Latest from Bernard Hickey

COMMENT: If Trump carries out his trade and defence threats, NZ would face the risk of slower global economic growth, higher interest rates and fewer capital flows.

COMMENT: This week's jobs figures look fantastic, but they disguise flat real GDP per hour worked and an essentially stagnant economy.

COMMENT: A look at this week's new population projections should give Phil Goff and his council a sobering reminder of the massive task ahead of them.

COMMENT: Two apparently unrelated things happened in the first week of October that say so much about New Zealand these days.

COMMENT: Three news items this week highlighted some of the risks and opportunities posed by New Zealand's current migration settings.

COMMENT: New Zealand has changed an awful lot over the past 30 years. Mostly for the good, but not for everyone.

COMMENT: If everything goes according to the Unitary and Govt plans, Auckland is about to embark on an apartment building spree like it has never seen.

COMMENT: It's hard to know how to react to the news Auckland's average house value rose over $1 million in August.

COMMENT: John Key and Nick Smith have in recent weeks taken to trumpeting Auckland's current building boom as the biggest in New Zealand history.

COMMENT: Which politicians will be brave and honest enough to propose taxes to stop land banking?

COMMENT: Allowing a flood of low-skilled migrants is frustrating that market mechanism with the short-term aim of keeping wages low for employers.

COMMENT: The Reserve Bank may be missing its target, but we shouldn't give up so easily just because it is hard to hit.

COMMENT: Normally the banks would just pass on the Cash Rate cut to mortgage borrowers and term-deposit savers, but this time is likely to be different.

Nasa's budget had tripled in one year to US$5.4 billion ($7.6b) and the space programme went on to cost US$34b.

The Government has wrapped its entire supply-led strategy for dealing with Auckland's housing crisis/challenge into the Auckland Unitary Plan.

COMMENT: Why are politicians of all colours so afraid? And whose interests are they protecting when they say such falls are "crazy"?

COMMENT: John Key is more worried about the short-term fates of leveraged-up speculators and developers than the long-term fate of Generation Rent.

COMMENT: Imagine how productive and wealthy our economies would be with a President Trump and a Prime Minister Peters.

COMMENT: The Government's actions have been begrudging, delayed and lacking conviction.

COMMENT: The figures confirmed the Auckland housing market is running hot through the winter and the heat from that "halo" is spreading around the country.

COMMENT: In all the hullaballoo this week about New Zealand's record high migration, a strange fact has emerged.

COMMENT: Auckland feels like a boom town. Its shortage of houses, hotels, roads, schoolrooms and tradies dominates the conversations.

Auckland Council made it perfectly clear last week it could not pay for the $17b of roading, water and other infrastructure needed to build all the extra houses.

COMMENT: If council issued infrastructure bonds and tied them to rates targeted to residents of developments it could kill a couple of birds with one stone.

Everyone who cares about the future of the economy, interest rates and house prices needs to circle two dates in their calendars this year.

COMMENT: A generation seems not to have the work skills, aptitude and life skills to work for the wages employers are able to pay, writes Bernard Hickey.

COMMENT: Now that the Prime Minister has let the land tax genie out of the bottle we should all have a good close look to see which version suits us best.

COMMENT: The Reserve Bank is back in a familiar place - between those two rocks of very low CPI inflation and very high house price inflation.

COMMENT: It's easy to assess the value of an asset in a liquid and rising market, but the future liabilities are not so easy to see.

Did you know your money in a bank term deposit is not guaranteed by the Government?

COMMENT: How do New Zealanders get richer? It seems an obvious question, but it's one we seem to be ignoring, writes Bernard Hickey.