The next Euro crisis could be made in Germany
At the beginning of the century, The Economist famously called Germany the “sick man of Europe”. The way things are going, we are likely to read similar headlines again soon. [...]
2019
The Unreserved Bank
The RBNZ needs urgent clarification that the Monetary Policy Committee will only pursue monetary goals, even under conditions of quantitative easing. [...]
The Unreserved Bank of New Zealand
As the Reserve Bank takes on fiscal functions, its political neutrality and commitment to monetary stability, as well as maximum sustainable employment, need to be re-emphasised. [...]
The open society needs open minds
Let us celebrate the relative civility of our domestic politics and defend robust and constructive debates. [...]
Tear Down That Euro
There is one difference between a classic tragedy and Mody’s EuroTragedy. Usually tragedies do not come in nine acts, but do end with some sort of catharsis. That solution ideally also would offer some moral cleansing. In Mody’s EuroTragedy, there can be no such end point. [...]
The weird world of negative interest rates
Unless you have a mortgage or you are the Minister of Finance, it is a world you would not want to inhabit. But for millions of Europeans, that may soon be reality. We can only hope that even after the RBNZ’s next cut, New Zealanders will not contemplate going into the topsy-turvy world the Germans are about to enter. [...]
Trans-Tasman monitoring
Given the past and current closeness of Treasury and the Reserve Bank, should not a monitoring agent be more removed from the object it is supervising? [...]
Boris, a Cicero reincarnate
He famously claimed his chances of becoming Prime Minister were “about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive”. It probably means Boris Johnson will be a pizza topping in his next life. [...]
Not all is well in Brussels
All’s well that ends well. There is a temptation to sum up the resolution of the European Union’s personnel-finding troubles in such a Shakespearean way. [...]
Danish lessons
Whatever Denmark does, it can only do so because it is backed by impressive productivity. If New Zealand wants to improve its wellbeing, it needs to lift its abysmally low productivity first. [...]