Ask Me Anything about the week to May 5
Paying subscribers can ask Bernard Hickey about the week’s news, including changes to the clean car discount scheme to punish both Ford Ranger and Toyota Aqua buyers; RBNZ’s research on bank profits
It’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour from midday, including:
The precarious state of our health system going into winter with a potential measles outbreak;
Fresh research from the University of Auckland’s ‘Growing up in New Zealand’ study showing the damaging effects of housing shortages and mouldy and cold housing;
The Reserve Bank’s Financial Stability Report showing that not many borrowers are stressed and we have the most profitable banks in the world; and,
The Government throttled the clean car discount scheme to save money and keep interest rates low.
That’s it. Fill yer’ boots. I’m here for the full hour. Jump into the comments to ask questions.
Cheers
Bernard
As comically disastrous as the past few months have been for public transport, do you think this might focus minds and jimmy open the public purses? PT has had such a poor cousin profile for so long. But the recent shitshows in Auckland, Wellington and Cook Strait have vividly illustrated what happens when you run down public services. Everyone's life goes down the toilet. Even comfy Ford Ranger man. I feel like Labour could point to what mostly National Govts did to gut KiwiRail and point to a positive future where PT is available and affordable in all our cities (and between it if they really want to go crazy). They can even point out to Ford Ranger man how much quicker his commute will be when all those peasants who can't afford a ute are on the bus and train. From really bad can come some good?
Hi Bernard, thanks for your reporting!
Can you see degrowth occurring in a just way for an economy that is so heavily based on housing?
What do you see is the path for NZ wage to house price ratios to return to being affordable? House prices continuing to slump, or higher wages?
Can degrowth occur in a capitalist framework where new debt must be continually invented to pay off an ever increasing housing market?