Category Archives: New Zealand

The Control Instinct

NZ Finance Minister, Bill English, is reported as staying that the Westpac Bank “should front up to its customers and explain why it is paying its New Zealand boss a record $5.59 million”. Really? Do we really need the Government … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Politics | Leave a comment

St Lukes Expansion Approved

The NZ Herald reports that the proposed expansion of the St Lukes mall in Auckland that I wrote about recently has been approved. I feel sad for the local residents. I wonder how many of the councilors who made the … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Urban Design | Leave a comment

NZ Government Support for Optimist Worlds

I was rather surprised today to read (NZ Herald and Government press release) that the NZ Government is giving NZ$150,000 to the Optimist World Championships (a junior sailing competition for those who don’t know), which are to be held at … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand | Leave a comment

Phil Goff on Accident Compensation

I’m a little slow getting to this (what else is new), but nonetheless feel a need to comment… I was disappointed to read in the NZ Herald last Sunday comments by NZ’s Opposition Leader, Phil Goff, criticizing the Government over … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Politics | Leave a comment

Tony Ryall on Aged Care

The NZ Herald has a story today on a study that found that 23% of a sample of rest home residents in Wanganui (NZ provincial city of about 45,000) are malnourished. It’s really a shocking statistic, but the story is … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand | Leave a comment

NZ Business and Employment Statistics

Last week the NZ Statistics Department released the “NZ Business Demography Statistics: At February 2010.” The data was reported by Newstalk ZB, who also had their story published by the NZ Herald. The business demography statistics are primarily concerned with … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Zealand | Leave a comment

Latest NZ Trade Data

[Last updated 10/31: After re-reading the original version of this post and checking the data from the Statistics Department again, I realized I had misinterpreted a couple of numbers in the Herald article – which I guess illustrates why I … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Zealand | Leave a comment

Gareth Morgan on NZ Property

Interesting article today in the NZ Herald by Gareth Morgan, particularly in light of my observations yesterday about NZ property prices… He expresses the view that the recent collapse of South Canterbury Finance is a reflection in part of the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, New Zealand, Property | Leave a comment

NZ Venture Investment Fund

The New Zealand Herald reports that the Government has made an additional NZ$40 million available for investment in new venture capital funds. It seems pretty sad to me that there isn’t enough private sector capital available to support new enterprise … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Venture Capital | Leave a comment