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Keith Rankin
Political Economist, Scoop Columnist
Keith Rankin taught economics at Unitec in Mt Albert since 1999. An economic historian by training, his research has included an analysis of labour supply in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and has included estimates of New Zealand's GNP going back to the 1850s.
Keith believes that many of the economic issues that beguile us cannot be understood by relying on the orthodox interpretations of our social science disciplines. Keith favours a critical approach that emphasises new perspectives rather than simply opposing those practices and policies that we don't like.
Keith retired in 2020 and lives with his family in Glen Eden, Auckland.
Keith Rankin - Latest News [Page 16]
Keith Rankin: NZ's Economic Pressure Cooker
Monday, 11 June 2007, 3:17 pm | Keith Rankin
The $NZ climbed to 76.5 US cents over the weekend. Yet Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard remains in denial mode (NZ Herald story Bollard: Don't blame my rate rises for the high-flying dollar). More >>
Dominion Day Centenary, 26 September 2007
Tuesday, 5 June 2007, 3:07 pm | Keith Rankin
New Zealand needs a New Zealand Day holiday separate from Waitangi Day, as Peter Dunne has acknowledged and sought to bring about. Further, New Zealand needs a holiday in the first month of spring, when the kowhai is in flower, tui are singing, and ... More >>
Dominion Day centenary, 26 September 2007
Tuesday, 5 June 2007, 11:39 am | Keith Rankin
New Zealand needs a New Zealand Day holiday separate from Waitangi Day, as Peter Dunne has acknowledged and sought to bring about. Further, New Zealand needs a holiday in the first month of spring, when the kowhai is in flower, tui are singing, and ... More >>
NZ's 2007 Budget and the Overvalued Dollar
Friday, 18 May 2007, 9:25 am | Keith Rankin
One of the biggest questions that arises from this budget is what impact, if any, will it have on our number one economic problem in 2007, the chronically overvalued exchange rate. The Budget had no impact on the exchange rate on Budget Day (17 May). ... More >>
Keith Rankin: Fixing The Mess
Wednesday, 2 May 2007, 10:23 am | Keith Rankin
There seems to be growing acknowledgement that tight monetary policy (ie the actions taken by the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates) is a flawed concept. More commentators and policymakers are accepting that, at best, that the actions of the Reserve Bank ... More >>
Keith Rankin: Fixing the Mess
Tuesday, 1 May 2007, 2:09 pm | Keith Rankin
There seems to be growing acknowledgement that tight monetary policy (ie the actions taken by the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates) is a flawed concept. More commentators and policymakers are accepting that, at best, that the actions of the Reserve Bank ... More >>
Forget The Boom And Get Ready For Some Gloom
Monday, 30 April 2007, 2:24 pm | Keith Rankin
In August 2000 the NZ Herald published an article of mine headed Forget the doom and get ready for a boom . I am proud to record that my optimistic prediction proved to be on the mark. The low dollar that year (44 US cents in August, falling to 39 ... More >>
Gallipoli; More Than A World War 1 Side-Show
Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 8:07 pm | Keith Rankin
One of the less-remarked upon legacies of World War 2 is the resulting lack of awareness of World War 1, and what the European powers were fighting for in the 1910s. This is a great pity, because better knowledge today of "The Great War" might just have ... More >>
High Interest Rates Encourage Housing Speculation
Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 12:37 am | Keith Rankin
There has been a lot of misinformation about what has been driving the New Zealand housing market since 2004. It's time to look at the fundamentals of that market, to see what putative causes of the extended bubble can be dismissed, and to see why ... More >>
The Current State Of The New Zealand Economy
Monday, 23 April 2007, 10:42 am | Keith Rankin
At 10:45am on Black Friday (13 April), the New Zealand dollar shot up from its already excessive highs, even against the buoyant Australian dollar. Market interest rates for periods from 90 days to 10 years also jumped sharply. The markets were responding ... More >>
Keith Rankin: Motorway Follies
Monday, 20 March 2006, 1:06 pm | Keith Rankin
I am a committed advocate of the completion of the western orbital motorway. It is absolutely necessary for the sustainable economic growth of Greater Auckland. Principally, it will be a freight highway rather than a commuter highway, linking the many employment-rich ... More >>
Keith Rankin: Motorway Choices
Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 4:02 pm | Keith Rankin
At long last the penultimate (Mt Roskill) leg of Auckland's southwestern motorway is underway. And the planning for the final (Avondale/Rosebank or Waterview) leg has intensified, with a view to completion well before the 2020 date that looked ... More >>
Dr Bollard and the First Law of Holes - Addendum
Friday, 2 December 2005, 1:21 pm | Keith Rankin
On Tuesday 29 November (Scoop Wednesday 30 November www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0511/S00373.htm) I wrote that New Zealand faces the possibility of a serious financial crisis that could spread to Australia, given that (i) our banks are Australian, (ii) overseas ... More >>
Keith Rankin: Dr Bollard & the First Law of Holes
Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 1:25 pm | Keith Rankin
The First Law of Holes says "stop digging". It applies, universally, to anyone who's in a hole. And Dr Alan Bollard, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand certainly is in a hole. More >>
Dr Bollard and the First Law of Holes
Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 9:35 am | Keith Rankin
The First Law of Holes says "stop digging". It applies, universally, to anyone who's in a hole. And Dr Alan Bollard, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand certainly is in a hole. More >>
The MMP Files [3]: Elections Past and Future
Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 8:59 am | Keith Rankin
National clearly benefited from FPP, forming most governments, including three with less than 40% of the vote. While National never got a majority of the vote in this period, in 1990 it would have gained 50% of the seats in an MMP election. More >>
Returning To Parliament Through The Back Door
Tuesday, 27 September 2005, 8:54 am | Keith Rankin
Economist Keith Rankin examines the merits and demerits of MMP. One of the more common criticisms of MMP relates to the status of list MPs. The biggest gripe occurs when electorate MPs lose their electorate seats but stay in Parliament as list MPs. More >>
The MMP Files: Under Alternative Voting Systems
Monday, 26 September 2005, 9:52 am | Keith Rankin
What would have happened on September 17 if the election had been held under any of three other systems: FPP ("nearest the post"); SM ("supplementary member"); 1-2-3 ("preferential MMP")? [STV – "single-transferable-vote" or "multi-member-preferential" ... More >>
The Election & the Provincial-Metropolitan Divide
Friday, 23 September 2005, 10:55 am | Keith Rankin
Many commentators have noted that there were two elections on Saturday. The provincial hinterland voted National; ie they voted for a change of government. Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Palmerston North voted for no change. More >>
Needed: Tax Cuts But Not National's Other Policies
Friday, 16 September 2005, 11:21 am | Keith Rankin
Tomorrow's election feels like 1975, 1987 and 1996. The common thread for these three was the economic recession that followed. In each case the macroeconomic situation was critical, but not correctly understood. In 1975, 1987 and 1996 New Zealand had ... More >>
