1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Jane tib Chraney, the Herald's Wellington Business editors with us. 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Hello Jane, Hi, Heather. Okay, So, now that Michael Riddell 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: has taken the blog down and got it unpublished from 4 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: the London based outfit, is that the end of the 5 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: legal action from Adrian All. 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 2: It would appear so so Adrianall wasn't very happy with 7 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 2: Michael Riddell. He's a former Reserve Bank staffer. He's had 8 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 2: a long history work for the Treasury of the IMF. 9 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 2: Michael has been a long standing critic of the Reserve 10 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 2: Bank and he has this blog which all the nerdy 11 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 2: insiders read, and he has been meticulously doing official information 12 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:41,200 Speaker 2: at requests and documenting the saga around Adrianall, also criticizing 13 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 2: the Reserve Bank's policymaking. So it would appear that Adrian 14 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 2: had enough, but he definitely didn't like an article that 15 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 2: Michael wrote for a central banking London based magazine got 16 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: Michael here and case on the case came in with 17 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 2: a big threat and the article was taken down. Interestingly, 18 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 2: the Reserve Bank also complained to the London based publication. 19 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 2: It's lawyer came down super hard. It's just actually released 20 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,559 Speaker 2: just this afternoon a letter under the Official Information Act, 21 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 2: you know, showing exactly what the Reserve Bank lawyer said. 22 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 2: He came down very strongly so between the KC and 23 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 2: the Reserve Bank. The Central Banking magazine took the thing down. 24 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: Have you read the article? 25 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 2: I have, because Michael Riddell had it on his blog 26 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:36,839 Speaker 2: for a time and I did catch it. 27 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: So spot the old mistakes. 28 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 2: Basically, Michael documented he basically wrote about a lot of 29 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 2: what he'd previously written about in his blog. So there 30 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 2: was nothing that people haven't sort of heard before. Nothing 31 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 2: hasn't been discussed in circles before. But you know, you 32 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 2: have to be very careful when you do allegations and 33 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 2: and you know, so I suppose I won't pass judgment 34 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 2: on whether it was defamatory. But there weren't any sort 35 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 2: of anything in there that hasn't been discussed in Michael's 36 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 2: blogs in the past. 37 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: Okay, now the Reserve Bank released its Financial Stability Report. 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: What are they worried about? 39 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, so for once, they're not that worried about the 40 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 2: property market. So they note that house prices are at 41 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 2: the upper end of sustainable. Of course, they've come down 42 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 2: a lot since they peaked in twenty twenty one. The 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 2: Reserve Bank, thanks new lending isn't too risky, But what 44 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 2: it is worried about is the equity market. So it 45 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 2: says that there could be vulnerabilities below the recovery that 46 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 2: we've seen since Donald Trump announced as his tariffs. It 47 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 2: particularly notes, you know, things could turn if investors start 48 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 2: to get worried about those highly valued tech and AI stocks. 49 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 2: You know, those are arguably overvalued. There's a lot of 50 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 2: talk about those being a bubble. The bank is also 51 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 2: worried about health insurance. So people have noticed that their 52 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 2: health insurance premiums have gone up by nineteen percent over 53 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 2: the past year, which is huge. The bank, you know, 54 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 2: notes that health insurance are dealing with cost increases in 55 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 2: the health sector and is sort of keeping a close 56 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 2: eye on their books. So that's a bit unfortunate because 57 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 2: just as those home insurance premiums stopped rising super rapidly, 58 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 2: now we have health insurance going up. 59 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: Now, how does health insurance affect financial stability? 60 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 2: Well, the Reserve Bank regulates insurance, so it keeps an 61 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 2: eye on their financials and that's why insurance is part 62 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 2: of their okay you know, is part. 63 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: Of them what they look at. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right. 64 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 2: It does fall into their perview. So we never really 65 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 2: talk about health insurance. You know, it's all about the 66 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 2: housing market. So for once the health insurance a little 67 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 2: bit in their report was quite interesting. 68 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, that is fascinating. Thanks very much, appreciate it. Gene Tipcherani, 69 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: the Herald's Wellington Business editor. For more from Heather Duplessy 70 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: Allen Drive, listen live to News Talks ed B from 71 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.