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Later this month the Wellington City Council is expected to require all council-owned businesses and contractors to pay their employees a living wage if they don’t already as part of the long term planning process. To some, it may seem like a sensible measure to pay people on the bottom rung of the employment scale a minimum $18.40 an hour as a means helping low-income families in our society (the exact level is yet to be quantified). Read more

The best case we can make for the Reserve Bank’s latest round of loan-to-value home mortgage regulations (LVRs) is not particularly compelling. Or, at least, it requires stretching our understanding of the bank’s prudential regulation mandate a bit farther than I’d like. Read more

Big data is one of the transformative mega trends shaping the way modern businesses operate. By analysing the vast quantities of data at their disposal, businesses can reshape their operations to meet shifting customer requirements in real time, with the benefits reaped in greater profits. Read more

Since the free trade agreement with China came into effect in 2008, exports to China have soared. The trading relationship with China has been helping the New Zealand economy navigate through the past years of global uncertainty. Read more

It’s easy to get reasonable people to agree that economic growth is a good thing, at least in principle. The New Zealand Initiative hosted a panel discussion on its recent report, by Jenesa Jeram and me, outlining the case for economic growth and dispelling a few myths around growth. Read more

The nearly unanimous verdict on Prime Minister John Key’s pre-budget speech last week is that it was completely underwhelming. In fact, some commentators have taken the speech as further evidence the government is running dry on fresh ideas. Read more

Last week, the Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor Grant Spencer signalled that he favours more demand-side interventions in the housing market. In a speech and in a radio interview he argued that increasing housing supply, though highly desirable, may take too long to have an effect on house prices. Read more

Sometimes, it takes a Labour leader to point out the deadweight costs of taxation. And so there is a lot to like in Andrew Little’s economic policy statement. Read more

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s surprise decision not to cut interest rates only postponed the expected 'parity party' between the Kiwi and the Aussie dollars. The way things are going, it is a matter of time until both currencies are of equal value. Read more

A higher kiwi dollar could boost New Zealand exporters’ productivity, leaving them better off in the long run. Earlier this month the kiwi reached a record high against the euro, trading at a whisker under 70c – the highest level the kiwi has been valued against European currency since its inception. Read more