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Brian Fallow: Labour's plan looks good
The first impression of the Labour Party's "monetary policy upgrade" is that it looks good, writes Brian Fallow, managing to look both conservative and progressive.
The first impression of the Labour Party's "monetary policy upgrade" is that it looks good, writes Brian Fallow, managing to look both conservative and progressive.
When the likes of the OECD look at our structural economic policy settings and compare them to what has worked in other countries, they reckon we should be doing a lot better than we are, writes Brian Fallow.
Here are some reasons not to embrace the view of economic analyst Jesse Colombo that NZ is hurtling towards crisis.
People often ask why NZ should incur any costs curbing its greenhouse gas emissions when we account for less than 0.2% of the global total, writes Brian Fallow.
A fundamental reason New Zealand interest rates and exchange rates are systematically higher than we might wish is that collectively we do not save enough.
If ministers are tempted to smuggle a retrospective tax grab into the statute books under the cover of a Budget, they should drive that thought from their minds, writes Brian Fallow.
China has embarked on a process of financial liberalisation and the sheer numbers involved mean it will have profound implications across the region, writes Brian Fallow.
On Monday week we will get the carefully considered collective view of hundreds of experts on the likely impacts of climate change, including the impacts on New Zealand.
If the issue of inequality and poverty is to loom large in this election year there are a couple of cherished beliefs on both sides of politics that need to surrender to evidence, writes Brian Fallow.
Even as John Key was reiterating his pig-headed refusal to address the long-term affordability of the state pension, the NZ Superannuation Fund reported on its performance, writes Brian Fallow.
Brian Fallow asks :Does the electricity market entrench the ripping off of consumers? Would replacing it with a single buyer model address the issue of energy hardship among some households?"
Migration is a big deal in the New Zealand economy, writes Brian Fallow. In such a small, open and mobile country changes in the net flow of permanent and long-term migrants are a major influence on the economic cycle.
The economic benefits from the Trans Pacific Partnership, if it eventuates, are seriously overstated and may well be outweighed by the costs, writes Brian Fallow.
The Reserve Bank is announcing its OCR decision this morning. Brian Fallow looks at whether interest rates need to rise as high as they did in the last cycle.
The plain fact is that in industry after industry, Australians have a longer stride, writes Brian Fallow. As long as that remains true, they will outpace us and the gap in incomes and living standards will widen.
A year ago, Brian Fallow described the state of NZ's climate policy as a shambles and a disgrace. A year later, there is no reason to eat those words, he says.
So should we look on the TPP with hope or dread? Impossible to say until we know what "it" is, writes Brian Fallow. It doesn't help that these meetings are conducted with all the secrecy of a papal election.
If we want the dairy industry to lift national income we will have to pay the price in terms of increasing degradation of rivers and other water bodies, says Brian Fallow.
Here's a puzzle: why are the returns to investment in tertiary education in New Zealand so low, relatively speaking?
'Not really such a great idea" is senior actuary Geoff Rashbrooke's verdict on Peter Dunne's Flexi-Super proposal. writes Brian Fallow.
The question is whether hard-working parents should be able to earn enough from their wages to give a couple of kids a minimally decent start in life, writes Brian Fallow.
It may be six months or so before the Reserve Bank begins to raise the official cash rate, but monetary tightening is already under way, writes Brian Fallow.
The praise which Finance Minister Bill English heaped on the NZ Super on its 10th anniversary last week has a hollow ring to it, writes Brian Fallow.
The Financial Services Council has put up a proposal for tax reform which MPs on both sides of the House should be able to support.
People contemplating investment in Meridian Energy shares need to think long and hard about political risk, writes Brian Fallow.
The Government's refusal to do much of anything to curb New Zealand's emissions is as economically myopic as it is morally contemptible.
Let's start by acknowledging that New Zealand struggles to earn a First World living.
The kindest view you could have of the emissions trading scheme, what's left of it, is that it is a brutally pruned seedling barely surviving in frozen ground.