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John Key is so passionate about tourism that he made himself Minister of Tourism. The reason for his passion is obvious. It is an industry that builds on our uniqueness. Our magnificent landscapes, safe environment and low population density offer a unique experience to the tourist. But despite its obvious positives it is not clear that tourism sits comfortably in our vision of becoming a high-wage, high-skilled economy.

The residential building sector is in crisis. The rate at which we are expanding the stock of dwellings in New Zealand has plunged to a 65-year low. Home builders and subcontractors are struggling to find work, resulting in job lay-offs and business failures over the last six months.

As the New Zealand economy delves deeper into recession, there appears to be a growing disquiet that the government has yet to produce a comprehensive fiscal solution. National’s laissez faire approach is in stark contrast to the aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus being embraced in the US; a stimulus that is ratcheted higher on an almost weekly basis.

Globally, the greatest source of disparity in income and wellbeing is between countries. Which country you happen to be born in has the biggest influence on your lifetime prospects for income and wellbeing. But even within the richer countries of the world there remains a wide disparity in outcomes and prospects. Children from poorer households are more likely to fail at school; poorer adults are more likely to commit crimes and are more likely to have poor health outcomes.

Our national income is a bit like a river. We can usually measure the amount of water (i.e. money) in it by looking at how high the water comes up the riverbank.

It seems common sense that people are more likely to obey rules or laws if they understand and agree with the reasons behind them. Perhaps this explains why many, otherwise law abiding citizens, appear to have no qualms about downloading copyrighted material. The recent amendment to New Zealand’s copyright law is problematic at best, and at worst a perversion of natural justice. When considering a legal framework, the rights of artists and producers need to be balanced against the enjoyment consumers lose when copyrighted material is priced prohibitively.

New Zealand faces a number of fiscal policy challenges over the near term. Tax revenue is falling, government spending may well need to rise, and the country’s credit rating is under threat. There is one way that the government can ensure that it provides an appropriate stimulus and maintains New Zealand’s sovereign debt rating – give an independent body (akin to the RBNZ) the ability to set tax rates.

The sharp contrast of bush fires and flooding in Australia has been blamed by some on climate change. While attributing any particular event to changes in the climate is difficult, an increasing frequency of such extreme events is expected under climate change. This applies to New Zealand as well.

We have been in mild recession for a year now but this is turning out to be no ordinary recession. The news from the leading economies is ever bleaker and politicians around the world are scrambling to find ways to halt the slide in their economies.

The prospects for keeping down the growth of our unemployment queues have taken a turn for the worse. Late last year we were hoping that unemployment would only reach 6% at the depth of the current recession. A key factor in keeping the unemployment rate from blowing out was the assumption that Australia’s economy would keep chugging along and absorb much of our surplus labour. But with Australia’s prospects suddenly looking a lot less rosy we can no longer look to our biggest neighbour to alleviate our problem.