This channel has become more industry and geographically concentrated: just four Australian banks now own 85 per cent of New Zealand’s banking system assets, and they also perform some of the key functions of their New Zealand operations. In a banking sector crisis, an interruption to these intermediation services would create disruptions across the whole economy.
Protecting the vulnerable: dual labour markets, minimum wages, safety nets Trade-offs between flexibility/efficiency on the one side and security/equality on the other are a perennial focal point for the debate on labour market policies. In practice, institutions try to balance different aims in different ways, and with varying degrees of success.