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The Kākā by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey and friends explore Aotearoa’s political economy together. thekaka.substack.com

news politics

All Episodes

8:35

Simeon Brown alienates another National electorate

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/08

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, December 9 are:* Warkworth residents are angry that Transport Minister Simeon Brown has blocked work on a long-planned upgrade to a dangerous intersection because it included plans for walking and cycling, RNZ’s Peter de Graf reported on Saturday. It’s the latest National electorate where Brown’s abrupt and ideological rulings have overturned locally driven plans and

12:10

My Saturday Soliloquy for Dec 7

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/06

Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty in this week were:* PM Christopher Luxon said his Goverment was ‘re-learning’ the austerity-infused economic lessons taught by former National Finance Minister Ruth Richardson in 1991, when she slashed spending to reduce public debt and the size of Government (and was then sacked in 1993);* The National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government signalled it would renege on our

21:02

TKP 26/50 solutions: A new home without a power bill

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/06

As part of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50) and When The Facts Change ,I interviewed Octopus Energy Zero Bills Technical Director Nigel Banks from the UK about this week's launch in New Zealand of a partnership with Classic Homes to build new homes in Auckland with enough solar panels and batteries that can sell enough power back into the grid that the homeowner doesn’t have to pay a power bill for at least five years.The British-based new retailer Octopus Energy has developed a

6:02

An experiment and our Christmas offer to subscribe to...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/05

It’s that time of the year when we offer 50% off for a year to new subscribers for the next fortnight until December 21, which is ‘Gravy Day’. It’s our version of a Christmas/Black Monday/Cyber Monday/Singles Day/Boxing Day offer. We call it the ‘Gravy Day Fortnight’New subscribers can claim the offer here. That means a full subscription to The Kākā costs $9.50 a month or $95 per year for the first year, and then reverts to the regular price of $19 a month or $190 a year after a year.A reminder that

9:14

A housing market with bits tacked on doesn’t need...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/04

Morena. Long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy for Thursday, December 5:* The Government halved spending on ‘blue-sky’ research by completely removing social sciences and humanities funding, arguing only research in physics, chemistry, maths, engineering and biomedical sciences would help the economy.* The latest Government spending cuts take the numbers of Government-funded science job losses to well over 500 this year, adding to the over 200 residents who emigrate each day to other

9:16

'The cuts will continue until the economy improves'

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/03

Morena. Long stories short on Wednesday, December 4, with more detail and analysis in the podcast above:* Health Minister Shane Reti says spending cuts will continue for an extra year into 2027 because of a delay in Health NZ achieving a ‘surplus’.* Finance Minister Nicola Willis can’t supply a select committee with evidence austerity works to grow economies. * The actual evidence via the OECD, IMF and World Bank shows budget cutting doesn’t work to grow economies, instead reducing GDP, especially

13:39

Govt says borrowing to build now last resort

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/02

Mōrena. Chris Bishop unveiled his major infrastructure funding and financing plan yesterday that made clear borrowing with public debt to build infrastructure would be a last resort, with private funds and user pays the main tools to both limit the amount built and pay for it. In my view, that’s unsustainable and unnecessary, given our $100 billion-plus infrastructure deficit, still-rapid population growth and huge structural, local and global demand for New Zealand Government bonds, rather than the

8:31

Labour leaning back towards Capital Gains Tax

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/12/01

Good morning. Labour appears to be leaning back towards a Capital Gains Tax and away from a wealth tax. Meanwhile, Christopher Luxon says his Government is relearning the economic lessons learned in the early 1990s.Labour leaning back towards Capital Gains TaxLabour held its annual conference in Christchurch over the weekend and voted to continue on with policy work on a Capital Gains Tax and a Wealth Tax, but close watchers are seeing preference developing in Labour’s Policy Council in favour of a

21:29

'Why we've cut the OCR so much since August'

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/29

SummaryIn this conversation, Paul Conway, the Chief Economist for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, discusses the recent cuts to the official cash rate and the underlying economic factors influencing these decisions. He explains the dynamics of inflation in New Zealand, the impact of administered prices, and the role of government policies in shaping inflationary trends. Conway also reflects on the effectiveness of inflation targeting and explores potential alternatives to this approach.Takeaways*

