It turns out that if you're rich and are identified as such in an online search, there may be higher chance you'll pay more taxes. This state of affairs has all but been confirmed by Revenue Minister David Parker. Yes, ACT leader David Seymour has been probing in Parliament why a group of wealthy Kiwis have been caught up in a "survey" by the Inland Revenue. When asked about who has been included in the survey, Parker acknowledged formation of the list included scanning publi

Beware making public commentary on Covid, even if you're a medical expert, let alone if you're not. My rule is to stick to remarks about the economic implications of different virus policies, not the virus policies themselves, being totally unqualified to do so. Here's why. Over the weekend, the Israeli Coronavirus Cabinet, for example, agreed new restrictions at a crisis meeting late on Saturday, which are subject to approval by the full Cabinet. In light of the just discove

Many of us in the economics profession have long been questioning the poor qualifications & weak expertise of the Reserve Bank of NZ when it comes to our subject, which is the core discipline needed to run a Central Bank. It's been an issue for me in terms of helping our economics students, since lots of budding, young, bright ones used to look up to the RBNZ as a place to start their careers. So the departure of top staff from the place in recent years, including the likes o

Today the controversy over the wage subsidy scheme has blown up (again). The NZ Herald reports that an investigation of "prominent law firm" Morrison Kent has "raised questions about the firm's retention of the Government's Covid-19 2020 wage subsidy as its billable amounts increased in the year to December 2020". Back in May of 2020, together with a former Finance Minister, Sir Roger Douglas, we raised this issue in a co-authored article. The NZ Herald wrote at that time, "A

Below is my column in the NBR today - it's a critique of the government's economic strategy - though in the interests of non-partisanship it should first be pointed out that it's not as if the National Party are offering anything better - in fact, the Nats still haven't thought up an economic strategy, other than "steady as she goes". You can read the column at this link, https://www.nbr.co.nz/node/232187 or here: Earlier this year Finance Minister, Grant Robertson, was full

The UK Times reports that, "A historic United Nations deal to end the use of coal power was watered down last night after a dramatic last-minute intervention from China and India". Yes, my old supervisor in the UK, Paul Klemperer, who helped design the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, predicted such an outcome over a decade ago. As we reported before the UN Climate Change conference even began, Klemperer insightfully described the key challenge to resolve climate change way back

This morning I did an interview on Radio NZ with Jim Moira on a range of topics, including "The Great Resignation" and well-being economics. They gave it the title, "Why you want to return to the office, eventually". Here it is: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018820433/why-you-want-to-return-to-the-office-eventually

On Friday I somehow managed to get billed $908.70 by the locksmith company to install a front-door lock in Auckland. Yes, inflation is on the run, hitting nearly 5% this past year and looking like it will go higher. Interest rates are also on the rise - together with mortgage lending rates. Being a remote country, supply-chain disruptions and skill shortages will probably hit NZ harder than most places. On top of our remoteness, the government's stringent border restrictions

One of this country's (and the world's) highest ranked economists, Prof. John Gibson at the University of Waikato, has slammed the "enormous influence of celebrity academics" commenting on the virus outbreak who "typically are not doing what I call the traditional approach to science, which is to submit ideas to the scrutiny of peers". A video of him speaking below is worth watching. He is not much featured in our mainstream media. His peer-reviewed published articles argue t

The news headlines are dominated by the seemingly "impossible" problem of how to let Aucklanders go on their summer holidays, without spreading the virus throughout the country. The government, courtesy of COVID Minister, Chris (aka"Chippy") Hipkins, has suggested another Soviet-style "rationing" scheme, along MIQ lines, whereby folks would have to book, that was so absurd even the Deputy PM immediately distanced himself from it. The idea was touted as a way to avoid horrendo

On March 2020, the Beehive issued a statement, "The Government is backing the Reserve Bank’s latest action to support the economy by reducing longer-term interest rates, meaning lower costs for businesses & mortgage holders & a lower currency to help our exporters". The RBNZ itself stated its QE program "had the effect of ‘lowering the tide’ .. particularly [on] longer-term interest rates of 2 years or more". Yet the Governor, in trying to duck the blame for driving up house

In an astonishing speech to the Real Estate Institute, the RBNZ Governor Orr went through each of the potential causes of house price inflation in NZ without ever, not once, even obliquely referring to the RBNZ's own $100 billion Quantitative Easing (QE) "money printing" program, that was cut prematurely short as it spiraled out of control. Yet only a few days ago, award-winning business journalist, Maria Slade, wrote an article in the National Business Review with the headin

I was never able to understand why more academics, like myself, were not hot on the trail of NZ's snail's pace vaccine roll-out. Isn't being a "critic and conscience" of society part of our job? For goodness sakes, we were bottom of the OECD for months in terms of vaccination rates. Now that slow roll-out has created untold economic & psychological costs. As we speak, it has put lives at risk. It was obvious that the government was moving too slow. That is why we raised alarm

John Cochrane, at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University says: "Central banks are rushing headlong into climate policy. This is a mistake. It will destroy central banks’ independence, their ability to fulfill their main missions to control inflation & stem financial crises, & people’s faith in their impartiality & technical competence. And it won’t help the climate. In making this argument, I do not claim that climate change is fake or unimportant. None of the following