Labour’s KiwiBuild plan is one of the dumbest ideas I’ve heard of in a long time to reduce the price of houses. Gifting money to first home buyers would create significant momentum for another housing boom once the equity can be utilised for further borrowing. It’s such basic economics that you have to wonder if it’s a cynical vote-buying trick to have a shot at getting back into Government in 2014.

This would normally be a clear indicator of interest rate hikes to come in double-quick time but the first sentence of this article doesn’t make sense to me. Fuel, food and power are basic necessities. We’re not even in control of these price rises, so what would be the point of raising interest rates? It’s not like people are rushing out to buy tomatoes at $12/kg because they are rising in price! I’m not extending my mortgage to invest in bananas for my retirement!