PODCAST

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey

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

news politics

All Episodes

9:23

Luxon & Willis stranded with failing economic strategy

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/21

Briefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, July 22 are:* Inflation figures have confirmed the Government’s economic strategy is failing, with the economy sinking into stagflation just over a year out from the next election. See more below in The Lead and in the podcast above. * Unlike after previous big rate-cutting cycles, the housing market is not firing up and business investment is stalled. That’s

7:51

Performative politics in high viz. Again.

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/20

Briefly for all subscribers, the key things to know from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, July 21 are:* The Government tried to paint a $6 billion announcement on infrastructure yesterday as new news that would boost the economy and jobs. It isn’t. See more below in The Lead and in the podcast above. * PM Christopher Luxon visited the Tasman region over the weekend, having earlier said the Government couldn’t afford climate relocation bailouts, which

37:46

Interview: The Co-operative Bank CEO Mark Wilkshire...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/18

Earlier this week I interviewed Mark Wilkshire, the CEO of the Co-operative Bank, from his Wellington office. We talked about:* the current situation in the economy and housing market;* how changes to capital requirements for banks is affecting the bigger and smaller banks, and the need for a level playing field;* the effects of the renewed Loan to Value Ratio restrictions and the new Debt to Income multiple controls;* how the new Deposit Compensation Scheme is progressing, including how there’s

49:42

Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Cathrine Dyer, Robert...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/17

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guests Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman and special guest Helen Clark about the news of the week.This week’s Hoon featured:* a discussion about research showing East Asia’s cleanup of its atmosphere has accelerated climate warming.* a discussion about how New Zealand might respond to an American suggestion we commit to helping to defend Taiwan

14:28

The hunt for inflation scapegoats amps up

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/17

Briefly for all subscribers on Friday, July 18, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Politicians are scrambling for excuses and scapegoats over a fresh surge in living costs in recent months, ranging from a 46.5% rise in butter prices from a year ago, a 10.4% rise in household electricity prices, and a 12.2% rise in council rates. See more below in The Lead and hear more

7:49

Potaka delaying homelessness data release

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/16

Briefly for all subscribers on Thursday, July 17, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka is delaying the release of a regular Housing and Urban Development Ministry (HUD) report on homelessness, saying he wants more advice. Labour is calling for its release, Stuff reports this morning. See more below in The Lead and and hear more in

9:26

Bishop wants a growth economy that isn't just a...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/15

Briefly for all subscribers on Wednesday, July 16, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Chris Bishop said yesterday he wanted to break the nation’s psyche and belief that the economy could only grow if rising house prices were increasing household wealth. He said that’s why he wanted to free up land and change zoning and building rules to increase housing supply, so that

3:22

Manufacturing, services & retail mired in recession

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/14

Briefly for all subscribers for at 7 am on Tuesday, July 15, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* The services sector joined the manufacturing sector in contracting in June, a new BusinessNZ-BNZ survey found yesterday. BNZ downgraded its Q2 GDP forecast to a contraction after the surveys. Stats NZ also reported yesterday another 0.2% fall in total spending with

3:38

Slash blamed in climate change-free flash-flood coverage

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/13

Briefly for all subscribers for at 6am on Monday, July 14, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:* Another slash catastrophe unfolded over the weekend in the Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman region as the second ‘one-in-one-hundred-year’ flash flood in two weeks unleashed a torrent of pine forest waste, forming dams and wiping out homes and a campground. See more below in my Top

48:59

Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Cathrine Dyer, Jonathan...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/10

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts Bernard Hickey and Peter Bale talking with regular guest Cathrine Dyer about the week’s news in geopolitics and climate, along with special guests Professor Jonathan Boston from Victoria University of Wellington and Professor Wolfgang Rack from University of Canterbury.This week’s Hoon featured:* a discussion about research showing rising Southern Oceans surface salinity and declining sea ice

12:09

The RBNZ just held the OCR at 3.25%. Is that it? Does...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/09

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thekaka.substack.com/subscribe

12:29

NZ economy sliding back into recession

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/07

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, July 8:* On the eve of an expected pause in rate cuts, the Reserve Bank’s new ‘NowCast’ real-time measure of economic activity shows GDP has fallen back into recessionary territory in the last three months. See more in The Lead and Chart of the Day below the paywall fold, and hear more in the podcast above.* PM Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis said through the first six months of

8:46

Willis eyes more tax from banks

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/07

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, July 7:* Finance Minister Nicola Willis is considering changing the tax settings for banks in Budget 2026, possibly including an Australian-style ‘Major Bank Levy,’ the NZ Herald-$ reports this morning. See more in The Lead below the paywall fold and hear more in the podcast above.* Women in the lower North Island will have to travel to Christchurch for ovarian and cervical cancer surgeries for the

5:52

'Sleeping rough is a lifestyle choice here'

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/04

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Friday, July 4:* Police Minister Mark Mitchell says people who sleep rough in Rotorua are making ‘a lifestyle choice’ and should be moved away from shopfronts by five new beat cops — ‘for their own safety’. See more in The Lead below the paywall fold and in the podcast above.* A Salvation Army expert on homelessness, who has been to Rotorua to investigate, says there aren’t enough homes and these people, who

8:27

Act forces Willis backdown on policy costings unit

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/02

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Thursday, July 3:* Deputy PM David Seymour has forced Finance Minister Nicola Willis to back down on her plan for a long-debated policy costings unit to referee disputes over ‘fiscal black holes’ in election campaigns. Seymour says he doesn’t always trust the officials. See more in The Lead below the paywall fold and in the podcast above.* Officials warned against the creation of a new Parent Boost migrant

13:12

Behold, another Quarterly Survey of Business Delusion

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/07/01

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Wednesday, July 2:* The NZIER’s QSBO survey published yesterday showed businesses remain stubbornly confident about the wider economy and their own businesses, despite their own ‘experienced activity’ in the June quarter being much, much worse than they had expected just three months ago. See more in The Lead below the paywall fold and in the podcast above.* That ‘delusion gap’ between expectations for the

7:29

So many extreme weather events, but no mention of...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/06/30

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, July 1:* Extreme floods hit the top of the South Island over the weekend, unleashing a wall of media coverage on the ‘unprecedented’ scale of the disaster, but there was no coverage of modelling showing each degree of climate warming increases the intensity of weather events in the region by 10-20%. See more in The Lead below the paywall fold and in the podcast above.* Worker and employer

62:32

Peter Bale, without Bernard Hickey this week, joins...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/06/26

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-host Peter Bale talking with regular guests Robert Patman and Cathrine Dyer about the week’s news in geopolitics and climate.This week’s Hoon featured special guests:author, historian and a former colleague from Reuters, former Tehran bureau chief Jonathan Lyons;professor of international law Treasa DunworthThe Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over

8:01

GDP outlook slashed as fresh cost-of-living shock...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/06/23

Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, June 24:* ANZ economists have slashed their June quarter GDP growth forecast to 0.1% from 0.4% after a range of leading indicators sagged in June, and just ahead of another cost-of-living shock from an oil price surge as Iran finally attacked US bases in the Gulf states overnight. See more in The Lead below the paywall fold.* The Government hopes that higher export receipts from record high dairy

10:00

A housing supply shock in exactly the wrong direction

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/06/22

Morena and glad to be back online after a couple of weeks of leave. Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, June 23:* Chris Bishop says he wants to unleash a housing supply shock and last week announced the Government would force councils to allow more houses if they kept saying no, adding to a swathe of repeals and reforms he has launched. But it his Government’s own ‘no’ to council requests for funds and ‘no’ to new Kāinga Ora homes that

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