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Advertise with NZME.Latest FromBrian Fallow on the economy
What's wrong with giving the workers a fair go?
Employers should remember: better-paid workers make better customers too.
Easing welfare's lifetime burden
COMMENT: Big data on benefits could save taxpayers' money - and do some good too.
Facing the thing that's holding NZ back
Productivity is lousy, but Govt isn't much interested in suggestions for change.
Mortgage limits: Nanny state or good sense?
COMMENT: Reserve Bank worries about wider impact if too many borrowers are struggling.
Time to drop the tax experiment?
COMMENT: Instead of taxing housing harder, why not change the tax on retirement savings?
Fiddling with interest rates
Labour's plan to reform monetary policy is more modest than it looks.
Time to get out and invest
Businesses say they plan to invest more, but are they doing as they say?
More for kids, less for the elderly
COMMENT: Gareth Morgan's Opportunities Party has some radical ideas for tax and benefits, Brian Fallow writes.
Brian Fallow: Super changes too little, too late
COMMENT: Proposed reforms will only nibble at the cost of taxpayer-funded pensions, says Brian Fallow.
Brian Fallow: The joy of spending
COMMENT: In an election year, a useful economic indicator of how Kiwis are feeling is consumer spending.
Fallow: Wheeler, the safe pair of hands
Let's hope that whoever succeeds Graeme Wheeler as Reserve Bank governor next year does as good a job as he has.
Migration about the trend, not the ups downs
COMMENT: Readers of a certain age might remember when there was a degree of prejudice against the wave of immigrants from the Netherlands, Brian Fallow writes.
The TPP is dead - long live what?
COMMENT: Is the end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership the death of open economies or just a setback, Brian Fallow writes.
Clouds amid the economic sunshine
COMMENT: The overall growth numbers look solid. But some of the details are not so encouraging, Brian Fallow writes.
Tax the house? It's worth a look
Gareth Morgan's proposal to tax the equity on homes does not sound like an election winner, but it's worth another look, writes Brian Fallow.
Fallow: What shock will pop NZ's bubble?
COMMENT: There's little chance NZ will get through the next few years without an economic shock.
Who wins or loses when prices rise?
COMMENT: It is a welcome development that Statistics NZ is now producing household living-cost price indexes.
Thanks for nothing, America
COMMENT: Taking Donald Trump at his word, his election heralds a trade war, a recession, and a setback for climate change efforts.
Brian Fallow: Interest rates ready to turn?
COMMENT: Depositors are in line for better returns - but it won't be soon.
Brian Fallow: Living beyond our carbon budget
COMMENT: We've promised to cut carbon emissions, but all the options face problems.
Brian Fallow: Does a missed target matter?
COMMENT: The Reserve Bank has some explaining to do.
How much mortgage is too much?
COMMENT: Low interest rates make even big home loans affordable - at least for now.
Brian Fallow: What could possibly go wrong?
COMMENT: As NZ basks, a host of dangers await in the global economy.
Brian Fallow: Climate change not just about carbon
COMMENT: Ex-Minister suggests new way to tackle emissions.
Brian Fallow: China's debt a recipe for risk
COMMENT: Is China about to be the epicentre of Global Financial Crisis II, the sequel?
Brian Fallow: Who shares the gains of growth?
COMMENT: Households have more to spend, but the cost of a home is boosting inequality.
Brian Fallow: Easing into the future
Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler might be wondering right now what he has to do to move the needle on retail interest rates or the dollar.
Brian Fallow: Cash rate cut defies reality
COMMENT: There is little NZ can do about high dollar or inflation.
Why the Reserve Bank shouldn't cut rates
COMMENT: Real danger is house prices, not low inflation.
Brian Fallow: Oi, Brits - check out our model
COMMENT: The political and financial market aftershocks of the Brexit vote will eventually subside.
Brian Fallow: Uphill struggle to spur growth
COMMENT: The economy's vital signs don't look too bad, at first glance.
Brian Fallow: NZ mortgage boom ushers in danger
COMMENT: Debt is growing twice as fast as economic growth, writes Brian Fallow.
Brian Fallow: Fiddling while the emissions grow
COMMENT: Legislation has been taken to remove the Emmissions Trading Scheme's buy one, get one free provision.