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My comments following last year’s Budget began with “Responsibility won the day. But, for many, a shift to a truly Wellbeing Budget probably cannot come quick enough. The tagline for the Budget documents… read more
The policy is two part, media focus is mostly on the feebate portion of the policy, the Clean Car Discount, but in all probability, the only effective
Facebook has been leaking details of its new payments system Libra for a while now. On Tuesday 18 June Facebook finally released the full whitepaper.
On the back of the Government’s Wellbeing Budget at the end of May, StatsNZ has released the latest tranche of wellbeing indicators feeding into the L
Doesn’t sound quite right, does it? But the reality is that anyone begging on the street nowadays is finding it more and more difficult to solicit gif
New Zealand’s net migration for the year to April 2019 hit 55,800 according to the latest estimates from Statistics New Zealand. This is an increase o
Uber began with an innocent sounding ambition. If you are planning to drive somewhere, why not take a passenger and make a little money too? A utopian
Māori authority businesses continued strong growth with rising profits, assets, and owners’ equity.
Figures from Tatauranga Umanga Māori 2017-18: S
Total annual residential building consents are at an all-time high in New Zealand, driven by strong demand in Auckland and Waikato. In total 34,392 re
The Wellbeing Budget opens with, “What is wellbeing?”, a question that has been widely posed and little understood. The Treasury definition is repeate
Now the embargo is lifted on the first ever wellbeing budget, BERL will be analysing the numbers and explaining what it means in plain English.
Fre
The Budget Economic and Fiscal Update 2019 confirms what we have suspected for some time, that the economy is experiencing a slow down since mid 2018.
As at April 2019, unemployment is at 3.6 percent, 263,000 new jobs were created in the month, and GDP for the year to December 2018 was estimated at 3
Wellbeing Budget 2019 is set to be make or break for this self-titled transformational Government. And as this administration has done little to manag
2018 Census update
On 29 April 2019 Statistics New Zealand finally announced the first release of 2018 Census data will be on 23 September 2019. Th
Those with a progressive agenda (and, yes, I count myself as one) have been frustrated by our own inability and reluctance to engage head-on in the mo
Disclaimer: This article is not presented as advice, and it should be remembered that the value of funds can go down, as well as up.
According to t
Loan sharks, payday lenders, high cost lenders, they promise easy access to money. While these loans are convenient, they don’t come cheap, often lead
The marriage rate in New Zealand has dropped by more than half in the last 30 years, continuing a downhill trend. While the number of marriages has on
New Zealand’s goods exports rose to $5.7 billion in March 2019. This was the highest monthly figure ever recorded and is an $899 million (19 percent)
Amongst the many challenges confronting the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) was one critically fundamental question – what is an adequate income
The 2018 census has been a highly publicised debacle. With 700,000 people missed by the census, StatsNZ have been filling in the gaps with data collec
Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand (IANZ) has released a list of all the indicators they are considering to be used to measure wellbeing in New Zealand.
Statistics New Zealand has revealed to Parliament the scale of the undercount for Census 2018.
In total around 700,000 people either did not partic
A decline in production activity in 2018 saw decreases in production revenue and overseas funding. Screen revenue peaked at $3.5b in 2017, but decreas
A typical piece of legislation can take a year or more to draft, review, and edit. The supporting Member of Parliament will work with their own staff
The labour force isn’t following the usual script
Historically in the USA, as in other western economies, an unemployment rate this low has been co
Latest statistics confirm a slowing in New Zealand’s economic growth. GDP figures for the December quarter report a 2.8 percent increase in (inflation
Butter prices have gone mad, are we finally returning to sanity?
The dairy industry is one of New Zealand’s largest export industries, with $14 bil
In October last year, BERL posted an article on this website, about the slower growth in international visitor numbers. At that point in time, t
On Friday, New Zealanders saw white supremacist hate. Not in a dark alleyway. Not in the comments sections of news websites. Not on a radio talkback s
Australian GDP growth failed to meet expectations when the December 2018 Quarter results were released on 6 March 2019. Seasonally adjusted Australian
Craft beer, cider and spirits are the fastest growing alcohol markets, with all volumes increasing in 2018.
The availability of alcoholic beverages
The BERL data newsletter is designed to provide commentary on data issues and news, including methodological changes, new measures, reviews, delays, a
The concepts of tax and active tax policies remain the Achilles Heel of those wanting to progress a truly transformative agenda for New Zealand.  
