BBQ Economics
Crack open a beer, it's time for a New Zealand economics lesson.
Hello, welcome back to Field Notes.
This week I have a review of BBQ Economics, a new book by NZ Herald business journalist Liam Dann.
BBQ Economics by Liam Dann
In BBQ Economics, NZ Herald business journalist Liam Dann has cracked open a beer and laid down the welcome mat for readers to come along on a tour of New Zealand’s economic history.
The book is built around the premise of answering the economic questions that might be thrown around at a BBQ. Why do houses cost so much in Aotearoa? Should you fix or float a mortgage? What is a recession and how do we know if we’re in one?
In this sense the book lives up to its name, it does a good job of explaining and answering these questions with a beer-in-hand-type feeling of good humour and humility. It does more than just this though, it gives a good entry-level history of economics in New Zealand and how it has shaped our country. It also features quick (and helpful) digressions to explain some of the basics of economics — supply and demand, inflation, and what it means to ‘print money’.
I can remember the Global Economic Crisis of 2008, but I was pretty young at that stage, too young to truly understand the havoc it played on some people’s lives. Luckily for me, BBQ Economics plays a handy guide in explaining the economic outlook of today by putting it in context with the past.
Writing about the Jim Bolger-led Government getting the economy back in shape with a cost-cutting Budget in 1991, Dann says “government departments slashed jobs, people stopped spending, and businesses were forced to cut costs.” It sounds awfully familiar to what is happening at the moment. Back then it led to a recession and pushed the unemployment rate up to 10.6% in 1992 (and 26% unemployment for Māori). While we are in a recession, let’s hope unemployment (currently 4%) doesn’t get near those 1992 figures.
The final quarter of the book, where it moves into the territory of financial advice and what might happen in the future, is where I felt it to be at its weakest. There is some handy advice from the financial heavyweights Dann has interviewed over the years. But the final chapters don’t quite land in the same way as the rest of the book.
Overall, BBQ Economics achieves a good balance between being informative and readable. Not once did I feel bogged down by the writing or density of information. A good sense of humour plays a part in this as well. Writing about NZ’s productivity woes (we produce $68 of output per hour, compared to $85 in other OECD countries), Dann says “There is a reason we talk a lot about working smarter, not harder. Unfortunately, the reason is that we’re terrible at it in New Zealand.”
Other great stuff…
If you’re looking for new music, I suggest trying Tigers Blood, an album from American singer-songwriter Waxahatchee.
A beer rec! It’s fresh hop season in NZ right now and a few nights ago I had Hop Federation’s Green Limousine IPA, fresh hopped with Nelson Sauvin. Beautiful.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading.