Revolt against the elites: where NZ fits, Kiwi firm eyes billion dollar upgrade China's subways, Put OCR up, not down

In NBR Print today: Parliament resumes next week after a long recess and against a backdrop of rising global “revolt against the elites.” Prime Minister John Key’s government is vulnerable because the government has to deliver on its promise that it will allow, and if necessary help, aspirational New Zealanders who want to get ahead. Rob Hosking reports.

Sky TV’s public stoush with Fairfax New Zealand and NZME over Olympic Games footage is, according to the pay-TV operator, simply a matter of protecting its investment in exclusive Rio broadcast rights. The merger-minded media companies, on the other hand, prefer to frame it as a freedom of the press issue. Nick Grant discovers court action is inevitable.

A plan is afoot for saving 40% of the power in the massive Beijing subway system by using flywheels to help decelerate trains, store power from their braking, then use that power to fling them down the track. A company created by Victoria University’s VicLink and a Chinese partner, Milestone Science, is looking to exploit the opportunity using superconductor technology developed by Victoria’s Robinson Research Institute. Chris Keall has the story.

Auckland’s Unitary Plan gives a blueprint for the future for more than 420,000 new homes over the next 30 years – which bodes well for listed companies dealing in the construction industry. In particular, Fletcher Building, Metro Performance Glass and Cavalier Corporation are looking forward to the extra work that will undoubtedly come their way, reports Calida Smylie.

A retired economics professor has suggested the Reserve Bank raise rather than lower the official cash rate to deflate ballooning asset prices. Roger Bowden says this will send a warning signal when other measures have failed. “If the standard models haven’t worked, we need to understand just why, how long it will take before they do, and what we can do in the meantime to stabilise real asset prices,” he says.

Infratil’s latest foray into the new field of investing in student accommodation has the investment community yawning, reports Jenny Ruth. But Infratil’s chief investment officer, Paul Newfield, likens it to investing in airports in the late 1990s when most people saw them as just places people passed through.

All this and more in today's NBR Print Edition. Out now.

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