A Keeping Faith in Politics Event
A Pub-lic Issues Conversation with RNZ Journalist Megan Whelan
Inequality is a hot issue in contemporary New Zealand. Housing prices are rising. Purchasing power is falling. It seems to be harder and harder for more and more people to get by, let alone get ahead. What's going on in our economy? What's going wrong with poverty and prosperity in our society? What do we owe one another in terms of a “living wage,” a “fair tax,” or a “secure childhood”? Join Radio New Zealand Community Engagement Editor, Megan Whelan, for a Pub-lic Issues Conversation at JJ Murphy's with journalist Max Rashbrooke, economist Eric Crampton, and philanthropist Jon Hartley, as they cut through the hype and crunch the numbers about inequality in New Zealand.
Megan Whelan is RNZ's engagement editor and sometimes presenter. Megan has worked for Radio New Zealand for much longer than she ever meant to, with stints in News, Sport, and Radio New Zealand International. She has covered everything from elections to earthquakes (and tsunamis and cyclones), but her favourite reporting experience will always be the time she interviewed a not-entirely-sober Margaret Mahy. She is currently RNZ's Community Engagement Editor and sometime presenter for its Contemporary Feminism and Great Ideas programs. When not on the air, she curates her extensive library of animated gifs, and spends too much time on the internet.
Max Rashbrooke is a journalist, author, and researcher whose writing engages a wide range of issues related to the good society. He is the author of Wealth in New Zealand, the editor of Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, and a research associate of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University Wellington. Max is currently working on a book on the renewal of government in the twenty-first century.
Eric Crampton earned his doctorate in economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He served from 2003 through 2014 as lecturer and senior lecturer in economics at the University of Canterbury before joining The Initiative. As Head of Research with The Initiative, Eric has supervised projects examining poverty and inequality in New Zealand, housing affordability, education, and economic growth.
Jon Hartley has worked in a variety of commercial leadership roles in several public and private organisations, both in developed and developing countries. He now divides his time between his family, a number of volunteer initiatives, and a few commercial clients. Jon currently works with World Vision and Vision Fund International on microfinance initiatives. And he serves as a priest for the Anglican Church in the diocese of Wellington.