10:25

RBNZ loosening as Govt tightening

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/27

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 28: * The News: The Reserve Bank cut the OCR 50 bps to 4.25% yesterday and Adrian Orr signalled another 50 bps cut to 3.75% on February 19. He told me he was concerned about administered inflation by the Government, including through bus and train fare hikes and electricity price increases.* Scoop du jour: Lloyd Burr interviews Covid Royal Commission

7:39

Bishop cautious on guaranteeing social housing bonds

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/26

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 27: * The News: Housing and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop disappointed Community Housing Providers (CHiPs) yesterday by pouring cold water on the idea of Government guarantees for CHiPs’ borrowing from KiwiSaver managers and by proposing more leasing of social homes, which CHiPs don’t want. * Scoop du jour: Michael Morrah reveals this morning

5:51

'Guarantee us and we'll build thousands of social homes'

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/25

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, November 26: * The News: Non-profit lender Community Finance has launched a Community Housing Funding Agency to connect pension fund investors with Community Housing Providers (CHiPs) and accelerate non-state social home building. Launched last night with a private guarantee backed by philanthropists such as Stephen Tindall, Brendan Lindsay and Rowan Simpson, the

59:57

The Hoon around the week to November 22

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/22

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking about the week’s news with:* Robert Patman on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North Korea and whether NZ now joins AUKUS;* Special guest Helen Clark on the issues above, plus dramas in the UN, the hikoi this week, the media and politics and her own experience with Foreshore & Seabed.* Special guest Susan St

5:26

Treasury warns deeper recession worsening Budget deficit

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/21

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, November 22: * The news overnight: Russia fires a very long range non-nuclear ballistic missile into Ukraine for the first time overnight. Matt Gaetz drops his bid to be US Attorney General. The US DoJ tells Google to sell Chrome and look at selling Android to improve competition. A Cook Strait ferry decision is due in three weeks. Wellington Airport plans to

10:30

'These budget cuts are counter-productive and make no...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/20

I spoke to former Productivity Chair Ganesh R Ahirao Nana this morning about the letter he and a group of other economists sent to PM Christopher Luxon to urge the Government to urgently suspend cuts to spending and investment for the sake of the economy, struggling businesses and the wellbeing of vulnerable workers, many of whom are giving up and emigrating. Heres the article I sent to all subscribers earlier this morning as part of my daily Dawn Chorus email newsletter and podcast for paying

5:59

Economists call on PM to suspend budget cuts for the...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/20

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 21: * The news at 7.30 am: Ukraine fired British-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time overnight (Guardian). COP29 is nearly finished without a deal on climate finance (Reuters). LGFA raised its borrowing limit for councils to 350% of revenue from 280% after the Government increased its overdraft limit for LGFA (LGFA, Beehive). NZ’s

7:05

27% of kids going hungry, up from 21% in a year

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/19

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 20: * The lead: The official annual Health Survey found sharp rises in food poverty, GP waiting times, mental health issues and obesity in deprived areas since 2022/23.* In my view: Worsening and debilitating food, housing & energy poverty are the nation’s scourges, not public debt or red tape. GDP growth alone won’t fix them. * Scoop: An advisory

7:12

Shipley warns Seymour’s bill is ‘inviting civil war’

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/17

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, November 18: * The News: PM Christopher Luxon met President Xi Jinping for the first time over the weekend on the fringes of the APEC summit in Peru and said Xi had warned him against joining AUKUS, but Luxon said Xi’s view on any trade impacts ‘wasn’t a consideration’ in the decision. RNZ * In my view: Former PM Jenny Shipley speaks for many in the National party

19:06

Adding up the climate cost

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/14

Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:* Are our institutions capable of bending, not breaking, in the face of accelerating climate risk? Climate risk is systemically underestimated in the climate scenarios that are used by central banks, including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, to test the stability of the financial system. The latest update

59:40

The Hoon around the week to November 15

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2024/11/14

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey & Peter Bale talking about the week’s news with:* The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer on the latest climate news, including from COP29 this week;* Robert Patman on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North Korea and whether NZ now joins AUKUS.* Special guest Elaine Monaghan on Donald Trump’s win in the US Presidential

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