It is widely expected that the Reserve Bank will cut the OCR again this week, probably by another 25 percentage points. The problem here is that the OCR is now so low that further cuts are mostly pointless. We are rapidly heading towards an OCR of 0%, or possibly even
I noted this in the NZ Herald. Amanda Chapman’s tiny home has taken her on a journey through Auckland’s sharing economy. The 28-year-old has been building the house over the past two years using all borrowed or hired tools thanks to the community phenomenon many believe is key
The Greens conference at the weekend may have been mostly done behind closed doors, but snippets came out, including James Shaw calling Simon Bridges a “climate change denier”. We all know Bridges is no denier, but his attitude towards climate change is somewhat more benign than that of the Green
In this interview, Darryl and Brian Panes from As Good As Gold Australia discuss with Chief Economist, John Adams the extreme vulnerability of the economy and the current real estate market, as the Australian government throws its full arsenal at it, including a reintroduction of first home buyer grants with
We have been saying it on the blog for some time. This government is crashing what was, only a short time ago, a very well managed economy. The signs have been there for a while, but one of the most worrying aspects of recent times is that interest rates are
National party If the Government is serious about improving road safety it needs to get on with building safer, well-engineered highways. Julie Anne Genter is completely out of touch with New Zealanders if she thinks that reducing speed limits is the answer. Kiwis lead busy lives and we don’t
By Owen Jennings You either believe in democracy or you don’t. If you do you will accept that lobbying is an essential ingredient in the mix of factors that ensure a robust democracy. It may be that on some issues lobbying is akin to the proverbial “pushing water uphill
By Owen Jennings Alarm bells are sounding. Not loudly, yet, but persistently and with growing clangour. In another apt analogy, the storm clouds are gathering and the first peals of thunder can be heard. Our economy is heading toward danger and those in charge are oblivious to the problem but,
National party The NZIER quarterly survey of business opinion has fallen yet again to the lowest point in ten years because the government has no plan to grow the economy, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. “There has been a sharp decline in the New Zealand economy under this
We have been saying it for over a year now; we are in trouble economically. When a bunch of inept politicians get into government, led by a prime minister who does not know what GDP is, any country is immediately in turmoil. Things were good for a while because of
Jacinda Ardern’s “wellbeing budget” steamed up the undies of a lot of journalists and the sort of people who share ‘inspirational’ quotes on their Facebook wall, but actual economists are just a tad more sceptical. They’re especially sceptical of the notion that Ardern is doing something revolutionary, as
Well, well, well… no, that was not intended as a pun. The fact that we have closed down future oil and gas permits has already started to have an effect on the economy, at a time when things are definitely turning downwards. The departure of Chevron and Equinor from New
Joe Ascroft Economist New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Our team has just returned from the Beehive, where we attended the media and analysts’ lock-up event for the government’s new “Wellbeing Budget”. This year’s Budget was accompanied by some level of turmoil, with leaks, alleged hacks, and a (very brief)
Well, it has arrived. The world’s first Wellbeing Budget. The groundbreaking budget format that was supposed to have the world sit up and take notice. I am reeling with the uniqueness and diversity of it all. No, I’m not. I’m completely underwhelmed. First, the basics. * $1.9
