CoveragePost
February 3, 2026
Analysis by Keith Rankin. It’s great that there is a new season (Season 9) of William Ray’s podcast series Black Sheep, which looks at contributors to New Zealander history, many little known, who were of dubious or ambiguous character. Here I draw attention to a black sheep who I think trumps them all, Edward Arthur ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – A Black Sheep to Rule them All" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/03/keith-rankin-analysis-a-black-sheep-to-rule-them-all/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – A Black Sheep to Rule them All">Read more</a>
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January 21, 2026
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 21 January 2026 Truth in world affairs is not a single expert-narrated story. National Politics In our ‘official’ ‘United Nations’ world – the world referenced by the expression the international rules-based order – there are about 200 sovereign nation states (ie ‘countries’) which are equal members of the global community of ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Greenland: National Politics versus Geopolitics" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/21/keith-rankin-analysis-greenland-national-politics-versus-geopolitics/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Greenland: National Politics versus Geopolitics">Read more</a>
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January 7, 2026
Headline: Military Extortion as Coercive Diplomacy. – 36th Parallel Assessments Source: Anonymous on X.com. The lethal theatre of the absurd that has been the Trump administration’s sabre rattling performances in the Central American basin over the last few months culminated with the military attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president and his wife ... <a title="Military Extortion as Coercive Diplomacy." class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/07/military-extortion-as-coercive-diplomacy/" aria-label="Read more about Military Extortion as Coercive Diplomacy.">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
December 16, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 16 December 2025 RNZ news item, 12pm 9 Dec 2025: “Finance Minister Nicola Willis has challenged one of her predecessors Ruth Richardson to debate her on how to best manage the country’s finances. Our political reporter Anneke Smith has more: ‘The taxpayers union is poised to launch a pressure campaign targeting ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Fire! Fire! Today’s Vestiges of Ruthenasia and Classical Austerity" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/12/16/keith-rankin-analysis-fire-fire-todays-vestiges-of-ruthenasia-and-classical-austerity/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Fire! Fire! Today’s Vestiges of Ruthenasia and Classical Austerity">Read more</a>
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November 28, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. TVNZ’s special programme on Tuesday (News Special: You, Me and the Economy; 25 November 2025) included (about two-thirds of the way into the programme) among a number of helpful and unhelpful suggestions, a call for New Zealanders to get onto the compound interest bandwagon, the magic formula of getting rich in ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Compound Interest in New Zealand’s last 100 Years" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/28/keith-rankin-analysis-compound-interest-in-new-zealands-last-100-years/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Compound Interest in New Zealand’s last 100 Years">Read more</a>
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November 14, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Labour Party Policies Last month the New Zealand Labour Party announced two policies: a second sovereign wealth fund, and a capital gains tax on non-owner-occupier real estate. For me, both are worrying, representing further steps in the financialisation of an already over-financialised economy. Then yesterday, I heard a story (Report highlights ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – The Mansion as a Metaphor for Neoliberal Finance Capitalism" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/14/keith-rankin-essay-the-mansion-as-a-metaphor-for-neoliberal-finance-capitalism/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – The Mansion as a Metaphor for Neoliberal Finance Capitalism">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 7, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Are wars affordable? The answer of course is ‘yes and no’. Affording a war is different from financing a war. To make any new thing affordable, either there must be a reallocation of resources or a deployment of resources not otherwise in use. Or a mix of both. Further, resources get ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Affording and Financing Wars, with reference to the United States" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/07/keith-rankin-analysis-affording-and-financing-wars-with-reference-to-the-united-states/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Affording and Financing Wars, with reference to the United States">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
October 30, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. The chart above summarises Japan’s financial balance sheet since 1980. A wall of red below the line, and blue above. Additionally, a persistent ‘slice’ of green below the line, indicating that Japan – the country, not the government – is very much a creditor (ie saver) nation. This red wall has ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Red Gold: Japan’s Lesson for the World" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/10/30/keith-rankin-analysis-red-gold-japans-lesson-for-the-world/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Red Gold: Japan’s Lesson for the World">Read more</a>
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October 24, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Earlier this week, in The Truth about Prices in New Zealand, (on Evening Report, and on Scoop), I showed how the Consumers Price Index (CPI) is a lagging measure of inflation, and that the Producers Price Index (and the use of six-monthly rather than annual data) gives more timely information about turning points in ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – A Quarter-Century of New Zealand’s CPI Inflation" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/10/24/keith-rankin-analysis-a-quarter-century-of-new-zealands-cpi-inflation/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – A Quarter-Century of New Zealand’s CPI Inflation">Read more</a>
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October 21, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. The first chart shows annual price increases in New Zealand for businesses (PPI: Producers Price Index) and consumers (CPI: Consumers Price Index), since 1999. We note that the latest CPI datapoint is for the third quarter of 2025, meaning that it’s centred on mid-August. The most recent PPI data is for the second ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – The Truth about Prices in New Zealand" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/10/21/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-the-truth-about-prices-in-new-zealand/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – The Truth about Prices in New Zealand">Read more</a>
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October 14, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. An increasing proportion of New Zealand’s immigrants are foreign citizens. In the 2010s – especially the later 2010s – a critical driver of immigration had been returning New Zealand citizens. As the headlines have indicated, that process of sourcing immigrants from the New Zealand diaspora has long finished. Where have New ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Post-Covid Immigration to New Zealand by Nationality" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/10/14/keith-rankin-analysis-post-covid-immigration-to-new-zealand-by-nationality/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Post-Covid Immigration to New Zealand by Nationality">Read more</a>
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October 13, 2025
Analysis by Keith Rankin. The following tables represent an update of mortality by sex in relation to Table 2 from Decennial Increases in Deaths by Birth Cohort, in Aotearoa New Zealand. By looking at deaths registered in February to May only, it is possible to extend trends into 2025, avoiding fluctuations arising from winter illnesses. ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Decennial Increases in Deaths by Birth Cohort, an Update" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/10/13/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-decennial-increases-in-deaths-by-birth-cohort-an-update/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Decennial Increases in Deaths by Birth Cohort, an Update">Read more</a>
