New Zealanders will have to pay an extra 40% in their insurance fire levy from July despite the key selling point of the Government’s amalgamation of fire services being ‘efficiency’ - according to a new report being published today by the Taxpayers' Union. The Government's reform package will result in an immediate cost increase of $80 million for little or no increase in services, despite claims by Peter Dunne, who has driven the reform, that the amalgamations will save money. Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, “Total fire services costs will shoot up by $80 million per year despite…

Yesterday, the CTU publicly called for a return to centralised wage bargaining. Max Whitehead, CEO of Small Business Voice, says they have made their motivation for pushing for pay equity clear: The CTU thinks one shoe fits all employees. “The unions are out of date and no longer relevant, despite having infiltrated Parliament and introduced a myriad of overzealous employment laws,” says Mr. Whitehead. Mr. Whitehead says the unions’ overzealous laws are so difficult to handle that employers have spent the last ten years removing employees and replacing them with self-employed contractors. Consequently, New Zealand has become a nation of…

We use linked employer-employee data from 2004–2012, combined with individual qualifications data from 1994–2012, to study how graduates with different skills fare in the labour market in the six years after studying. We find that graduates experience improvements in earnings, and that they systematically move between jobs, industries and locations in a pattern that is consistent with their securing better job matches, particularly for high level STEM graduates. We then estimate joint production function and wage equations to see how the skill composition of a firm’s employees correlates with productivity, and compare this with how the skill composition correlates with…

Inquirers back off one step short of the Supercat Issuers The arrival of Erin Brokovich (pictured) in Christchurch and her call for those at the wrong end of insurance compensation to “speak up” about the injustice of it all is a further reminder of the obscure role in the earthquake aftermath of the global re-insurers. Among the most powerful forces force in reinsurance is Berkshire Hathaway. It is considered within the industry to be the leader in supercats which is the category of reinsurance involved in major disasters such as the Christchurch earthquake. Berkshire Hathaway sells sell policies that insurance…

The Reserve Bank today published an updated assessment of the money laundering and terrorism financing risks that face the financial sector. Head of Prudential Supervision Toby Fiennes said: “The sector risk assessment is designed to help financial institutions to better understand their own exposure to money laundering and terrorist financing risks.” The risk rating for the banking sector is in line with similar international assessments. It is rated high risk largely due to factors such as the wide accessibility and availability of banks, the global nature of some banking products, and the volume of transactions (including cash) that banks handle.…

$1.4b surplus in Crown Accounts to February.  The Crown accounts for the eight months to 28 February posted a $1.4 billion operating surplus before gains and losses, $912 million better than expected at the half yearly update, Finance Minister Steven Joyce says. “Higher tax revenues and lower than forecast expenditure mean the OBEGAL surplus is better than expected,” Mr Joyce says. Tax revenues from the last year are 3.8 per cent ahead of Budget 2016 expectations and 7.7 per cent ahead of the same period last year, with all categories of tax growing. “The Government has collected $3.5 billion more…

The Reserve Bank today began publishing new monthly statistics that will provide greater insight into the structure and activities of the banking sector. Head of Macro Financial Stability, Bernard Hodgetts, said the Reserve Bank has worked closely with banks to develop the new statistical collection on the sector’s balance sheets. “Since the global financial crisis there has been increased demand from the general public, media and financial analysts for more detail in financial statistics, and for these statistics to cover more areas – particularly in banking.” The new banking statistics include breakdowns of financial instruments, including loans, securities, deposits and…

Auckland – The Kiwi Connection Tech Hub is working with NZ businesses, industry and government across multiple initiatives to support 100 Kiwi entrepreneurs, managers and executives to visit major South East Asia markets this year to increase exports, access investment capital and tap into the talent pool that New Zealand lacks. Hub director Mitchell Pham is working with organisers of the significant landmark business trip to Vietnam, Thailand and possibly Myanmar in a giant leap forward to boost New Zealand exports.In partnership with Augen The tech hub is a partnership between Augen Software Group and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise…

Rising property values helped lift New Zealand’s net worth to just over $1.39 trillion at 31 March 2015, up 9 percent on 2014, Stats NZ said today. “Net worth reflects the balance of what New Zealanders own and what they owe – that is, assets minus debts held by households and government,” national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said. Except for a 3 percent decline in 2009, net worth has grown steadily since 2007 – from just over $1 trillion in 2007 to $1.39 trillion in 2015. Graph, New Zealand's net worth,at 31 March, 2007–15 From 2007 to 2015, household…

Twelve of the 15 regional economies in New Zealand recorded nominal GDP increases in the year ended March 2016, Stats NZ said today. Provisional estimates show the largest percentage increases were in the Bay of Plenty (7.7 percent), Auckland (6.0 percent), and Otago (4.8 percent). The national increase was 4.1 percent. “The Bay of Plenty’s increase was underpinned by strong performances across the professional and administrative services, and agriculture, primarily kiwifruit,” senior national accounts manager Gary Dunnet said. “The increase in Auckland was driven by the professional services, finance, and transport industries.” Decreases were recorded in Taranaki (8.5 percent), the…

More subdued growth, due to persistent spare capacity in the global economy following the global financial crisis, has been a key feature of the current New Zealand business cycle. This is a key take-out from a review of the current business cycle, published today in the Reserve Bank Bulletin.  Listen to the Behind The  Bank Bulletin The article summarises developments in the New Zealand economy since 2008 through the lens of monetary policy. The article identifies five key phases: the global financial crisis of 2008-09; ‘green shoots’ recovery (mid-2009 to mid-2010); domestic caution and global uncertainty (mid-2010 to late 2012);…