Independent Analysis and Reportage
New Zealand is almost completely dependent on four things for its survival in the contemporary world. Imported wheat, rice, and refined fuel. And ships.
Inflation is a topic which has, for a long time now, been at the forefront of normative economics. Normative economics is the economics of mainstream ideology, not the economics informed by concept or science.
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 17 April 2026 My first paragraphs here feature Steve Keen, Australian economist, who was a panellist on Al Jazeera’s Inside Story 12 April 2026 (Could the Iran war pose lasting risks to global food security?, or here on YouTube): Interviewer: “You’ve warned that the world could face famine within months … ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Marooned in the Pacific Ocean: Famine Down-Under?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/20/keith-rankin-analysis-marooned-in-the-pacific-ocean-famine-down-under/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Marooned in the Pacific Ocean: Famine Down-Under?">Read more</a>
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 15 April 2026. On 14 April 2026 I heard this on TV3 News (about 8 minutes in): Sharon Zollner, ANZ Bank chief economist: “We were earlier picking that the Reserve Bank wouldn’t need to hike until December, but the news out of the Middle East has kept getting worse. It does ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Aggravating an Aggravated Cost of Living Crisis" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/20/keith-rankin-analysis-aggravating-an-aggravated-cost-of-living-crisis/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Aggravating an Aggravated Cost of Living Crisis">Read more</a>
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 14 April 2026. Despite the mega-commentary about the Israel-Iran war, and especially the United States’ participation in that war, almost nothing is being debated about how the war is being funded. I’ll make some comments about Iran later. But we need to focus on the United States, which is by far ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Printing Money to Finance this and other Wars" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/14/keith-rankin-analysis-printing-money-to-finance-this-and-other-wars/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Printing Money to Finance this and other Wars">Read more</a>
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 20 March 2026. The human world changed twice during the twentieth century. The first transition lasted from 1914 to 1945. The principal cause of World War Two was World War One. So, to understand the drivers of that long transition, indeed a great levelling event, it is necessary to investigate the ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – 1956, 1967, 1973, 1979 and all that: Shipping, Oil, and Inflation" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/20/keith-rankin-analysis-1956-1967-1973-1979-and-all-that-shipping-oil-and-inflation/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – 1956, 1967, 1973, 1979 and all that: Shipping, Oil, and Inflation">Read more</a>
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 27 February 2026. I heard this on RNZ News 11am 12 Feb 2026: “The government’s finances are in better shape than expected due to lower [government] spending and a higher tax take. Treasury figures … show a deficit of $5.2b for the six months ended December, almost $1.6b below the half-year ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – New Zealand’s Fiscal Crisis" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/28/keith-rankin-analysis-new-zealands-fiscal-crisis/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – New Zealand’s Fiscal Crisis">Read more</a>
Essay by Keith Rankin, 25 February 2026. Over the last few days, there has been plenty of media chatter in relation to the government’s proposal to pass a law enabling police to forcibly shift street dwellers from Auckland’s CBD. (Refer ‘Move On’ orders penalise those with the least, Scoop 22 Feb 2026.) While Labour likes ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Vagrants and a Very Basic Universal Income" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/28/keith-rankin-essay-vagrants-and-a-very-basic-universal-income/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Vagrants and a Very Basic Universal Income">Read more</a>
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>
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>
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>
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>