The week that was for the week's end

TLDR & TLDL: This week inequality researcher Max Rashbrooke and I took a ‘hoon’ (the plural for Kākā) around the week's main events in the political economy, including:

• closer looks at the latest household wealth figures from Stats NZ,

• the problem monetary policy is having with monopolies on the eve of the Commerce Commission’s big report on supermarkets this coming Thursday,

• and our welfare settings, which are being reviewed ahead of the next two pre-election Budgets.

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A generation’s dream sacrificed

In Friday’s Dawn Chorus I took a deep dive into the effects of the Reserve Bank’s money-printing programme, which finished this week. It helped boost net wealth of asset-owning households by $402b to $2.3t in a year of Covid. Now, 88% of NZers believe the young are locked out of home ownership.

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Inside the rental squeeze between the Council and the Govt

In Thursday’s Dawn Chorus, I noted Wellington’s rents had risen the fastest and to the highest levels in the country in the last two years. That is now putting intense pressure on tenants in Council-owned social housing because the Wellington City Council doesn’t have access to the Income Related Rent subsidies that the state-owned Kāinga Ora can get from the Government.

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China cutting itself off for years

In Wednesday’s Dawn Chorus, I looked at how China was now stranded with less effective vaccines others won't recognise for vaccine passports, which means China may be locked off for years. Also, I looked at the debate growing over structural separation of power gentailers.

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Will our rates really spike when others aren’t?

In Tuesday’s Dawn Chorus, I looked at how economists calling for quick and big rate hikes, while global stocks, oil and interest rates were instead slumping on fears Delta waves will hit growth.

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Should the RBNZ buy our green bonds too?

In Monday’s Dawn Chorus, I pointed out how the Bank of Japan was set to lend at 0% to banks lending to climate projects and buy foreign green bonds with its foreign reserves. I asked whether we could or should do the same here?

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Other places I spoke and wrote this week

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

And FYI for all those apple types, here's the apple podcast link where you can subscribe to my weekly podcast 'When the facts change' via @TheSpinoffTV with this week's episode on nudging our way to herd immunity

podcasts.apple.com‎When the Facts Change: How do we get a vaccination rate over 80%? on Apple PodcastsAround the world, countries are seeing Covid-19 vaccination rates plateauing at around 50-60% – and it’s hurting them badly. So how will we get our Covid-19 vaccination rates up to the 80%-90% required for herd immunity? In this episode, Bernard Hickey explains how we can nudge our way to that targe…

The Spinoff @TheSpinoffTV

It was a deliberate policy to make wealthy people even wealthier while making it harder for the poor to get on the property ladder, writes @bernardchickey

thespinoff.co.nzHow a Covid-19 policy put the final nail in the coffin of first-home buyers’ dreamsThe Reserve Bank’s monetary policy may have saved our economy from the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, but at what cost? This story was originally published in Bernard Hickey’s email newsletter The Kākā and is republished with permission. As the saying attributed to an apocryphal commander in

Jesse Mulligan Afternoons @JMulliganRNZ

With interest rates rising and inflation at a 10-year-high, Jesse asks @bernardchickey to explain it all.

rnz.co.nzWhy interest rates are rising while the OCR is on hold<p>Last week was a big one for economists. Rising interest rates and a record increase to inflation. So what does it all mean? Bernard Hickey talks to Jesse about what’s going on.</p>