As recently as late May, the Reserve Bank thought it wouldn't need to cut rates until well into 2025. However, a batch of leading indicators revealed a slump in economic activity through June, and the RBNZ decided to hit the brakes by lowering the official cash rate in its August monetary policy statement. Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway talks to Bernard Hickey about why the RBNZ decided to change course, what kinds of data they are lacking compared to other central banks, and what they...
Sep 12, 2024•30 min
Selling everything and booking one-way tickets to Thailand marked the beginning of an extraordinary life for popular travel vloggers Dane and Stacey. With over 200,000 followers on Instagram and YouTube, the digital nomads have built a thriving business by offering travel tips, guides and an authentic peek behind the curtain of their lives. Join us as we find out how Dane and Stacey make their relationship work and keep the money coming in, no matter where in the world they are. Check out all th...
Sep 08, 2024•48 min
Saul Griffith helped change the world a couple of years ago when he and a couple of "tech bro" mates convinced Joe Biden to rewrite the Democrats’ Green New Deal and pitch it as an Inflation Reduction Act to rewire America’s economy with renewable energy. Saul makes a pitch for Aotearoa to do the same, but much cheaper and much faster, instead of the government’s current plan to spend $1 billion importing gas over the next couple of years. He presents Rewiring Aotearoa’s paper on The Electrifica...
Sep 05, 2024•26 min
Most actors don’t go straight from performing lunchtime school shows to landing the lead role in a big-budget Netflix series, but Jess Hong isn’t most actors. Since being cast as Jin Cheng in the blockbuster sci-fi series 3 Body Problem, life has been a whirlwind for the self-confessed introvert. Jess might be living the Hollywood dream, navigating global career success and financial freedom, but the core of who she is remains the same. Find out how an attempt to overcome her shyness as a teenag...
Sep 01, 2024•49 min
Accountants often have low profiles and their accounts seem merely to keep score on the games of capitalism, but they can sometimes shape capitalism itself - and maybe even the atmosphere. Bernard Hickey talks with Dr Amelia Sharman from the External Reporting Board. Typically an obscure setter of accounting standards nestled somewhere between the government and companies, she details how the XRB’s new standards for emissions accounting might just change the world. Learn more about your ad choic...
Aug 29, 2024•31 min
How do you become the most viewed New Zealand artist on TikTok? With over 46 million likes on the platform, Taylor Roche has shown that challenging the status quo and turning obstacles into opportunities can truly pay off. What began as posting funny videos online for fun has evolved into a thriving career, allowing him to grow his personal brand while making an impact with his music. Taylor’s story goes beyond his TikTok fame – join us as we explore the rise of one of our most dynamic content c...
Aug 25, 2024•50 min
In 2018, The Consumer Advocacy Council was set up by cabinet in response to a commissioned investigation into the nation’s problematic electricity market. It was designed to act as an independent advocate for residential and small business electricity consumers in Aotearoa. Then came Budget 2024. With the stroke of a pen, the council was scrapped by the coalition government to help balance the books. Former chair Deborah Hart speaks to Bernard Hickey about what the loss of the council means for ...
Aug 22, 2024•32 min
There are few who embody resilience quite like Jess Quinn. Having suffered cancer and an amputation as a child, Jess has faced challenges most of us could never imagine. Now, just over two decades later, she can list model, writer, dancer and social advocate on her CV as she uses her channels to inspire hundreds of thousands online. Join us as we explore Jess’ journey, uncovering the struggles and triumphs that have seen her go from surviving to thriving. Stay tuned for new episodes each Monday:...
Aug 18, 2024•51 min
The Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate this week for the first time since the beginning of Covid. Bernard talks with Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr about how the central bank changed its mind when the facts changed, and what it means for mortgage rates and the housing market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 15, 2024•19 min
Kirsten Dodgen is a world-renowned dancer whose talent and dedication have taken her across the globe. Turning her hobby into a successful career has brought her financial independence and creative fulfilment. It’s also seen her perform with top music stars, appear on a hit Korean reality TV show, and build a social media following of over three million. But it hasn’t always been easy – Kirsten has had to lock into her vision and overcome the discouragement of others to achieve success. Join us ...
