Latest fromBest of Business Analysis

Helen Twose: House ownership via firm a grey area
I generally have a good understanding of KiwiSaver, in that withdrawing money has to be for your first home and your principal place of residence.

Brian Gaynor: Mighty River makes Meridian a hard sell
Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English have revealed a new strategy for the Meridian Energy share offering.

Diana Clement: No excuses for not saving or acting your wage
Some people need a hit between the eyes before they'll change their errant financial ways.

Fran O'Sullivan: Spierings leads charge of change
Rebuilding internal trust is important as there will be many Fonterra employees dismayed at the affair and the damage it has suffered, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Liam Dann: Mistakes put focus on company culture
Culture - it's a word that can be filled with meaning or thrown about in a way that means nothing at all.

Liam Dann: Home-buying ban runs high risks
It's risky policy for a liberal, left-of-centre party because it leaves them open to accusations of xenophobia, writes Liam Dann.

Diana Clement: Cherish your good credit record, it's worth guarding
Credit scores are important - guard yours well. A good credit score is essential for getting a mortgage, business finance and perhaps even a job.

Brian Fallow: Rising inequality largely a myth
The idea that New Zealand has become one of the most unequal societies in the developed world is just not supported by the data, writes Brian Fallow.

Fran O'Sullivan: Govt's political fears ought to be tested
RadioLIVE has dubbed Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee the Minister of No, writes Fran O'Sullivan. It is a label that might just stick after his frank response to Auckland Mayor Len Brown's latest foray into transport funding.

Brian Fallow: Courting of home buyers tawdry
If John Key was genuine in his concern about being disadvantaged relative to property investors he could legislate to reduce the tax advantages, writes Brian Fallow.

Liam Dann: No use crying over spill in coffee price
Commodities are at the mercy of some unprecedented global trends...

Peter Bromhead: Transit lounge limbo
Any traveller who has experienced a glacier-slow wait in an international transit lounge might have some sympathy for American defector Edward Snowden.

Fran O'Sullivan: Synlait calls and investors jump
Full marks to Synlait bosses Graham Milne and John Penno for hanging tough in the post-global financial crisis environment and going offshore.

Liam Dann: Prospects gloomy for SOE floats
"Was it greed or was it just a case of really bad timing?" asks Liam Dann. "Probably the latter, as the Government must have been hoping for a result which would help promote the next three asset sales to New Zealanders."

Brian Fallow: Electricity chief zaps regulation scheme
Brian Fallow looks at the issues involved in a wholesale electricity market, and whether it is competitive or not.

Synlait's secrets of success in China
It remains an area crying out for regulatory oversight in case missteps by smaller players screw the market for our champions, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Liam Dann: NZ firms must lift game with China
Since John Key's celebratory mission there in April, there has been a series of difficult and costly issues dogging New Zealand trade with China, writes Liam Dann.

Fran O'Sullivan: More professionalism needed with China
Fonterra would have been startled to wake up yesterday to the Herald's front-page photo of Sir Henry van der Heyden emblazoned with "Don't ever trust them", writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Helen Twose: Workers can make employers' payments
I have a question, that you may or may not be able to answer, as no one else I have spoken with so far has been able to help.

Brian Fallow: Going on with asset sales risky business
What the assets are worth now depends on the future path of electricity prices and the effect that has on the company's cashflows, writes Brian Fallow.

Helen Twose: IRD can help sort Novopay problems
Your savings invested in a KiwiSaver scheme and any returns generated by those savings are not guaranteed.

Brian Fallow: Austerity's for booms, not slumps
As we await another miserly Budget from Bill English we are entitled to wonder whether the Government is overdoing the fiscal discipline, writes Brian Fallow.