And now talk among yourselves...

Alison to Nadine: Are you often quietly amused to realise you’re the smartest person in the room? Nadine: Never. Is there anything more irritating than a smug know-it-all?

Nadine to Damien: You’ve come out in defence of tax evaders in the past. Where do you sit on Google, Facebook et al barely paying tax in NZ? Damien: I view tax as the state taking assets by force. If one person is the victim of a crime it doesn’t make it unfair if someone else escapes becoming a victim. It is political. Buying from Amazon is the same as buying a book while on holiday. If an American buys something on Trade Me, should Donald impose a tax on that?

Damien to Shamubeel: Given the welfare state in New Zealand and massive transfer payments imposed by central government, is there any reason we should care how wealthy our neighbours are? Shamubeel: Yes we should care. Not because we should be jealous and take away wellearned income and wealth, rather to ensure we have the right education and other social policies in place to ensure everyone has a reasonable chance of progress.

Shamubeel to Nadine: How did you look so good at 5am week after week? Nadine: Ha, I wish there was a secret formula, but it was simply concealer. Industrial strength.

Alison to Shamubeel: How competitive is the world of rockstar economics commentators? Shamubeel: It’s an imperfect market with very poor information flow. So no celebrity economist knows what the definition is nor if they fit. I just speak into the void and hope for the best.