Dr Oliver Hartwich

Notes from New Zealand

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Target2

Euro folded shirt, money &
Newsroom

EU can’t muddle through another monetary crisis

14 October 2025

In early September, I warned that France’s politics could ignite Europe’s financial powder keg.

Frankfurt : Europaturm und Deutsche Bundesbank.
Speeches

Bigger than the GFC: Target 2 and the euro crisis

27 June 2018

Presentation at The Point 2018, the Payments NZ conference, on Target 2 and the euro crisis.

Pile of euro banknotes
National Business Review

Europe’s trillion euro problem

14 July 2017

Some problems are too complicated to cause the fear they deserve – like Target 2, Europe’s trillion euro time bomb.

The European Central Bank beside the River Main in Frankfurt.
Business Spectator

Europe’s hidden doomsday machine

22 November 2011

What Europe is still discussing and Germany is vehemently resisting – the transformation into a fiscal liability union – has long been achieved through the Target backdoor.

About me

Oliver Hartwich

I run The New Zealand Initiative, a Wellington think tank that argues for free markets, limited government and institutions that work. I grew up in Germany's Ruhrgebiet and worked in London and Sydney before moving to New Zealand in 2012. This site collects two decades of my columns, reports, speeches and interviews, with the occasional satire.

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Latest video

All TV appearances · Playlist on YouTube

Latest audio

  • Newstalk ZB · 9 November 2026 · 8 min

    What the 2026 election shows about MMP

    0:00
  • Free to Disagree · 6 November 2026 · 56 min

    Why hasn’t New Zealand warmed to its prime minister?

    0:00
  • Initiative podcast · 5 November 2026 · 32 min

    Why an ageing New Zealand is an opportunity, not a burden

    0:00

All interviews and podcasts

My books

Cover of The Martian Audit

The Martian Audit (2026)

Two Martian auditors land in the Wairarapa and are promptly fined for parking without consent. A satirical novella, free to download as PDF or EPUB.

Cover of In the Meantime

In the Meantime (2026)

Investing in a more tribal, less rational world. Written for the Da Vinci Lecture at the Portfolio Construction Forum. Free to read online.

Cover of Leonardo's Legacy

Leonardo's Legacy (2025)

Why investment professionals must become civilisational stewards. Written for the first Da Vinci Lecture at the Portfolio Construction Forum. Free to read online.

Free to Disagree

Free to Disagree podcast logo, with Damien Grant and Oliver Hartwich
Weekly podcast with Damien Grant

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