Cutbacks and capital freezes chilling economy in longer, deeper recession

These homes in Mt Cook, Wellington were demolished but the large rebuild project is now paused and the site sits idle, along with other social housing projects around the country. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: The six newsy things of note to me in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 7:06 am on Wednesday, April 3 included:

1. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon saying his Government is “chunking down” its next 100-day plan into a series of items to arrange in “decision gates” — a business consulting phrase coined by McKinsey to refer to the prioritising of business cases. (See quote of the day below)

2. Community housing providers and Kāinga Ora are putting social house building plans on hold because of a Government-wide freeze on capital and funding decisions for housing, transport and water infrastructure. 1News (See scoops of the day below)

3. Universities have spent $110 million on fees for overseas recruitment agents over the last five years, BusinessDesk’s-$$$ Murray Jones reports. (See scoops of the day below)

4. Retail spending growth in Wellington is the lowest in the country as the Governments job cutting noise and capital spending suspensions are cited by business investors as a reason to dial back on their plans. (See chart of the day below)

5. Credit arrears are worst in our poorest areas of Northland and the East Coast, which were also hit hardest by Cyclone Gabrielle. (See map of the day below)

6. Climate scientists are becoming increasingly alarmed by the extreme rise in global sea and air temperatures over the last 18 months. (See climate chart of the day below)

(Paying subscribers can see more detail and analysis below the paywall and in the podcast above. We’ll open it up for public reading, listening and sharing if they give permission by getting over 100 likes.)

Scoops of the day

Social house building drying up