Search

Might the plunge in the value of the New Zealand dollar in the last five weeks make you poorer? The reason for asking is that, on 29 September, a New Zealand dollar bought 5.1% fewer US dollars than on 24 August, 3.1% fewer Australian dollars and 4.6% fewer units of the Reserve Bank’s basket of currencies. Read more

The Commerce Act forbids anticompetitive conduct. There are established processes for proving that commercial conduct is unlawful, with penalties and remedies that follow. Read more

When law firms advise foreign clients on investing in New Zealand, they usually include some version of the same paragraph. It describes the country as a stable democracy with independent courts, secure property rights and predictable politics, and for decades nobody had to think twice before writing it. Read more

New Zealand is about to lose a German bread that was never German, and as the only German in the room, I have been invited to grieve. I will pass. Read more

Suppose a business is deciding where to expand around Christchurch. It can compare rates and building consent performance in Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri. Read more

Sometimes, a consultation process makes me wonder just how the consultation document got out the door in the first place. Submissions closed last week on the Reserve Bank’s Keeping Cash Local consultation process. Read more

In 1987, on a school trip to the German countryside, my maths teacher made a prediction. Dr Müller had worked at IBM before turning to teaching in our industrial city, Essen. Read more