When the Facts Change

Described by The Spinoff’s Duncan Greive as “the most important figure in New Zealand technology you’ve never hear of”, Rowan Simpson has had a guiding hand in Aotearoa’s most successful tech companies. His new book “How to be Wrong: a crash course in startup success” shares the close calls and near misses that happened on the way to success (read: the staggering purchase of Trade Me by Fairfax Media in 2006).

He talks to Bernard Hickey about his journey through tech, the keys to startup success, and whether he ought to have just bought in to residential property instead.

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Retail spending figures from shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels and holiday hotspots over December and January are the ultimate barometer for spending appetites, income levels and general confidence in job security. Kiwibank senior economist Mary Jo Vergara joins Bernard Hickey to discuss a note she published this week, diving in to the latest spending data collected over the summer break.

How relaxed were Kiwi with their holiday spending money? What are the experts predicting for 2025? Listen in to find out.

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Free trade agreements are the global political economy’s hottest topics at the moment, especially since a tariff-toting Donald Trump recently argued (to great political success) that the rising tide of global free trade wasn’t lifting all boats. While global economic growth has lifted many out of poverty, the benefits have been unevenly distributed, leading to increasing wealth inequality and stagnant wages for the middle-class in many parts of the world.

Inequality and wealth researcher Max Rashbrooke joins Bernard Hickey to discuss recent inequality trends here in Aotearoa, and to share an interesting idea he has to use KiwiSaver to jumpstart the personal wealth of every single New Zealander, right from the moment they are born.

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Our social welfare system is complicated, expensive - and incredibly necessary. How do we know when it’s working properly? And when it’s not? ImpactLab CEO Maria English joins Bernard to unpack the data and evidence-based metrics they use to assess the “social return on investment” of social services funding, and how the company uses their insights to help make Aotearoa a better place.

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Last June the economists at Kiwibank published an article titled “Survive ‘til 25”, outlining what they saw as a tough six months ahead for our economy. Well we’ve made it to 2025, but is the economic year ahead going to be about surviving or thriving? Kiwibank economist Sabrina Delgado joins Bernard Hickey to try and find out.

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In order to reduce debt, the coalition government wants to cut spending from 34% of GDP down to 30%. In practice, that means cutting spending on people with disabilities, even though those cuts often increase hospital and care costs in the long term.

Bernard is joined this week by disability rights lawyer (and distant cousin) Huhana Hickey, for an in-depth look at what austerity actually means.

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Political and economic debates in 2024 were dominated by the Government’s new fast-track legislation, a controversial bill that aims to speed up infrastructure and development, which passed just before Christmas.

The debate, and the risks, were summed up in an impassioned plea in parliament by Labour MP Arena Williams, who said of the bill: “This is the closest New Zealand has ever come to cronyism through the legislative process.”

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Donald Trump’s re-election was the defining moment (and the major shock) in the world of politics this year. His proposed tariff regime is set to upend global economics, which he has kicked off by threatening 25% tariffs on America’s two biggest trading partners: Canada and Mexico.

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Finally, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand started cutting interest rates this year, having moved before everyone else and stayed higher for longer than everyone else. The economy slumped significantly early in the year, remaining firmly in recession since. By August 14, Adrian Orr felt safe enough to cut 25 basis points.

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Kiwibank senior economist Mary Jo Vergara has dug through card-spending data to find out how retail spending has changed since Covid, and over the last year of high interest rates. Have we collectively tightened the purse strings in response to a cost-of-living crisis? Or are we taking advantage of online shopping payment options that have never been more convenient? Listen in to find out.

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