Brian Easton

Listener: 28 December, 1996.

Keywords: Literature and Culture;

The economic earthquake, thirty years ago this week, continues to shape New Zealand.

Listener: 14 December, 1996.

Keywords: Growth & Innovation; Macroeconomics & Money;

On 14 December 1966 the Wool Commission found itself buying in bales of wool offered for auction. This arrangement had been devised in the early 1950s to provide a floor price for wool, evening out the troughs in the fluctuations for the commodity whose price was set mainly on the auction floor. Each year a floor price was set. When offers were below this level the Commission would bid – on occasions even make small purchases – to push up the price to above the set floor level. But typically their involvement was minuscule.

Some Private Forecasters Are Predicting A Major Energy Shortage in Less Than A Decade
Listener: 30 November, 1996.

Keywords: Environment & Resources;

Forecasting electricity is far from easy, as Electricity Supply and Demand to 2015 from the University of Canterbury Centre for Advanced Engineering makes clear. There are so many uncertainties: economic growth, the degree of energy conservation, the weather which affects the hydro lakes, what capacity will be built, the size of the Maui field supply of gas, and so on. Yet it seems there may well be a major energy shortfall after 2003 (and possibly earlier if there is a dry year which fails to fill the lakes). This is not just a one-off year of power cuts in a cold winter. The forecasters expect an ongoing shortage.

Wira Gardiner’s Return to Sender and some other books about the Maori
Listener 16 November, 1996.

Keywords: Maori

Hey, Pakeha. Ever been to a hui? You probably walked onto the marae at the back of the manuhiri. You were welcome, the Maori always make you very welcome on their marae, and they will feed you well. Later you sat quietly at the back.

The Cook Islands is in Crisis – its Economy Awaits Major Structural Change
Listener 2 November, 1996.

Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money

While “hitting the wall” is a phrase beloved by politicians and journalists, it is not a rigorous notion. If it means a crisis which is so drastic that there had to be major policy change, New Zealand did not hit the wall in 1984. There was a currency crisis, in which some people panicked, while others magnified it out of proportion to justify their policies and their grab for power. However the Cook Islands has not just had a currency crisis. It is facing the need for major structural change. Their economy might be said to be hitting the wall. In comparison, New Zealand’s was the bump of a dogem.

In a World that Favours Large Industrial Economies, are the Cook Islands Viable
Listener 19 October, 1996

Keywords Globalisation & Trade

Take the 18,000 odd population of one of the smaller New Zealand district councils. Scatter them across an ocean larger than the New Zealand landmass in 18 islands and atolls, and add the responsibilities of national governance. Except for location – they are three flying hours north of New Zealand – you have the Cook Islands.

Listener: 5 October, 1996.

Keywords: Political Economy & History;

Bernard Ashwin was born on the banks of the Waikato, just a hundred years ago. He became one of the most powerful men in New Zealand. Keith Sinclair bracketed him with Prime Minister Peter Fraser, Minister of Finance Walter Nash, and the Federation of Labour (F.P. Walsh) in the 1940s. Ashwin’s influence continued for a quarter of a century after he retired. Yet he is hardly remembered in comparison to the other three.

Should the Governor of the Reserve Bank Be Elected, Or is the Bank Just A Tool of Parliament?
Listener: 21 September, 1996.

Keywords: Macroeconomics & Money;

Would you rather be voting for the Governor of the Reserve Bank than the parliament? A yes probably rests on the belief that the governor is more powerful than the prime minister. Irrespective of whether he is, his power comes from parliament, and he or she is but a eunuch without parliament’s command.

Christchurch’s Economic Success is Associated with A Tradition of Civic Community. Wellington, Take Note.
Listener: 7 September, 1996.

Keywords: Governance;

The church hall was packed, and the audience angry. In a few days the Wellington city Council was going to decide what to do with its majority share in Capital Power, its local electricity supply authority (ESA). Everyone expected them to divest their control, despite the populace supporting the maintenance of the asset in public hands. A citizens’ jury had favoured public ownership, an opinion poll had supported them, everybody seemed against the divestment of control. Yet the decision seemed destined to go against the majority wishes. Just as a few years earlier the Council had agreed to sell a minority share to a private investor.