The release of new net migration data in January 2019 by Statistics New Zealand using their new migration estimates, saw estimates in November 2018 fo
On 13 February the Education Minister, Chris Hipkins, released a Cabinet Paper discussing his plans on how to restructure the Vocational Education and
The ongoing tensions between the USA and China, two of our biggest trading partners has potential to test our neutral stance, and now it appears the N
New Zealand’s labour market statistics for December 2018 quarter released on 7 February 2019 by Statistics New Zealand showed that for the December 20
As has been widely heralded, New Zealand will have its first Wellbeing Budget this year. Instead of focussing narrowly on growing the economy, t
When Statistics New Zealand announced its new approach to measuring migration, with the removal of departure cards for people leaving New Zealand from
Total residential building consents issued were 32,996 for the year ended December 2018. This article looks at the recovery to the highs of 2004 where
One of the first decisions by the Hon Grant Robertson, when he was appointed to his position as Minister of Finance, was to re-enshrine the Living Sta
Despite state schools receiving government funding and rules preventing parents from being charged fees, the costs associated with getting the kids th
The first in our new series of videos which will demystify economic concepts, bust a few myths, and unscramble those acronyms economists like to use t
Local and central government are emerging as important actors in defining and measuring wellbeing concepts. The current discussion around wellbeing is
The BERL data newsletter has been designed to provide commentary on data issues and news, including methodological changes, new measures, reviews, del
After strong growth the last two years, there may be clouds gathering over the Australian economic outlook. From a peak in the first quarter of 2018,
Just over 280,000 international visitors arrived in New Zealand in the month of October 2018. This is an increase of around 25,000 on the month of Sep
StatsNZ has released its estimates to 30 September 2018 for the national resident population and to 30 June 2018 for the Māori resident population, ah
The New Zealand economy is broad and comprises of diverse and thriving communities contributing to the overall New Zealand economy. As the New Z
The latest results from the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) indicate that the total number of people employed in New Zealand increased by 74,000,
In 2018, fishing and fish processing generated around $650 million of direct GDP, directly employed around 6,630 FTEs, and $1.6 billion worth of expor
The Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Primary Industries have now released the Essential Freshwater work programme. This two-yea
The 9th annual World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) was held in Rotorua 9-11 October 2018, the first time the event has been hosted in Aotearoa. The
Fresh water and the cleaning up of New Zealand’s streams, rivers and lakes was a major issue during the last election campaign. This is because
In September, the Office of the Auditor-General released a research report entitled Managing the supply of and demand for drinking water. T
Clean drinking water is crucial to public health. The outbreak of campylobacter in Havelock North in 2016, and the subsequent Inquiry and recomm
Between 2014 and 2017, the rapid growth in the number of international visitors was a significant factor in the relatively rapid growth in the New Zea
A large proportion of New Zealand homes require insulation to enable them to be warmer, drier and healthier.
There is a range of people in the mark
Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL) is a privately-owned, New Zealand research-led consultancy, with a foundation of economic analysis, advi
Statistics New Zealand’s GDP release on 20 September 2018 showed that for the 2018 June quarter that production GDP had increased by 1 percent.
Nothing is certain … except death and taxes. Once thing that is uncertain, is how our taxes will look in the future. The Tax Working Group (TWG) has r
There is a joke that goes “How do you know if someone owns an EV? They tell you about it”. It seems that those who have made the switch are enth
On Tuesday morning (NZ time) the Trump administration announced further tariffs in the escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
Net inward migration is great for the economy within reason. In the past we have thought of a net annual inflow of 15,000 to 20,000 as being high. Thi
The BERL data newsletter has been designed to provide commentary on data issues and news, including methodological changes, new measures, reviews, del
With New Zealand Customs announcement of the removal of departure cards from November 2018, there will be a focus on the new migration measures produc
Now that virtually all the data and information we need can be sourced online, most of us at BERL hardly use books for our work. But the recent refurb
Typically a quiet month for short-term commercial accommodation, June 2018 international guest nights fell 8.2 percent compared with the month of June
As a volunteer firefighter I keep an eye on wildfire related events around the world. In thinking about the Californian fires I’m struck by the simila
The BERL data newsletter has been designed to provide commentary on data issues and news, including methodological changes, new measures, reviews, del
Maximising export opportunities for Māori businesses is especially important given the challenges faced by New Zealand in global markets. The Māori ec
The estimated resident population of New Zealand reached 4,885,300 end of June 2018, according to StatsNZ. Population change in New Zealand is c