The economy, economics, productivity, and wellbeing

U3A Wellington lecture by Ganesh Nana

Ganesh has been recently appointed Chair of the Productivity Commission Te Komihana Whai Hua o Aotearoa, after 22 years at Business and Economics Research Limited (BERL).

Ganesh believes economics is fundamentally about people (not money). Economics is a concept that is much maligned and at times mischievously misrepresented.  Similarly, productivity gets a bad rap in many quarters. And now there is the relatively recent terminology of wellbeing used by some.

What to make of all this? Moreover, what lessons does the COVID experience provide?