Tim Groser will make the final shortlist of two for the top job in global trade if enough WTO members agree on a merit-based selection process, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Business editor Liam Dann is stumped as to what possible benefit the rise in the value of his house offers him.

We're putting the focus on agriculture this week in the Business Herald.

When people like the PM talk of an orderly transition to a post-smelter environment, they are talking about the scrapping of generating capacity, writes Brian Fallow.

The situation in Cyprus has been a blunt reminder that the world is still working through debt problems which could lead to more global market wobbles.

Finance Minister Bill English has asked officials what tax reforms could materially lift the economy's performance, writes Brian Fallow.

The drought is a timely reminder of how much the New Zealand economy depends on rainfall, writes Brian Fallow.

Mighty River Power needs to promote loyalty bonus scheme...

The debate about the financial merits of assets sales is a good one, and based purely on the numbers the benefits are marginal, writes Liam Dann.

The higher the exchange rate is, the lower interest rates can be, writes Brian Fallow. Asset price inflation, in the Auckland housing market at any rate, is alive and well.

John Key and Bill English have been on tenterhooks waiting for the Supreme Court judgment on the Mighty River sales process, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

I'm starting to feel guilty about this long decadent Auckland summer. It could just be my grandmother's Presbyterian streak kicking it.

The collapse of Mainzeal has people worrying about who will construct the residential and commercial buildings required for Christchurch, writes Liam Dann.

David Shearer and his cohort of prospective coalition partners, the Greens, Mana and NZ First, are holding a show-trial into who killed the manufacturing industry.

The New Zealand dollar has hit 76 on the Reserve Bank's trade-weighted index, its highest level since at least 1990, writes Brian Fallow.

Imagine it would be if you had just struggled to save a 10 per cent deposit for your first home only to be told you now had only half the money you need, writes Liam Dann.

January was a great month for sharemarkets with the NZX 50 Gross Index gaining 4.6 per cent while the ASX200 Accumulation (gross) Index appreciated 5 per cent.

The idea that an overvalued exchange rate is the fault of the monetary policy framework has hardened into dogma, writes Brian Fallow.

Kiwi households have regained their appetite for debt, and it is getting rapidly more hearty, write Brian Fallow.