When the Facts Change

The Spinoff business editor Michael Andrew is joined by Kiwibank sustainability lead Julia Jackson to talk about the evolving concept of sustainability, its growing influence on businesses and how New Zealanders can better integrate it into their lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does a government work out the best way to spend money to maximise not just GDP but the long-term health and happiness of its population? This is something our government is trying to do, or says it’s trying to do – but when it comes to the wellbeing side of the equation, is it doing a good enough job? In this episode, Bernard Hickey talks to Girol Karacaoglu, head of the school of government at Victoria University and one of the architects of the way New Zealand analyses happiness. He then talks to Susan St John, an economist at the University of Auckland’s business school who has an interesting take on what we should be spending our money on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine if the value of your house doubled overnight. Could that actually happen? In this week’s episode, Bernard Hickey explains how it could – and how the Reserve Bank and government are doing things in the next couple of weeks to make sure it doesn’t. To find out more about how banks, lending and the housing market all operate, Bernard talks to Carmen Vicelich, CEO of Valocity Global. She knows exactly how banks decide who to lend to, when to lend to them and how much the property under the loan is worth. He then asks Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr what type of restrictions the Reserve Bank could apply in the coming weeks, and just how landlords are reacting to the government’s big changes announced last month. Spoiler alert: they’re not rushing for the exits.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new report on temporary migration in New Zealand suggests the current settings are letting down migrants and contributing to a low wage, low productivity and low wellbeing society. To find out more, in this episode Bernard talks to Julie Fry, the economist who wrote the report, and asks Anu Kaloti from the Migrant Workers’ Association about the scale of temporary migrant exploitation in New Zealand and what needs to change. Because right now, we’re not exactly living up to our image as a kind country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may think the big decisions around housing affordability and climate change are being made in the Beehive, and that these are national policies. But in this week’s episode, Bernard suggests these issues are actually manifesting in a series of house-to-house and street-by-street fights at council level. To find out more, he speaks to Tamatha Paul from the Wellington City Council and Auckland city councillor Efeso Collins about how young renters and activists wanting higher density housing and more pedestrian and cycling friendly transport routes will have to fight the battle of their lives in next year’s local elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the last 12 years, Kiwibank has supported the Local Hero Award, acknowledging the people making a difference to New Zealand communities. In this bonus episode of When the Facts Change, The Spinoff’s business editor Michael Andrew talks with Shannon Te Huia, the 2021 Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year. Shannon established Pūniu River Care in 2015, a marae-based initiative designed to improve water quality and biodiversity by planting trees along the banks of the Pūniu river in the Waikato. He talks about where the idea came from, how he grew it into a viable project and what the award means to him and means for the project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re talking about global capitalism, and how it's in danger of destroying itself from the inside out. The concept is known as a “doom loop”: as the economy grows, those who own all the assets get more and more, those who don’t get poorer and poorer, and as a result growth slows as the machine grinds to a halt. And the key to stopping this doom loop lies in addressing inequality and productivity. To explore this idea and how it affects New Zealand, Bernard Hickey talks to the Productivity Commission's Ganesh Nana and Council of Trade Unions economist Craig Renney. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're looking at the rise of the work from home economy that has grown out of global lockdowns. Bernard talks to Dr Paula O’Kane of Otago University about the encouraging evidence around productivity and flexibility as well as the negative effects of disconnection, Zoom fatigue and the blurring of work and home boundaries. He also speaks with Kiwibank’s Chief People Officer Charlotte Ward about how large organisations managed sudden remote working conditions and the long term changes being made as a result.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The facts changed earlier this week when the government announced a major new housing package. In this episode, we’ll work out what it all means for buyers and renters with Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr, before talking to architectural designer, writer and housing advocate Jade Kake (Ngāti Hau, Te Parawhau, Ngāpuhi, Te Whakatōhea, Te Arawa) about a part of the market that didn’t get a lot of attention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to When the Facts Change, a new podcast from The Spinoff together with Kiwibank. Each week host Bernard Hickey and guests will be peeling back the layers of New Zealand’s economy to reveal how it’s changing our lives and our society. This week, we’re talking about housing. Bernard is joined by Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr to discuss what’s going on with interest rates and whether more high-density housing will help solve our affordability issues. He then speaks with National housing spokesperson Nicola Willis about how she wants to improve the number of apartments being built, and Helen O’Sullivan, an expert on managing and developing these apartments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices