Episode Details

Election season is here, and every political party is lining up to promise fixes for your wallet. But behind the political promises on KiwiSaver, grocery prices, and power bills, are any of their proposed solutions actually going to fix the real problems?

Independent financial journalist and founder of The Kaka, Bernard Hickey, joins Frances Cook on Making Cents to pull back the curtain on the economic realities facing New Zealand. From the truth about making KiwiSaver compulsory to why a food-producing nation has a million people relying on food banks, Bernard breaks down the big structural flaws and the radical changes needed to actually move the dial.

In this episode:

• Why making KiwiSaver compulsory without tax breaks is effectively a tax on everyday workers
• The overseas investment problem: why 60% of KiwiSaver funds head offshore instead of building NZ infrastructure
• The first-home buyer dilemma: why using KiwiSaver as a deposit fund pumps up house prices
• How Australia built the world’s third-largest pension pool, and the sliding door moment New Zealand missed
• Supermarket duopolies: why splitting up Foodstuffs and Woolworths needs a telecom-style breakup to work
• Why New Zealand can feed 40 million people while grocery bills push families to the brink
• The real driver behind youth unemployment and why inflation targets are punishing the wrong people
• How New Zealand could become self-sufficient in food, energy, and housing during global disruption

Whether you're trying to figure out what election promises mean for your retirement fund or wondering why your weekly grocery shop keeps climbing, this episode breaks down what’s really going on with your money and our economy.

This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to https://www.odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.

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Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals