A recent issue of The Listener challenged Bernard Hickey with nine questions. Here is how he answered them

A recent issue of The Listener challenged Bernard Hickey with nine questions. Here is how he answered them.

1. If you were Greek, how would you vote on June 17?

I'd vote for the anti-bailout party SYRIZA, which would likely trigger Greece's exit from the euro and a default on its unpayable debts. Greece needs its own currency to regain competitiveness and must restart its economy with much a lower debt load.

2. How much danger are we in from a Grexit?

The immediate fallout on New Zealand would be negligible. Our trade with Greece in tiny and our banking system has very little exposure to the Eurozone.

Our banks are also much stronger and less vulnerable to a freeze on global credit markets.

The impact would be more indirect and over the longer term. A deep European recession, or worse, would hit Chinese growth, which would in turn slow imports of Australian and New Zealand goods and reduce commodity prices.

3. Is Spain the new Greece?

Spain's economic collapse is much more dangerous for the Eurozone than the 'Grexit'. Spain's debt and economy are at least five times bigger than Greece's.

A disorderly Spanish exit from the euro-zone, which I'm calling a 'Spaxit', could trigger a Euro-zone breakup, a European banking system meltdown and a European depression.

4. Has austerity become a dirty word?

Austerity is a failed strategy in Europe. Cutting government spending and raising taxes right across a number of economies in the same region when they're already in or near recession was a recipe for an even deeper recession and higher debt loads. It also exposed the euro-zone's inherent unsustainability.

5. What about here in NZ? Are we just in for a period of slow growth, or another recession?

New Zealand is different from many of those troubled Euro-zone economies. We benefit much more from Chinese and Australian growth, and the Christchurch rebuild will support growth for years to come.

Our government debt level is much lower and we have our own monetary policy to help our economy grow, but we are not immune from any slowdown, particularly in China.

We face a long, long period of slower than 'normal' growth. Previous studies of how indebted economies fared after financial crisises showed slower growth for 10 to 20 years.

6. You think we’re still in the same old rut of too much borrowing for over-priced houses, and not enough export-led investment. What’s the circuit-breaker?

I don't see one circuit breaker.

A concerted set of government policies and monetary policies might help over time. They could include a land tax, a capital gains tax, loan-to-value ratio limits and tougher limits on banks using 'hot' foreign funds.

Ultimately, we need much more investment in production and exports and much less debt-fueled spending on consumption.

7. Would you buy a house in Auckland right now?

I'm happy with the one my family has. That's enough for me.

8. Has interest.co.nz been one of the winners from the endless financial turmoil of the last five years?

Ha! There's always a silver lining... Our audience and traffic has quintupled in the last five years as we intensified our coverage of the crisis to satisfy our readers' hunger for news, information and debate.

9. It looks like a business that could consume you 24/7. Do you manage to get any sleep, or even the odd weekend off?

It is hectic, but fun. We've built up the business and the team to the point this year where I took 5 weeks holiday in April and May for a family trip to France and interest.co.nz didn't skip a beat.