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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

6:38

Labour commits to same debt & surplus targets as...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/05/16

The six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty in the week to Saturday, May 17 were: * Labour committed to the same Government debt and surplus targets as National.* The Greens proposed an alternative budget with $88 billion of new wealth and income taxes to improve publicly-funded incomes, health and housing.* The last major independent electricity retailer was shut and taken over by the most dominant of the big four gentailers that control an

61:01

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

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/05/15

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 regular and special guests, including:* Cathrine Dyer on news about climate change.* Robert Patman about the latest news from Trump and others on Gaza, Kashmir, Ukraine and much more. This declaration in Dunedin was discussed.* Plus: Bernard & Peter talked with Octopus Energy NZ COO Margaret Cooney in the final quarter of the show to

9:27

ACT’s extreme policies & budget fallacy endanger...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/05/10

Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to Sunday, May 11:* PM Christopher Luxon this week allowed ACT’s policies on pay equity and the Treaty of Waitangi to make National less electable in 2026. * He also doubled down on a budget-tightening strategy built on the false premise that the Government faced spiralling interest costs.* An overseas slowdown and that unnecessary tightening has stalled the housing market again and is driving real spending and investment towards another winter

5:28

Carers, teachers & nurses lose up to $17b, to fund...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/05/07

Briefly, in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Thursday, May 7: * Retrospective legislation rammed through Parliament last night will cost women up to $17 billion of unpaid wages over the next four years, more than paying for $14 billion of tax cuts over the same time.* The Government is looking at selling at least $1.7 billion worth of land under Kāinga Ora homes in Auckland.* Jobs figures show three million fewer hours were worked over the last year, although

13:56

NZ economy sliding into wintry deep freeze

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/05/05

Briefly, in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, May 6:* Growth in our housing-market-with-bits-tacked-on of an economy is stalling and sliding back into a deep freeze as the winter months approach, despite 200 basis points of rate cuts and pledges from PM Christopher Luxon to ‘go for growth.’ (See more in feature article below)* The Government’s ever-tighter spending policies and its investment freeze since early 2024 are combining with fears about the

13:52

Canada & Australia stood up to Trump. When will NZ?

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/05/04

Briefly, in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, May 5:* When will our PM and Foreign Minister stand up to publicly express support for our long-time and close allies Australia and Canada in opposing Donald Trump’s talk of annexing Canada and his tariffs on allies without justification or sense? See more in today’s feature article below.* Christopher Luxon has pledged to more-than-double defence spending to 2% of GDP, setting the scene for more than $20

25:56

Calling b******t on a pro-cyclical tightening of...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/05/04

Briefly, here’s the six big things to note in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Sunday, May 4:* In response to slower global growth and wider deficit forecasts, Nicola Willis signalled another $4.4 billion in spending cuts over the next four years, all to get an uncertain extra 5-10 basis points of cuts in interest rates. See more below* Over 5,500 hospital doctors struck on Thursday against a Health NZ pay offer of 1.5% per year, which would cut

12:29

Interview: Shamubeel Eaqub on an even tighter Budget...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/29

I spoke last night with Simplicity Chief Economist and Head of Policy Shamubeel Eaqub about the Government's latest budget policy tightening, the risks for infrastructure investment and a potential dampening of GDP growth.He points out that the Government has cut capital expenditure so far in the current financial year, rather than operating expenditure, and he worries further restrictions in infrastructure spending by the Government will restrain growth and future attempts to deal with

6:14

Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday,...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/27

The key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, April 28 are: * There’s a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds and 200,000 people are waiting for a first specialist appointment.* MSD has stopped work on a programme to prevent homelessness because of front-line staff shortages after budget cuts.* Police appear to have lowered their fitness standards to recruit 500 more officers due to political pressure.* National has broken an election

7:44

Willis ignores new Global Financial & Trade Crisis

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/21

Long stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:* US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. * China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. * Trump says some trading partners may have to choose the US or China. * Nicola Willis says her fiscal policy will ignore the global tariff shock.* DHL stops sending parcels worth over US$800 to the United States. Globally.* NZ abstains on a key climate vote, while Defence lowers climate change as a

