They can justly reply that at least they know the difference. It matters a lot for those involved in the housing and investment markets.
Read MoreDo Economists Know the Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing?
house prices
Housing Policy is Dealing with Three Huge Problems
Analysis of the housing market is difficult, so superficial solutions do not work. Perforce, this column has had to go into more technical detail than usual. It concludes, ‘The lesson is that the mainly neoliberal regime for the housing market since the early 1990s does not work: it has under-supplied quality housing, generated unsustainable house price inflation and excluded many “worthy” people from home ownership (and given a rough time to those who depend upon rental accommodation). That should not surprise any properly trained economist; many of the assumptions which underpin the standard market analysis do not apply to the housing market. The nostrums based upon such simple analyses will continue to fail no matter how plausible they sound.’
Read MoreThe Sources of House Price Inflation.
Building more houses is not going to reduce house prices much (although it will help more people to be decently housed). The inflation driver is financial speculation based on leveraged borrowing. Until that is addressed, house prices will continue to boom.
Read MoreAs Safe As Houses?
Stein’s law says that if something cannot go on forever, it wont. But does a speculative bubble matter? The cryptocurrency bubble can be left to itself (tax evasion and criminal transactions aside). Why shouldn’t we do the same for housing?
Read MoreCGT: A bad idea finally put to bed once and for all
Labour came to the only logical conclusion, with a little help from its friends. A Capital Gains Tax was little more than scratching an itch of its voting base, but would have done little for the country and the government
Read MoreHow Will Housing Prices Fall?
Following up my ‘AUT Policy Observatory’ report on ‘Housing Prices Relative to Consumer Prices: An Analysis’.
Read MoreWill Housing Prices Crash?
What are the possibilities for the future housing prices? What can we do?
Read MoreMr Joyce claimed nine mistakes in David Parker's interview. None stacked up.
If Steven Joyce is right that David Parker told ‘nine lies’ about the economy on The Nation last weekend, then he must believe the economy is already in full boom; growth has peaked and needs to be slowed; exporters are whingers; the hot New Zealand dollar is nothing to worry about; that not selling enough products to the world to pay for all the things we buy from other countries isn’t a problem - hell, we’ve been doing it for forty years - let’s do it for another forty!
And there is no housing bubble in Auckland - David Parker made it up.
Read MoreThe end of the mental recession?
With houses prices hitting new highs in our main cities, is the sense of economic gloom finally lifting from New Zealand? And what implications might that have for MPs?
Read MoreThe real estate roller coaster swoops again
Here we go again—property prices are on the rise and all sense and order has flown out the window
Read MoreNational News Brief, Monday March 9
Private companies to run prisons; house prices to fall further; ACC chairman to lose job; backdated knighthoods on offer; drivers would use biofuel if cheaper; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Thursday February 26
Now is the time to buy a house; surgical super-hubs planned; pilots' union member joins Airbus investigation team; crime-stopping phone-line talks begin; identity fraudsters could be responsible for missing passports; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Monday February 9
Australia's bushfires from hell; Helen Clark applies for UN job; SIS spies on MP; House values down more than eight percent; minimum wage to rise; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Monday January 26
The police shooting of Halatau Naitoko; John Key's first Pacfic Island Forum; where are New Zealand's least affordable houses?; police strike deal with "stalker" mum; and more
Read MoreNational News Brief, Monday December 8
Popular swimming spots contaminated; Mike Williams gives up plum posts; house prices levelling off; under-qualified school principals appointed by "anti-intellectual" school boards; IT has lost its lustre for tertiary students; slow start to Christmas shopping
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National News Brief, Tuesday October 7
All the news from the new Treasury forecasts; pressure on National's tax cut plans; house prices to bottom-out in March; what did John promise Pita?; and more
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