- Finance & Banking
- Economics
- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
- Revitalizing American Institutions
Jon Hartley and Don Brash discuss Don’s career as a central banker at the helm of New Zealand’s central bank, helping to start inflation targeting in New Zealand, New Zealand’s 1980s market reforms and floating the New Zealand dollar, Brash’s time as a politician and leader of the National Party, unaffordability in New Zealand housing and Auckland’s successful zoning reform, and whether there is a need for market reforms today internationally.
Recorded on November 21, 2025.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Don Brash is one of New Zealand’s most influential economic policymakers of the past half-century, known for his central role in transforming the country’s monetary and financial institutions. He served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 1988 to 2002, a tenure that coincided with New Zealand’s pioneering adoption of inflation targeting, making it the first country in the world to implement an explicit, legislated inflation target. Under his leadership, the Reserve Bank became a global model for central-bank independence, operational transparency, and disciplined monetary policy.
Before entering public service, Brash built a prominent career in banking and finance, including senior roles at the World Bank, New Zealand Kiwifruit Authority, and Trustee Bank sector. After stepping down from the Reserve Bank, he entered politics, serving as a Member of Parliament and as Leader of the National Party from 2003 to 2006, where he became known for his focus on economic growth, fiscal discipline, monetary stability, and evidence-based policymaking.
Brash has continued to contribute to public debate through academic appointments, corporate governance roles, and public commentary on monetary policy, bank regulation, inflation, and broader economic reform. His long career has made him a key figure in the global history of inflation targeting and a leading voice on central-bank policy design.
Jon Hartley is currently a Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution, an economics PhD Candidate at Stanford University, a Research Fellow at the UT-Austin Civitas Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and an Affiliated Scholar at the Mercatus Center. Jon also is the host of the Capitalism and Freedom in the 21st Century Podcast, an official podcast of the Hoover Institution, a member of the Canadian Group of Economists, and the chair of the Economic Club of Miami.
Jon has previously worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management as a Fixed Income Portfolio Construction and Risk Management Associate and as a Quantitative Investment Strategies Client Portfolio Management Senior Analyst and in various policy/governmental roles at the World Bank, IMF, Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Bank of Canada.
Jon has also been a regular economics contributor for National Review Online, Forbes and The Huffington Post and has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Star among other outlets. Jon has also appeared on CNBC, Fox Business, Fox News, Bloomberg, and NBC and was named to the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 Law & Policy list, the 2017 Wharton 40 Under 40 list and was previously a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
Each episode of Capitalism and Freedom in the 21st Century, a video podcast series and the official podcast of the Hoover Economic Policy Working Group, focuses on getting into the weeds of economics, finance, and public policy on important current topics through one-on-one interviews. Host Jon Hartley asks guests about their main ideas and contributions to academic research and policy. The podcast is titled after Milton Friedman‘s famous 1962 bestselling book Capitalism and Freedom, which after 60 years, remains prescient from its focus on various topics which are now at the forefront of economic debates, such as monetary policy and inflation, fiscal policy, occupational licensing, education vouchers, income share agreements, the distribution of income, and negative income taxes, among many other topics.
For more information, visit: capitalismandfreedom.substack.com/