7:35

Bernard's Dawn Chorus & Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday,...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/15

Long stories short from our political economy on Wednesday, April 16:* Simeon Brown has attacked doctors striking for more than a 1.5% pay rise as already “well remunerated,” even though the $353,500 average salary he cites includes overtime, and hospitals can’t recruit enough doctors, who are being offered more elsewhere. Health NZ is also sacking a fifth of its HR staff.* Public health academics have called for regulation of junk food ads, citing new research showing tamariki are exposed to twice

9:25

The Government is cutting, just as the economic...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/15

Long stories short from our political economy on Tuesday, April 15:* New Zealand’s economic recovery is stalling, according to business surveys, retail spending and house sales data out yesterday and this morning. * In the teeth of recessionary headwinds, the Government is about to cut a well-loved education programme introduced by the last National Government.* Immigration is rising again at its fastest rate in more than two years, adding to a workforce and population dealing with unemployment and

67:29

The Hoon around the week to April 11

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/10

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 regular and special guests, including:* Cathrine Dyer and Robert Patman on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s shock and (partial) backflip; and,* Health Coalition Aotearoa Chair Boyd Swinburn on the launch of Let’s Level the Playing Field, a campaign to reform lobbying.The Hoon’s podcast version above was

9:34

Trump just detonated a neutron bomb under the global...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/06

Long story shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: Donald Trump just detonated a neutron bomb under the globalised economy, but this time the Fed isn’t cutting interest rates to rescue markets because Trump’s 1910-level tariffs will both slow US growth AND increase US inflation. But we may benefit through high global dairy and beef prices, European wines being tariffed more than ours, and cheaper stuff from China they can’t sell elsewhere. Also, the US bond yields that partly

60:03

The Hoon around the week to April 4

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/03

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 regular and special guests, including:* Cathrine Dyer and Elaine Monaghan on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s tariff shock yesterday; and,* Labour’s Disarmament and Associate Foreign Affairs Spokesman Phil Twyford on the epic changes in geopolitics in recent months.The Hoon’s podcast version above was

8:49

Luxon's 'going for growth' actually means 'going for...

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/04/01

Long story short: PM Christopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. Instead, Luxon’s cabinet is choosing to reduce public borrowing at a time when investors are desperate to lend their cash piles to Governments. Businesses are becoming increasingly frustrated and said

7:42

30% of doctors leave NZ after graduation

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/03/23

Mōrena. Long stories shortest: The news this morning is dominated by the crises cascading through our health system after 20 years of being starved of funding and staffing in real, per-capita terms. Auckland’s Starship hospital is now without a paediatric palliative care specialist, meaning there is none at all in Aotearoa. Hundreds marched against cuts in services in Napier. Almost a third of doctors who graduate here migrate overseas within a decade.(There is more detail, analysis and links to

11:58

Bernard’s Soliloquy for the week to March 23

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/03/22

Long stories shortest this week in our political economy: * Standard & Poor’s judged the Government’s council finance reforms a failure. * Professional investors showed the Government they want it to borrow more, not less. * GDP bounced out of recession by more than forecast in the December quarter, but data for the just-ending March quarter suggests the recovery is stuttering. * Behind in the polls and facing growing provincial unrest over health cuts and higher speed limits, the Government

7:24

Why is the Govt so afraid of borrowing?

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/03/20

Mōrena. Long stories shortest: Professional investors who are paid a lot of money to be careful about lending to the New Zealand Government think it is wonderful place to put their money. Yet the Government itself is so afraid of borrowing more that it is happy to kill its own popularity by starving our hospitals, schools and houses of the investment needed to become more productive and healthy. Surely, the Government would be so certain of the dangers of borrowing more that it could point to

9:13

S&P downgrades 18 councils, blaming Govt

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey ·

2025/03/20

Mōrena. Long stories shortest: Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital grants & new unfunded mandates. The downgrades, with the potential for one more cut for Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City Council and Dunedin City Council, are likely to increase interest costs for ratepayers and restrict their ability to invest in the infrastructure the Government says is needed to grow GDP faster.Also,

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