In the years following the pandemic's arrival, New Zealand's Reserve Bank held the levers of monetary policy too still for too long, allowing an economy that had recovered faster than expected to run far beyond its sustainable limits. A review released today finds that inflation reaching 7.3 percent and a damaging boom-bust cycle were not merely the product of global forces, but of institutional caution, structural blind spots, and a mandate that quietly shifted the bank's priorities. The consequences, the reviewers note, are still being absorbed — a reminder that the timing of restraint can m