega-corporations, Dornbusch's law, Capitalism
1 Comment
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