Author: Gary Judd KC.

Opinion: Gary Judd KC. Why the Reserve Bank must distinguish monetary inflation from supply shocks This morning I heard Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Bridges describing the dire state of the Auckland economy. He put part of the blame on the Reserve Bank’s signal that interest rates may need to rise in response to increasing prices. His point was that the immediate cause of the latest price pressure was not excessive domestic demand, but a spike in fuel prices caused by disruption to Middle East oil supplies. Bridges noted that, had the more doctrinaire members of the Bank’s…

OPINION: Gary Judd, KC. A Constitutional Trojan Horse: advancing change through political stealth Trade Minister Hon Todd McClay has announced that the New Zealand-India free trade agreement has been signed and that the formal parliamentary treaty scrutiny process is now under way. The full text of the agreement is now public and has been referred to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee for examination. Under Parliament’s standing orders, the committee must examine the treaty before the government brings in legislation to endorse it before the government ratifies it. This committee stage is supposed to be the chance to ask…