The property boom means more debt and rising social inequality.
And the dairy boom means increased reliance on China. It risks providing a disincentive to diversifying our food exports and moving them up the value chain.
It might also add political pressure not to address some of the environmental issues around production.
For all that, though, it would be foolhardy to dismiss anything that we have going our way through this plagued, flea-bitten, dog of a year.
In a crisis (and we should be in no doubt that we are still in one) you have to use whatever options you have available to survive.
That New Zealand has options makes us a very lucky country.
Right now the strong housing market is maintaining domestic economic confidence.
Homeowners feel buffered from this crisis by the wealth effect of property price gains.
On one level that is a false reality. It is not real wealth unless you can realise it.
If an asset bubble forms, there's a risk of a price crash that will leave us all worse off.
This is a cultural and economic issue in New Zealand.
House prices are hitting new records - again. Photo / Greg Bowker
Our obsession with property not only inflates housing prices out of reach of many, it also directs capital away from productive business investment - which drives real economic growth.
But is also a problem we've been grappling with for years and it is not going to be solved by any one silver bullet.
That should now be evident to those who thought slashing immigration was going to be that silver bullet.
And in troubled economic times like these, that feeling of wealth - for better or worse - creates confidence which is invaluable.
It is translating in strong retail spending figures in many sectors and that translates to jobs - or at least fewer job losses.
Meanwhile prices on the Global Dairy Trade auction rose again this week.
Whole milk powder prices rose 0.3 per cent and the overall price index was up 0.4 per cent.
It was the third rise in a row for the benchmark auction which is held every two weeks.
Westpac economists have lifted their 2020/21 milk price forecast to $7.00/kg, which would be among the highest payouts on record.
It represents a boost of billions of dollars into the rural economy.
The latest Global Dairy Trade auction shows prices are on the up. Photo / File
Under normal circumstances a $7 per kg payout for farmers would be a good indicator the wider economy is booming.
Traditionally we used to say that dairy accounted for 20 per cent of New Zealand's export earnings.
That will be even higher now that we've had earnings from tourism and foreign students forced out of the equation.
The good prices are absolutely being driven by the surprisingly strong recovery of the Chinese economy.
Data out last week showed China's GDP growth accelerated to 4.9 per cent from a year earlier.
Chinese retail sales also accelerated to a 3.3 per cent increase year-on-year.
This beat the consensus forecasts of a 1.6 per cent rise.
That's significant piece of data for New Zealand because it means Chinese consumer demand is not only holding up, it is still rowing.
That underpins demand for everything from infant formula to frozen yoghurt treats and takeaway pizza. It underpins the global price for dairy.
And that underpins our economy.
So at face value both these trends are a good thing.
It certainly doesn't take much imagination to envisage the kind of economic hole this country would be in if both the dairy price and house prices had crashed after the pandemic hit.
That would have felt like a far more brutal recession - the kind we had back in the 1980s and early 1990s.
That period left permanent scars on the economy and community.
It limited economic options and led to the rise of political voices calling for austerity.
Almost nobody on the political spectrum wants to go there right now.
There is still some risk, as this pandemic rolls on, that we could face that kind of downturn.
We should use absolutely use every tool we've got to avoid that because it would mean persistent, long-term increase in unemployment.
We need to keep the wheels of this economy spinning so progress towards building more houses and diversifying our export base doesn't stall.
If Dave and Neil are all you've got in the CD player at the bach, you're going to play them.
That doesn't mean you can't think creatively to keep the party rolling.
So let those classic hits spin, hopefully somewhere in the corner some smart young people are tuning up their guitars and building that chilly-bin drum kit so the we can all sing-along into the night.
