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There are many fashion treasures from the past that keep coming back. Long flowered dresses, cut-up jeans, or bell-bottom pants: fashion is cyclical. Read more

It’s hard to solve a problem like Working for Families. The most frustrating thing, for an economist who watches policy, are the policy dollar bills left lying around on sidewalks. Read more

The media has largely ignored economics in the last couple of years. The return of inflation, however, has brought economic topics back into people’s minds and into media coverage. Read more

We explained in our November research report "Walking the Path to the Next Global Financial Crisis" why concerns about prolonged economic stagnation, or even serious recessions, should be taken seriously. During the 2008-2010 global financial crisis, governments' responses had turned a banking crisis into a public debt crisis. Read more

Three bits of news from the world of finance and central banking this week: The Reserve Bank increased the cash rate by 50 basis points. A HSBC manager in Britain has been suspended for criticising climate-based financial regulations at a conference. Read more

Fevered with Covid and isolated in a Te Anau motel, I imagined the following interview. Q: Finance Ministers traditionally urge people to be prudent – not to borrow to invest in shares. Read more

The GFC had many casualties. In New Zealand, one was the former Securities Commission. Read more

Monetary policy always had an air of the mystical. The past is filled with fallen sages like Alan Greenspan, inflation-warriors like Paul Volcker and gurus like Milton Friedman. Read more