john.yeabsley

John has been applying economic analysis to real world problems for more years than he cares to remember. His wide experience in the public and private sector includes time as a trade diplomat and policy advisor as well as being responsible for large scale service delivery. He has also been a Chief Executive and on the board of an investment bank.

His professional interests range from analysing the realities of trade policy negotiation to offering expert evidence in court. In a long career as a consultant he has worked on most aspects of the NZ economy. His publications include articles on immigration, competition and decision theory.

Energy lines Trusts through their sector body were thinking about ways of achieving economies of scale while not losing local links. We undertook an institutional comparative analysis of a series of different structural approaches selected to cover all the options. The upshot was a clear message about what was the most preferred one.

With this foundation analytical work the client was given a clear steer about the best route to follow up.

Under legislation the Fire Service Commission can recover the costs of putting out fires from those who ‘caused’ them. An electricity lines company was resisting paying for a recent fire. The text of the relevant Act and case precedent meant that we could produce evidence providing a law and economic analysis of the situation to illuminate the interpretation of the crucial wording. Our analysis fitted into the rest of the case materials by casting another perspective on the difficult task of interpreting the text.

The case was settled before proceeding to court.