1) Where are you spending your Christmas/New Year break?
Christmas in Wellington. New Years in Mangawhai Heads.
2) Favourite Christmas day tipple and food?
A feed of Mutton Birds with a Central Otago Reisling (Wet Jacket).
3) How do you decompress and how long does it take you to do that?
Two weeks of solid sleeps and chill times with friends and books should see me right.
4) What was the best book you read this year and what’s on your holiday reading list?
The year: Radical Uncertainty by John Key and Mervyn King
Holidays: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.
5) Should we provide taxpayer support to host the next America’s Cup?
We need to invest in building our economy, but I’m not convinced this is the best way to do that.
6) How do you rate the Coalition Govt’s first year on a scale of 1-10 and why?
N/A
7) What TV show / video on demand series or movie have you most enjoyed in 2024?
The Sopranos (catching up on a classic).
8) Who’s a rising star in New Zealand business you’re expecting big things from?
Brooke Roberts (Sharesies)
9) If you could be CEO of a global company for a day, which company would that be, and why?
Not much can be changed in a day. So, I’d be in it for the fun. I chose Leica because they make amazing cameras. And I’d push for a serious staff discount during my one day at the helm.
10) What corporate jargon would you like to leave behind in 2024?
“It’s a journey” (even though it usually is).
11) What AI tool do you use most?
Claude and ChatGPT
12) What are you most concerned about, for your grandchildren’s generation?
Climate change.
13) Is President Trump’s second term good or bad for your business? Why?
President Trump’s second term with certainly keep global macroeconomics interesting for the next four years.
14) Favourite podcast of 2024? (Bonus points if you say The NBR Podcast)
Slo Mo
15) How do you commute to work?
e-bike
16) If you could go back and give your 20-year-old self some advice, what would it be?
Just be yourself.
17) You can invite five (living) dinner party guests. Who are they?
Giancarlo Italiano, MacKenzie Scott, The Dalai Lama, Lorde. And my mate Christian Penny, who is expert at bringing people together across differences to work stuff out.
18) Where do you get your news?
The Economist, The FT, RNZ, The Herald, interest.co.nz, NBR (of course!).
19) What’s your favourite moment from the last year?
Getting inflation back into the Monetary Policy Committee’s 1 to 3 percent target band.
20) Your boldest prediction for 2025?
That Aotearoa-New Zealand will have a constructive and impactful national conversation on lifting our long-run economic performance (aka productivity).
