Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Is there a positive side to this recession?

Best of Business · Nov 27, 2025 · 2m · transcript

Can I give you a positive spin on the recession that we're just coming out of?

I mean, maybe it's not so much a positive spin, but maybe it's an explanation for why this recession was harder than it needed to be - but why it actually did need to be this hard.

If you've been following the commentary around the Reserve Bank's last two OCR decisions, you'll know there's been a fair bit of chat about the wealth effect and how that has made the recession worse.

Now, the wealth effect is the thing that happens when your house goes up in value. You feel rich - you’re not rich, you just feel rich -…