Hosted by journalist Bernard Hickey, When the Facts Change is your essential weekly guide to the intersection of economics, business and politics in Aotearoa Ne...
Described by The Spinoff’s Duncan Greive as “the most important figure in New Zealand technology you’ve never hear of”, Rowan Simpson has had a guiding hand in Aotearoa’s most successful tech companies. His new book “How to be Wrong: a crash course in startup success” shares the close calls and near misses that happened on the way to success (read: the staggering purchase of Trade Me by Fairfax Media in 2006).
He talks to Bernard Hickey about his journey through tech, the keys to startup success, and whether he ought to have just bought in to residential property instead.
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40:04
‘Show me the money’: What Kiwi are buying this summer
Retail spending figures from shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels and holiday hotspots over December and January are the ultimate barometer for spending appetites, income levels and general confidence in job security. Kiwibank senior economist Mary Jo Vergara joins Bernard Hickey to discuss a note she published this week, diving in to the latest spending data collected over the summer break.
How relaxed were Kiwi with their holiday spending money? What are the experts predicting for 2025? Listen in to find out.
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28:10
Rising tides and sinking boats
Free trade agreements are the global political economy’s hottest topics at the moment, especially since a tariff-toting Donald Trump recently argued (to great political success) that the rising tide of global free trade wasn’t lifting all boats. While global economic growth has lifted many out of poverty, the benefits have been unevenly distributed, leading to increasing wealth inequality and stagnant wages for the middle-class in many parts of the world.
Inequality and wealth researcher Max Rashbrooke joins Bernard Hickey to discuss recent inequality trends here in Aotearoa, and to share an interesting idea he has to use KiwiSaver to jumpstart the personal wealth of every single New Zealander, right from the moment they are born.
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22:49
How do we measure the value of social investment?
Our social welfare system is complicated, expensive - and incredibly necessary. How do we know when it’s working properly? And when it’s not? ImpactLab CEO Maria English joins Bernard to unpack the data and evidence-based metrics they use to assess the “social return on investment” of social services funding, and how the company uses their insights to help make Aotearoa a better place.
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36:11
Is 2025 the year to thrive?
Last June the economists at Kiwibank published an article titled “Survive ‘til 25”, outlining what they saw as a tough six months ahead for our economy. Well we’ve made it to 2025, but is the economic year ahead going to be about surviving or thriving? Kiwibank economist Sabrina Delgado joins Bernard Hickey to try and find out.
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Hosted by journalist Bernard Hickey, When the Facts Change is your essential weekly guide to the intersection of economics, business and politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. Presented by The Spinoff together with Kiwibank.
Visit kiwibank.co.nz to find out how Kiwibank are making Kiwi better off
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