Show Notes
New Zealand's economy is struggling, but the country's richest people have never been wealthier. So what's going on? And how much money is too much money? This week on The State of It, Guy Williams and Avigail Allan dive into New Zealand's Rich List, drawing on a Public Interest interview with journalist and researcher Max Rashbrooke. They explore how some of New Zealand's biggest fortunes were made, why the super-rich pay so little tax, and whether we've got our very own oligarchs. Plus, Guy has been reading Atlas Shrugged, the bible of libertarian capitalism, which leads to an increasingly unhinged investigation into Ayn Rand, the philosophy of greed, and the surprisingly complicated sex lives of the people who invented it. Support independent media at publicinterest.nz.
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All the parties this election are promising action to bring down the price of groceries. So whose plan is best? Economist Geoff Bertram joins Ollie Neas to explain how New Zealand ended up with one of the most concentrated supermarket industries in the world, how the duopoly exercises its market power over suppliers and consumers, and what the competing election policies would mean in practice. Support independent journalism: Help us keep producing in-depth conversations like this at publicinterest.nz 00:00 Introduction – Whose supermarket policy is best?01:33 Why competition doesn't always keep prices down06:30 How New Zealand ended up with a supermarket duopoly12:30 Are monopolies inevitable in a small country?17:00 How supermarkets gained their market power22:00 How supermarkets squeeze suppliers and smaller competitors30:42 Are supermarket profit margins really that small?32:15 Three approaches to fixing the supermarket sector36:24 ACT – Removing barriers to competition40:39 National and NZ First – Breaking up Foodstuffs48:40 Labour – Separating wholesale from retail54:49 Greens – Establishing a publicly owned Kiwi Mart1:03:35 The Opportunity Party's approach1:04:25 Which supermarket policy would work best?1:04:38 Why Geoff Bertram wants to overhaul the Commerce Act1:08:30 Could public ownership make butter and cheese cheaper?
Doctors and nurses are sounding the alarm about chronic understaffing in New Zealand's public hospitals, with growing waiting lists and patients missing out on essential care. Is this simply the result of years of underfunding, or is the government deliberately keeping hospital positions vacant to save money? In this episode of In Brief, Ollie Neas speaks with Grace Millar, lead author of the Public Service Association's Vacant by Design report. They discuss how New Zealand's health system reached breaking point, the evidence that government-imposed recruitment restrictions have left essential positions unfilled, and what Health Minister Simeon Brown knew about the consequences. Support independent journalism at publicinterest.nz.
Can Māori economic sovereignty be meaningfully realised within capitalism? Or does honouring Te Tiriti require us to rethink the foundations of our economic system? In part two of this two-part episode of Undercurrents, Ollie Neas, Jane Kelsey and Matthew Scobie explore the contradictions between the recognition of Treaty rights and the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s, the opportunities and constraints created by Treaty settlements, and whether the struggle for Māori sovereignty could help build a different economic future. Help us keep producing independent, in-depth journalism about politics and power in Aotearoa. Subscribe at https://www.publicinterest.nz
What does capitalism have to do with the colonisation of Aotearoa? And what did Te Tiriti promise Māori in terms of economic sovereignty? In part one of this two-part episode of Undercurrents, Ollie Neas is joined by Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey and University of Canterbury academic Matthew Scobie to explore the capitalist origins of New Zealand's colonisation. They discuss how Māori economies operated before European settlement, the role of British investors and the Crown in colonisation, and how the dispossession of Māori land and resources laid the foundations of the economy we have today. Help us keep producing independent, in-depth journalism about politics and power in Aotearoa. Subscribe at https://www.publicinterest.nz
Why is everything so expensive? And who's getting rich while the rest of us struggle to pay the bills? This week on The State of It, comedian Guy Williams and researcher Avigail Allan take on New Zealand's cost of living crisis, with a little help from economist Dr Geoff Bertram. From outrageous power bills and supermarket prices to $350 Ed Sheeran tickets, they explore how decades of privatisation, deregulation and corporate greed have made life increasingly unaffordable. Along the way, they discover that the class war might already be over, make the case for bringing back trains, and investigate the cosy relationship between big business and our political leaders. Can Guy and Avi fix the economy? Probably not. But they're going to give it a crack.