Aug 11, 2024•49 min
A heated debate about insulation standards lately has had both health and construction experts up in arms. It's only part, however, of a wider debate about how we approach climate change and how we make decisions about our homes. NZ Green Building Council CEO Andrew Eagles joins Bernard Hickey to pull back the GIB board and take a look at how to build, and heat, cheaper homes over the longer run. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 08, 2024•32 min
TJ Perenara is a rugby legend whose sporting career and status as the leading try scorer in Super Rugby are matched only by his iconic mullet. Beyond the field, TJ is a dedicated father, husband and passionate advocate for social equity – speaking boldly on issues like Māori fatherhood and pay transparency. If you’ve ever wondered what makes this Kiwi icon tick, then settle in to hear TJ Perenara as you’ve never heard him before. Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes each Monday: 5th August - TJ ...
Aug 04, 2024•52 min
What happened to the world’s supply chains during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, and how much of the damage caused is permanent? New York Times business journalist and author of ‘How the World Ran Out of Everything’ Peter Goodman joins Bernard Hickey to explain the complex international pathways of manufacturing and transportation that bring products to our doorsteps, through the example of one fledgling American toy startup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 01, 2024•37 min
Aotearoa has never been wealthier, yet demand for food parcels is skyrocketing and the Government won’t extend help to food banks so they can cope. Bernard talks to Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson about a surfeit of wealth at a time food banks are being defunded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 25, 2024•37 min
Softer-than-expected inflation figures this week suggest the inflation dragon - the one that savaged real wages and borrowing costs for the last three years - may have finally been shoved back in it's cave. Kiwibank's Mary Jo Vergara joins the podcast to discuss what that means going forward for interest rates in our housing-market-with-bits-tacked-on economy. Markets are now saying that the Reserve Bank could now cut the Official Cash Rate by the end of this year, but how many cuts can we hope ...
Jul 18, 2024•30 min
Former PM and finance minister Sir Bill English is the intellectual driving force behind the new government’s plans for the country's biggest landlord. He tells Bernard why a full accounting of its running costs may prove to be too rich for the government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 11, 2024•36 min
Bernard Hickey goes hunting for the Reserve Bank’s first rate cut in a discussion with Kiwibank economist Sabrina Delgado. It was supposed to be this year, especially now that the economy appears mired in a multi-dip recession with higher unemployment - but sticky local inflation has held the RBNZ back. Now, however, it is forecasting a rate cut in August 2025 at the earliest. Sabrina explains why she disagrees, why the central bank should be able to cut as early as November, and what that’ll me...
Jul 04, 2024•23 min
After ten years at the helm of Transpower, chief executive Alison Andrew is stepping down. She reflects on a tumultuous decade of managing Aotearoa’s most important network, and why she considers being relatively unknown in the public arena as a mark of success. This interview was recorded shortly before a Transpower pylon collapsed in Northland on June 21st, causing widespread power outages in the region. The collapse was caused by contractors who failed to observe proper procedure while carryi...
Jun 27, 2024•26 min
Is the Kiwi dream to own a "McMansion", a "shoebox" or something else entirely? Bernard talks with The Urban Advisory’s MD Greer O’Donnell about a major new survey of what type of homes we actually want. She says it may not be the quarter acre "pavlova paradise" still assumed by many voters and politicians when they’re deciding on what should be be built and where. If you'd like to take part in The Urban Advisory's housing survey, click here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...
Jun 20, 2024•33 min
Bernard revisits the most revolutionary era in our political economy in conversation with Toby Manhire. Together they discuss how much the Labour Government of 1984 to 1989, portrayed in The Spinoff's new hit podcast series Juggernaut, created our modern economy, for good and ill. Listen to Juggernaut here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 18, 2024•40 min
We thought you might like a wee taster of our brand new #1 series, Juggernaut: The Story of the Fourth Labour Government, hosted by Toby Manhire. Click here to follow Juggernaut so you get every episode as soon as it's released! 1. I love you, Mr Lange Fuelled by brandy and fury, Sir Rob Muldoon calls a snap election, sparking a 1984 campaign of contrasts – the menacing, protectionist National PM against the fresh, upbeat Labour leader, David Lange. The pretext for the election is the decision b...
Jun 18, 2024•57 min
Reserve Bank Chief Economist Paul Conway joins Bernard in the immediate aftermath of a surprisingly hawkish monetary policy statement, and just before the Budget. Together they discuss sources of inflation, why interest rates are staying high for longer than anyone expected, and whether the blunt instrument of the official cash rate can do anything about this extra-sticky inflation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 13, 2024•35 min
Bernard Hickey goes deep into the mechanics of the electricity distribution system to find out what really happened during a cold snap in May that almost caused a national energy crisis. He talks to Electric Kiwi CEO Luke Blincoe about how to solve the dry winter and cold snap problem without spending billions of dollars on new generation and lines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 06, 2024•33 min
Nicola Willis has delivered tax cuts in her first budget, largely as promised. But has the coalition government managed to square the circle of relieving cost of living pressures while avoiding the quicksand of encouraging inflation? In a special crossover episode of Gone By Lunchtime meets When the Facts Change, Toby Manhire quizzes Bernard Hickey on all that, plus: Is Willis right to say the tax cuts are not paid for by borrowing, and can she reasonably blame Labour for the bleak fiscal outloo...
May 30, 2024•27 min
The Reserve Bank warned this week of high interest rates and high inflation for even longer, with sticky rental, rates and insurance inflation all partly to blame. Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr joins Bernard Hickey to discuss the how blunt our central bank's main monetary policy tool can be, and the developing opinion that high interest rates actually increase, rather than decrease, the inflation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 23, 2024•28 min
The Redclyffe substation near Napier flooded during Cyclone Gabrielle and turning it off turned off the power for much of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti. Transpower has fixed it for now, but has faced a big decision: should it rebuild it where it is now, next to a stream? Or start again on higher ground? The choice tells us a lot about how to think about our climate future. Bernard Hickey talks about that decision with Transpower’s executive general manager grid delivery, Mark Ryall. Learn more about...
May 16, 2024•31 min
The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to landlords. But an economic analysis done by Otago University's public health department has found keeping the smokefree measures would have been of benefit not only for public health, but also for the economy. The university's Professor Nick Wilson joins Bernard to discuss the fascinating figures resulting from that res...
May 09, 2024•36 min
The Spinoff has just launched a brand new series called Behind the Story, where site editor Madeleine Chapman sits down with a staff writer or contributor to gain more insight about a big story on The Spinoff from the week. We thought you might like to check out the first episode, and if you enjoy it please follow it wherever you get your podcasts! On Friday, Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell sent her final newsletter, and took the opportunity to share what she’s learned about the news over t...
May 03, 2024•22 min
Bernard Hickey talks with property academic Deborah Levy about her research into the changes in the way bach owners feel about their holiday homes. Where once the bach was the centrepiece of 'the kiwi dream’, a place for friends and families to gather, relax and create memories, they have now become a financialised asset to be added to the portfolio of the increasingly wealthy few. What's behind this change? What insights can this research give into the rest of our dysfunctional national propert...
May 02, 2024•35 min
The Reserve Bank wants to know how the public feels about a potential new type of digital cash. This digital currency would be exchangeable one-for-one with ‘old’ forms of bank-issued electronic money and ye olde paper cash and metal coins, but would not outright replace the physical stuff. RBNZ’s Head of Money and Cash Ian Woolford joins Bernard to discuss what’s different with this new digital cash, what problems it could solve and how it might open up a whole new front in bank competition. Le...
Apr 25, 2024•30 min
