What to do when they do.
Read MoreHow Financial Institutions Fail
Reserve Bank
What About Inflation?
Claims that our current inflation is due to government spending are nonsensical. There is a mantra which goes: if the economy is expanding, cut back public spending; if the economy is contracting, cut back public spending; if the economy is inflating, cut back public spending; if the economy is deflating, cut back public spending. Recognise a pattern?
Read MoreTaming the Auckland property market
The crazy Auckland property market needs reining in. Capital gains tax as a way of controlling house prices doesn't work overseas, but what about a land tax?
Read MoreStrong New Zealand dollar doesn't mean strong New Zealand economy; it just means our interest rates are higher
What we are witnessing is an old fashioned ideological debate, dressed up as economics.
The high dollar and its causes suit people who have a lot of New Zealand-denominated wealth; a lower dollar is better for producers - people who use capital to earn money.
Read MoreThe Reserve Bank Act - time for a review
This year marks 25 years since the Reserve Bank Act 1989 was passed. While it has enjoyed a high degree of cross-party support over that period, the original settlement is unwinding and it is now time for a review. That need not involve throwing the anti-inflation baby out with the bathwater, nor the politicisation of a significant public institution.
Read MoreInflation control first, or The Daddy Bear Guide to Monetary Policy
Imagining Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler as a popular children's book character. Will he learn the lesson of 'what is smart and what is not'?
Read MoreSurplus, what surplus? National's core brand at risk
Some have always reckoned National's target of surplus by 2014-15 was "fairyland", but oh no said John Key and Bill English, don't you worry. Now Alan Bollard has joined the naysayers, National has to realise just what's at stake
Read MoreIs Alan Bollard a man of his word?
The Reserve Bank governor has been jumping around on just when he intends to start raising interest rates. For a man who has people's homes in his hands, surely he has to mean what he says and say only what he means
Read MoreJobs Summit ignores the rural recession
The Great Job Summit Show goes on the road around the regions this week. It played pretty well in the
National News Brief, Thursday January 29
Farmers hope for lower interest rates after milk payout slashed; Fonterra refuses to release phone minutes; Maori want piece of infrastructure pie; fossils suggest New Zealand may not have been submerged 22m years ago; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Thursday December 11
Alan Bollard calls for companies to share the pain; free Herceptin sets "dangerous precedent"; Maori Party opposes 90-day probation bill; Ernest Rutherford's centennial; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Friday December 5
Interest rates expected to keep falling even after record cut; Govt. rejects Treasury advice; another guilty verdict in Glassie case; Japanese climber found dead; Hore is top rugby player; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Monday October 20
GST and taxes could jump in next five years; interest rate to dive; inflation at 18-year high; Key wants to work on lending guarantee; marriage breakdown could cost taxpayers $1b a year; Rings actors finally get payday; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Wednesday October 8
Another cash rate cut in store?; National's promised tax cuts take a hit; record number of Aussies move to New Zealand; regional fuel tax approved; maternity system criticised; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Friday October 3
Dairy prices to drop; Cullen favours US bailout plan; National and Maori Party "cosy up"; Reserve Bank makes money trading the Kiwi dollar; Agent Orange blamed for veteran's death; and more
Read MoreNati0nal News Brief Thursday, September 4
World Cup quarterfinal venues revealed; Teachers want fewer tests in high school; Defence report says military struggling to fly, sail, and fight; NZ First paces possible police probe; and more
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