Top five columns of 2019: Liam Dann

Liam Dann. Photo / Doug Sherring

As we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome in 2020, it's a good time to catch up on the very best of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to sport, from business to entertainment and lifestyle, these are the voices and views our audience loved the most. Today it's the top five from business editor Liam Dann.

Why old men are triggered by Greta Thunberg

By now, it's hardly breaking news that some older male columnists find teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg. Liam Dann found a voice in his head that echoed the same negative sentiments - but then he took a closer look at why he was feeling that way and why things need to change.

The Government's Capital Gains Tax masterstroke

When a capital gains tax was still on the cards, Dann wondered if the Government was going to bet it all on a "once in a generation, tax revolution". The alternative? Reset the dial on Capital Gains Tax to the extent that introducing a tougher regime targeting property investors now looks mild-mannered and relatively uncontroversial.

Pressure mounts on Sir John Key as ANZ turmoil grows

Back in June, Dann wrote on how Sir John Key was already facing calls to resign before the highly unusual departure of ANZ chief executive David Hisco. The news of Hisco's departure, amid a cloud about personal expenses, added to the impression of disarray at New Zealand's largest bank.

Interest rate u-turn is middle-class welfare

News that the Reserve Bank's next move on interest rates was likely to be down was met with a very gloomy reaction in March. Despite this, Dann was feeling less gloomy about the economy at the time, but found the central bank retreat a bit of a downer. But what did worry him was the result of the u-turn being a "global dose of middle-class welfare".

Good news in Reserve Bank gloom as mortgage rates fall and shares soar

After the Reserve Bank indicated its next interest rate move was more likely to be a cut than a rise the dollar plunged and the sharemarket rose. Similar moves were made in Australia and the US, but Dann wrote that we shouldn't pretend the retreat by central banks in 2019 was something to cheer.