Here's some background to former US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's visit to NZ this week. He is currently in Wellington attending a non-public, invitation-only conference at the Reserve Bank. I was excluded from attending due to my critiques of the Bank. Don't think NZ values free speech. When you speak out here, you're out. Ex-communicated. It costs you a lot of money since you forego the chance of any big appointments once you're viewed, like me, as a "trouble maker". Anyhow, it turns out Bernanke worked at Princeton University in the US, where I also worked for two years. He's cited my work in the American Economic Review on the costs of inflation in his speeches, including when he was Chair of the Fed. On this current trip out of NZ, the Reserve Bank bought him return Business Class Air-tickets for $15,000. They also bought the same tickets, and are paying accommodation, for another speaker. That's over $30,000 The event is private. When I've been involved with inviting out these kinds of speakers to the University it is paid for with money from a private donor, Sir Douglas Myers. Our events are open to the public, like our Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series. When we invited out Harvard Prof & world's leading urban economist Ed Glaeser under the Myers scheme to help fix housing & infrastructure, we organized for him to speak to Auckland Council, meet mayors, do radio talk shows, fly to Wellington to meet politicians & gov't departments, give public lectures & visit Canterbury University. Why, in a cost-of-living crisis, does the RBNZ throw around Business tickets for invitation-only events with a man who is extremely wealthy and keep the riff-raff public, like you and me, out?
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Its good to see that Richard Prebble has resigned from the Waitangi Tribunal. I never go to Wellington anymore - those visits stopped when it clicked with me that useless managers were asking me to do their work for them for free. After my visits, they plagiarized my work & presented it to higher up bosses - or Ministers - as their own. It was actually very dishonest of them. So, coincidentally to Prebble's resignation, this is how I just replied today to "an invitation" sent by a Big Boss Treasury Adviser. The "adviser" wants advice (its Wellington, so advisers can't give advice of their own). The adviser has tried to cover their tracks well by saying at the bottom of the invitation that "The information in this email is confidential" and that a series of meetings will be held under Chatham House Rules. So I wont say anything about what the mail is about, other than to comment that either one signs an enforceable confidentiality agreement, or one does not. The issues discussed at this particular set of meetings by their nature relate to market sensitive information. On second thoughts, maybe I should attend & get rich trading on what I find out? Chatham House Rules mean nothing. Maybe someone should tell the Treasury. So here is my reply. It is not at all confidential:
From: Robert MacCulloch
Sent: Tuesday, 18 February 2025.
To: [Big Treasury Boss Adviser]
Subject: Invitation [purpose is deleted]
"Dear [Big Treasury Boss]
Its not my job to do free consulting for the NZ Treasury - obviously you don't have the in-house talent to do these jobs yourself and you don't want to hire expensive consultants either. Sadly, you cannot ask the new Secretary of the Treasury, Iain Rennie, to [work out the solution to these matters] himself, because he also lacks the expertise. My advice is to fire 90% of your managers and hire someone who actually knows what they are doing.
Yours
Robert
Whether its Richard Prebble's Waitangi Tribunal, or a whole bunch of other Wellington formerly prestigious institutions, its best to have nothing to do with the place anymore.