# AIR NZ SECURES $45M CONTRACT
# KIWI HITS US81C

Sooo, the exchange rate is "too high" and exporters are being hurt and outsourcing to cheap labour countries is the go?

Its only one data point but the coincidence seemed worth noticing, silver lining perhaps.

AIA, the scene of the next infrastructural blunder?

Already the shareholder-driven monopoly has announced increases in landing fees for the next five years, the kind of planning you can do when your the only game in town.

Ports, of the air and sea type, are typical infrastructural monopolies and it was with some relief I noted the Tauranga/Auckland ports amalgamation didn't occur. At least with competitive land transport one could ameliorate in the market any attempt at extorting additional monopoly rents. Same I guess in a sense with airports, though passengers are probably less tolerant of the addtional travel than logs.

I agree with Winston, but probably for different reasons. Our infatuation with FDI (Foreign Direct Investment, a euphamism for "borrowing," and something that will be repaid, plus interest, offshore) may be part of the reason for even considering putting yet another critical infrastructure in the hands of overseas owners. Rod Oram can talk about regulation, what a crashing success that has been in the telecommunications market for example. Big infrastructure monopolies can chip in to "think-tanks" like NZISCR, leveraging off the reputation of VUW, to almost monotonically argue that regulation is wrong. I stand to be corrected, if there are papers on the site that advocate regulation (excepting against competitors to incumbents), I'll recant.

It would seem the Air New Zealand and Tranzrail lessons are not completely learned yet, and in a world driven by cheap credit (everywhere but here it would seem) one can pony up a monster stack of cheese to get mice into the trap.