New Zealand is far from the only country in the world facing a housing affordability crisis, according to the latest international report. According to the International Monetary Fund’s Global Housing Watch, surging property prices are a global epidemic, with GDP-weighted house prices having risen steadily for seven quarters in a row. Read more
In last week’s Insights, Oliver Hartwich talked about the dismal science but did not note the origins of the term. Economics came to be known as the dismal science because, during the mid-1800s, they worked with the Christian philanthropists of Exeter Hall to call for an end to British accommodation of foreign slavery. Read more
New Zealand has to wait another three weeks for the result of its elections, in another MMP country they went to the polls last Sunday. In the German state of Saxony, voters delivered a fractured parliament in which none of the traditional coalitions of the right or the left had a clear and robust majority. Read more
Our regular readers will not be surprised that we believe the high cost of housing is a major challenge facing New Zealanders. As a crucial election issue, we have eagerly awaited each major party’s housing announcements, hoping they will pave the way for restoring housing affordability. Read more
With housing back in the pre-election spotlight, the Green Party this week launched their policy package, targeted at an often overlooked segment of the voter spectrum – renters. The problem, as the party sees it, is that a significant proportion of rental stock is in poor condition, and security of tenure for renters is weak, giving landlords disproportionate power in the contractual arrangement. Read more
Allegedly economics is the ‘dismal science’. Indeed, if you believe the wife of one of the economists in our team, you should avoid the company of economists like the plague. Read more
It is an utterly ironic situation for Europe. Every bit of bad news for its economies is good news for asset markets. Read more
We live in a time of immediate gratification, and at election time, political parties love to pander to what we want, right now. A recent 3 News Reid Research poll asked voters what they prefer for education. Read more
Adam Smith explained how the division of labour is limited by the extent of the market. When we have more people with whom to trade, we can all better specialise in our areas of comparative advantage. Read more
Once upon a time, when we were hunter-gatherers, life was poor, nasty, brutish and short (to quote Thomas Hobbes). But life was also very simple: Whatever had been hunted or gathered by a tribe had to be divided among them. Read more
Last week I wrote that the euro crisis was not over -- far from it (The calm before the eurozone storm, 14 August 2014). However, having just read the latest article by Wolfgang Münchau, a fellow eurozone commentator and Financial Times columnist, I have to agree with his suggestion that we should no longer call it the euro 'crisis'. Read more
Democracy is a very fine thing, yet is worth dying for, and it is humbling to think of all those who have. Yet general election campaigns do not bring the populace's best instincts to the fore. Read more
Imagine you are at a speed dating event, circling a room filled with people who, like yourself, are looking for love. The problem is, that besides a clutch of banal questions and answers, you have very little information to go on in deciding who is worth asking out on a longer date. Read more
It is a fine line between commemorating and glorifying wars. The centenary of World War I is a good opportunity to reflect what this war, and other wars, mean to us today. Read more
A few weeks ago, while browsing pianos on TradeMe, I came across a Kawai upright with bids having just passed the reserve price of $4,000. An interested buyer had posted a public question to the seller offering to ‘buy now’ for $1,500, stating they ‘really wanted’ the piano but ‘couldn’t afford’ the minimum $4,000. Read more