"Forget the cost-of-living-crisis. That's not something experienced in Wellington by public sector executives."

 

No wonder they're smiling: These ten people you see above above are given $5.2 million between them every year. Isn't that nice. Averaged out, that's a pretty tidy sum. What do they do for that money? They're on the Executive Leadership Team at NZ's Reserve Bank, aka Te Putea Matua (which my dictionary translates as "important basket.") Which doesn't really answer the question. (But might describe some of these people.)

The Reserve Bank, as I'm sure you know, has a coercive monopoly on the central price in the economic system. Only two of the Reserve Bank's "leadership team" however (Orr and Hawkesby) have any training in economics at all beyond high school. If that. "So," says economics professor Robert MacCulloch, "so I'm not clear what it is they do that's associated with NZ having better economic (monetary & banking) policies." 

They're posssibly not too clear about that themselves either -- although one does admit that "Sustainability has been a key focus," and another is a "recognised thought leader on digital and data innovation." Which clearly doesn't come cheap.

Overseeing this "team" is the Reserve Bank's Board of Directors (below)-- about whom, observes McCulloch, "it's even less clear what they do - again most have little to no expertise in central banking. [Quigley at least is an exception.] Nevertheless that 7 member Board took $662,000 for what-ever-it-is-they-do."

As McCulloch wryly notes, "Forget the cost-of-living-crisis. That's not something experienced in Wellington by public sector executives." No. But it should be.