Mike's Minute: We hope Anna Breman is a rockstar

The Reserve Bank Governor appointment is not to be underestimated. 

We have never had a foreigner. Well, we have (the first was British) but that was in 1934 and that’s the sort of thing you would have expected given colonialism. 

Obviously, the fact she is female should not be a thing. I think we have seen plenty of examples that essentially woman can, and do, do anything and the more we continue to isolate out appointments on gender, the more we remind ourselves how little in our minds we have moved forward. 

But the fact we seem to have attracted what they suggested was a good line up, both numerically and in talent, from offshore is a good tick for this country's reputation. 

Anna Breman may well use this as a springboard to big banks, who knows. But moving your family halfway around the world is no small thing and you have to believe that the place you are landing isn't a dump, and you can make a difference. 

I don’t think I'm reading too much into the Willis comments at the press conference when she said Christian Hawkesby had done an admirable job. Admirable... is that glowing? I don’t think so. 

He applied for the job but sadly, given his proximity to Adrian Orr, he didn’t stand a chance and is now to leave the bank. 

That in part may have played a role in someone from outside the joint getting the gig. If you're from Sweden you had nothing to do with what has been a hopeless time for the bank, riddled with incompetence and secrecy. 

Breman said our bank is widely and highly regarded. If I take her at her word that's reassuring, but you can equally suggest she would say that, wouldn’t she? 

What I am interested in is whether she can get a grip on the country and its economic culture. 

I remain convinced that at least part of the reason the Reserve Bank have messed the recovery up so badly is they don't get out of Wellington. There are too many spreadsheets and not enough real world, not enough vibe, not enough on-the-ground readings. 

It’s a challenge for a Northern European to soak up something like New Zealand and get a gut feel for it and flip it. How long would it take anyone of us to suss out the subtlety of Sweden? 

But given where we are, she starts from a low base, and the only way is up. 

Let's hope she's a rockstar. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Reserve Bank appointment is not to be underestimated. We've
never had a foreigner will We had. The first was British,
but that was in nineteen thirty four. And that's the
sort of thing you would have expected. I would have thought,
given colonialism, obviously, the fact she's female should not be
a thing. I think we've seen plenty of examples that
essentially women can do and do do anything, and rightly so.
And the more we continue to isolate ourt appointments on gender,

(00:22):
the more we remind ourselves how little in our minds
we've moved forward. But the fact we seem to have
attracted what they suggested was a good line up both
numerically and in talent from offshore, is a good tick
for this country's reputation. I would have thought Bremen may
well use this as a springboard to big banks. Who knows,
but moving your family halfway around the world is no
small thing, and you've got to believe that the place

(00:42):
you're landing isn't a dump and you can make a difference.
Small point. I don't think I'm reading too much into
the Willis comments at the press conference yesterday when she
said Christian hawksby had done an admirable job. Admirable is
that glowing? I don't think so. He applied for the
job sadly given his proximity to Adrian, or he didn't
stand a chance and he's now off, and that in
part may have played a role in someone from outside

(01:04):
the joint getting the gig from Sweden. You've had nothing
to do with what has been a hopeless time for
the bank, riddled with incompetence and secrecy. Bremen says, our
bank is widely and highly regarded. If I take her
at a word, that's reassuring. But you can equally suggest
she would say that, wouldn't she. What I'm interested in
is whether she can get a grip on the country
and its economic culture. I remain convinced that at least

(01:26):
part of the reason the RB have missed the recovery
up so badly is they don't get out of Wellington.
There are too many spreadsheets and done enough real world,
not enough vibe, not enough on the ground readings. I
mean it's a challenge for a Northern European to soak
up something like New Zealand and get a gut feel
for it. I mean, flip it. How long would it
take you to suss the subtlety of Sweden? But given

(01:47):
we are where we are, she starts from a low base.
Of course, the only ways up, So let's hope she's
a rock star. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast,
listen live to news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast. Asked on iHeartRadio