TLDL & TLDR: This week’s big news and the main subjects of my weekly ‘hoon’ with Peter Bale (plus about 30 subscribers to The Kaka who joined us yesterday afternoon) were:
unnecessary blackouts in the Waikato that stripped the electricity industry of its remaining social license and showed how the market’s structure is not set up to build a lot more renewable electricity generation fast to reach our carbon zero targets (see and hear more in Wednesday’s Dawn Chorus)
confirmation with July’s REINZ figures that the housing market hasn’t slowed much and has already blown past Treasury’s forecast in May for 3% inflation in the next year and a half (see and hear more in Friday’s Dawn Chorus)
a sobering report from the IPCC showing 1.5c of warming is baked in and emitters need to reduce emmissions in an ‘immediate, rapid and large-scale way’ to avoid the catastrophic effects for the planet of a potential warming of as much as 5.7c by 2100, which could increase sea levels 65m (see more in Tuesday’s Dawn Chorus)
the Government’s decision to double down on its Covid-19 elimination strategy and keep ‘Fortress NZ’s’ borders almost completely closed until at least the first quarter of next year so everyone can be offered the vaccine (see more in Thursday’s Dawn Chorus)
a brief look-ahead to next Wednesday’s Monetary Policy Statement from the Reserve Bank, which is expected to launch the start of a hiking cycle taking the official cash rate to nearly 2% by the end of next year, which would push mortgage rates up towards 5%, and why I think that’s unnecessary and premature (See more in last Wednesday’s Dawn Chorus)
Peter and I also talked about the rapid progress of the Taliban towards taking over all of Afghanistan and how America faces another Vietnam defeat moment, similar to the helicopters taking off from the roof of its embassy in Saigon.
Just FYI and to confirm my initial plan when I launched The Kākā in October last year, I plan to start charging for the Dawn Choruses from Tuesday September 21. Subscribers to the currently free service will still get this weekly summary of my work. Paying subscribers will get access to the Dawn Choruses, discussion threads, live ‘hoon’ webinars and have the ability to comment.
Paid access will cost $19/month or $190/year per individual subscriber, although I’ll be offering an early-bird discount for all existing subscribers and ‘bulk’ corporate rates when we start on September 20. I welcome your suggestions for areas of interest and any feedback on the service.
Other places I spoke or wrote this week
Chart of the week
See you all next week
Bernard
The week that was for the week's end