Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Andrew Dickens: My thoughts on Adrian Orr calling it quits

Transcript

Andrew Dickens: My thoughts on Adrian Orr calling it quits · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Adrian Orr is gone in a month. We don't know
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: why was he pushed, did he jump? Whatever? He'll probably
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: breathe a sigh of relief because Adrian Or has been
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: at the center of public scrutiny ever since he got
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the job as New Zealand Superfund CEO, and he got
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: that back in two thousand and seven, and during his
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: tenure as Reserve Bank Governor, he was damned no matter
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: what he did, because here's the thing about being the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Reserve Bank governor. With every move there will always be
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: victims who always feel punished in the pocketbook. So everyone
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: has an opinion of Adrian Orr, and most are not complimentary.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: And honestly, who needs that. He's sixty three, he's wealthy,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure keen to return to anonymity. So was
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: he as bad as many say? Well had the super Fund,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: he was generally hailed as a good operator who increased
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: our savings, but he was also vilified for taking a
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: million dollar salary. You have to say, though, that was
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: well below equivalent private positions. But you know, we looked
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: at it. Was he stupid? No, he's got an impressive CV.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: He's had stints and Paris at the OECD. He's worked
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: here with the National Bank, the Reserve Bank, Westpac, and
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: then the Reserve Bank again. Then he got the CEO
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: job for the Superfund in two thousand and seven, and
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: then he became the governor. So if I have one
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: criticism of Adrian or well, now I've got two. One
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: he's a little bit woky, and you'll hear about that
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: as the day goes on. Some of his staff there's
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: a battle happening about his funding. But the other one
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: I have is his lack of confidence in New Zealanders.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: When the pandemic started, he made money virtually free, believing
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: the economy would collapse. But it didn't because New Zealanders
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: found a way and the flood of money fueled the
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: fire of inflation, combined with a government that was drunk
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: on spending. And then when inflation rage, he reacted in
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: an orthodox way by raising the interest rates. But I
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: don't think he figured on a government that had then
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: turned the government spending tap off, turning his big stick
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: for the economy into a sledgehammer. Our macroeconomic policies have
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: reel from feast to famine over the last five years.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: We'll like some drunks stumbling down the street. And it's
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: certainly time for some stability and some conservative policies, and
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: to worry about the dollars and cents and nothing else.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: So Adrian, after getting our ship headed towards the stable path,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: has called it a day, and I wish him and
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: his family all the best, and I hope he enjoys
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: the piece in quiet, and I hope I never hear
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: his name again. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: listen live to News Talks at B from five am weekdays,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.