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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
Comment

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

The Fashion for Merging

by Brian Easton September 12, 2025
The Fashion for Merging

Do we need bigger multipurpose government mega-departments?

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Tags: Restructuring, redisorganisation, Public Service Commission, Department of Internal Affairs, Archives NZ, Merging government agencies
1 Comment

Restraining Dictator-inclined Politicians.

by Brian Easton September 05, 2025
Restraining Dictator-inclined Politicians.

With his ‘I have the right to do anything I wanna do. I'm the president of the United States.’ Donald Trump is echoing Louis XIV who may have said ‘L’état, ce’est moi’ – ‘I am the state.’*

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Tags: Robert Kennedy, Trump, accountability, parliamentary term, Louis XIV
Comment

Luxon and a Long Recession

by Brian Easton August 29, 2025
Luxon and a Long Recession

What are the economic and political implications if the New Zealand economy stagnates for five and more years?

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Tags: Luxon, recession, long recession, secular stagnation
Comment

How Should We Organise Research?

by Brian Easton August 22, 2025
How Should We Organise Research?

A physician’s memoir describing a successful research program leads to pondering about research funding strategies. (The picture shows Eric Espiner with present and former colleagues celebrating his book launch.)

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Tags: hormones, Endrochronology, Eric Espiner, Don Beaven, Biotech industry, Research Strategy
1 Comment

Tariffs Are Taxes

by Brian Easton August 15, 2025
Tariffs Are Taxes

What can Econ101 tell us about Trump’s tariffs?

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Tags: Donald Trump, Tarifs
Comment

Aspiration Without Content

by Brian Easton August 08, 2025
Aspiration Without Content

The Government’s Growth Strategy Seems to Have Little Analytic Content.

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Tags: Luxon, Growth Strategy, Transaction costs
1 Comment
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