Dan Brunskill

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway says economists have failed to make a strong case for what New Zealand could look like with a more productive economy. Productivity growth has averaged just 0.2% over the past decade, lagging behind other countries despite a global slowdown. For many of those years, Conway was director of economic research at the now-defunct Productivity Commission and told RNZ he felt partly to blame for the lack of progress.

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

In August last year, the country narrowly avoided blackouts after low hydro lake levels, limited wind generation and tight gas supplies forced officials to ask businesses and households to reduce electricity consumption. Large industrial users had already switched off production, either due to high prices or to sell their energy supply back to electricity generators. Some businesses used the opportunity to shut down for good. The episode sparked a political storm at the time.

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has published an open letter to Christopher Luxon, urging his Government to stop taking an “adversarial stance” against China. The letter was signed by former politicians Geoffrey Palmer, David Carter and Don Brash, as well as Carl Worker, a former ambassador to China, and David Mahon, a prominent New Zealand businessman based in Beijing. Former Prime Minister John Key did not sign the letter, though he has previously spoken in support of stronger ties with China.

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Chief economic adviser Dominick Stephens will leave Treasury as part of a major restructure under new Treasury Secretary Ian Rennie, aimed at refocusing the organisation. Rennie, appointed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis and the Public Service Commissioner in November, confirmed a reshuffle in a newsletter published on Thursday afternoon.

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

The Commerce Commission wants to stop supermarkets from using supplier-funded specials to distract customers from higher average prices and block competitors. Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden says supermarket suppliers are subsidising prices through about $5 billion in rebates, discounts and promotional payments. Most of these payments are made in exchange for supermarkets putting a product ‘on special’, meaning temporarily discounted from its usual price.