Ashley Church: Declining house prices are killing our economy

Rushing headlong toward economic oblivion

The New Zealand Initiative recently released New Zealand by Numbers, a useful and wide-ranging look at what’s happened to this country over the past 50 years or so. It brings together a large amount of data across the economy, education, health, crime, housing, energy and other areas, and it’s a valuable contribution to the debate about where New Zealand has come from and where we may be heading.

Its housing section reflects a view that has now become close to orthodoxy: that over that 50 years house prices rose too far, that affordability got worse, that first-home buyers were locked out, and that the recent fall in prices, while painful for some, is a necessary correction.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: New Zealand by Comparison

Two weeks ago, New Zealand by Numbers asked whether New Zealand was improving. Our latest report asks a harder question: is it keeping up?

New Zealand by Comparison, edited by Dr Oliver Hartwich and Dr Bryce Wilkinson, measures New Zealand against 28 other countries across more than a hundred indicators, from work and prosperity to health, institutions and the environment.

Among this group, New Zealand ranks first for labour force participation, second for economic freedom, fourth for honesty in government and eighth for life satisfaction, ahead of Germany, Britain and the United States.

Ryan Bridge: We need to believe in our economy

We're cruising towards 2% growth off the back of these two bits of good news on the economy.

2% is not rocketing along but it's not stuck in a ditch, either.

And given the war and diesel and Trump, some (i.e. the government) might even say it's fantastic.

Mike's Minute: National took a credibility hit on roads

What's working for the Government at the moment is the economy.

The economy looks like it's coming right, in time to milk it all the way to the election.

So the Roads of National Significance reset is what you would loosely call a setback, if not a dead rat.

Mike's Minute: Here's what the 2026 Election is about

I'm 100% convinced this election is about the economy.

Do people blame the Government in any way for the economic fallout from war?

Does the economic grind make you look to other political answers?

Caleb Anderson: The Economic Smoke Machine – Ignoring the Real Crisis

For decades, we have been told that "it’s all about the economy." It is the ultimate political conversation stopper, a blunt instrument used to narrow the scope of public debate to GDP, inflation rates, and the cost of living. While economic security is undeniably crucial, this relentless refrain has become a masterclass in distraction, masking a deeper, more insidious erosion of our social fabric, and inevitably of any sense of common good.

Clive Bibby: “We don’t know how lucky we are”

In modern democratic societies where economies either steadily grow or collapse under debt, it is noticeable that a few key domestic factors repeatedly feature in the outcome.

And perhaps, on examination, it is no surprise to find that little old New Zealand is blessed more than most other comparable states in the number of natural resources we have at our disposal. The problem is (in Fred Dagg’s assessment) “We don’t know how lucky we are.”

Kerre Woodham: It's the economy, stupid

"It's the economy, stupid," is a catchphrase that means the primary concern of American voters is the state of the American economy and how that economy affects their personal finances. It was a phrase coined by a strategist in Bill Clinton's successful presidential campaign, and it's pretty much what Christopher Luxon campaigned on in 2023.

Damien Grant: Is this moment that the PM forces me to eat my words? I hope so

While our collective focus is on the impending economic collapse driven by a lack of petroleum, my attention has been diverted by a speech given by a relatively obscure, but important, government apparatchik. The Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway.

The problem with government economists is their language is constrained by the necessities of convention. They would describe an invasion of Orcs pouring over the balustrades howling with bloodlust as an incoming negative external shock with the potential for adverse economic outcomes in the short to medium term.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Australia and New Zealand are paying the price for abandoning reform

Within a fortnight last month, Australia and New Zealand placed opposite bets on their economic futures. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates to 3.85 per cent. Across the Tasman, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held at 2.25 per cent, with Governor Anna Breman signalling that monetary policy would stay loose for some time.

So, one economy is apparently running too hot while the other cannot get off the floor. Surely, they face different problems requiring different medicine?

Mike's Minute: My observations on week two of the war

My observations on week two of the war.

I'm as convinced as ever I was that this thing is over in the four week-ish window they said it would be.

If true, it means we should not have spent the week guessing when it will be over because we have already been told.

Mike's Minute: Christopher Luxon vs Barbara Edmonds

Is it 1-1?

The Prime Minister dug himself a hole over Iran.

Barbara Edmonds dug herself a hole in the NZ Herald.

As far as holes go, I regard the Luxon hole as slightly less problematic, given the war is not in our direct purview and there is nothing we can do about it.

Chris Lynch: Seymour defends Treaty stance, backs removal of Māori seats

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour has dismissed criticism from former Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel over his comments on the teaching of colonisation, saying New Zealand should focus on equal rights rather than what he calls inherited divisions.

Dalziel wrote in an opinion piece that Seymour’s characterisation of how colonisation is taught suggests it “casts children as victims or villains by birth,” describing that view as “disgraceful.”

Peter Dunne: The state of the economy

The election year blame game over the state of the economy is underway, with all the accompanying fanatical partisan vehemence that makes the politicians' claims and counterclaims tedious and pointless.

National will always say that they have spent their time in government cleaning up the unmitigated mess left by the last Labour government. And Labour will shamelessly claim that National has wrecked all the economic gains they secured while in office. The only point both have in common is their blind insistence that, based on their respective records in government, the other side should never be trusted in office again. But the underlying truth is that neither should be believed when it comes to their claims about how well they can manage the economy.

Ryan Bridge: Aussie's economy is a warning of what's to come

The inflation thief might be gone but it lurks in the corner and if you’re not careful, it happily leaps out and steals your wages.

Last week we spoke about the fact their inflation’s running hot - almost 4%.

They’re now world leaders - highest rate in the developed world.

Matthew D Mitchell: Three Lessons from Venezuela’s Economic Collapse

President Trump has accepted the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado. Unlike Machado, however, he does not accept the central lessons that can be gleaned from five decades of Venezuelan misrule. There are three.

Lesson 1: Past prosperity is no guarantee of future prosperity.

Professor Rod NcNaughton: NZ’s low productivity is often blamed on businesses staying small. That could be a strength in 2026

For decades, we have heard a familiar story about why New Zealand’s firms choose to stay small. Business owners prefer comfort, control and lifestyle over ambition, summed up in the old notion of the “bach, boat and BMW” being the height of aspiration.

The statistics show this pattern clearly. New Zealand’s productivity has lagged other advanced economies for years, with output per hour worked sitting below the OECD average.

Emmanuel Rincon: Sanctions Didn’t Destroy Venezuela’s Economy — Socialism Did

In recent weeks, the debate over Venezuela has intensified, largely due to the military pressure that the Trump Administration has placed on Maduro’s regime. This has led various political figures, journalists, and analysts to revisit Venezuela’s recent history and the causes that drove the Maduro regime to provoke the worst economic collapse ever recorded in the Western world — an 80 percent GDP contraction in less than a decade. The crisis becomes even more shocking when considering that Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

Clive Bibby: Pragmatism vs Ideology

Like the village vicar looking for a text suitable for Sunday’s sermon, I stumbled upon this gem from a report on the IQ levels of former US Presidents.

And I will use it to show how the world could be a better place if we decided to drop our obsession with ideology as the basis for decision making.

Ryan Bridge: We need economic headroom

I've seen a lot of commentary in the past few days about our government debt position.

We're up over 40% of GDP - that's doubled on pre-Covid.

There are those on the left who say that's too little. We should borrow more. Forget a debt ceiling, borrow more and throw it at the public service and create some jobs - any jobs.