If you follow the carbon market, and you should, it is yet another lesson in the abject failure that almost certainly results in gerrymandering markets.

Four times a year you bid for credits (offsets) to counter your polluting habits.

You do this because we signed up to Paris and made a bunch of promises we were never going to be able to keep.

By selling credits the Government has the potential income of about $2 billion a year. Except little, if any, of that happens because by and large people don’t turn up and bid.

And they fail to show up, broadly speaking, because people don’t believe a word the Government says on climate.

It's not just this Government. The last one was even worse.

They have tried to set a price for carbon credits, remembering of course that it's an entirely invented market. So it's a dart-at-a-board stuff at the best of times.

Of late the price was $52. Then it was $33 before settling back to about $40-something.

Enter Climate Minister Simon Watts. Now, he doesn’t normally talk about the market because that’s interference, the same way the Prime Minister doesn’t talk about the Reserve Bank.

But Simon has talked about the market, and he has done that because the Government are panicked.

He issued a reassurance that despite all the changes they are making around climate, the carbon market and the ETS are still a thing. We are still committed, it's still going to happen.

His commitments, he said, are firm.

Except, Simon, that’s the problem – no one believes you.

This is a Government that says one thing and does another. Don’t get me wrong, what, roughly, they are doing is the right thing.

The tide has gone out on climate. The promises are a bust. No one is going to make Net Zero, so the answer is stop pretending you are.

Science might come to the rescue and if it does, fantastic.

But the governmental promises around carbon and the ETS and car import duties is all BS. There is no better proof of that than the carbon market.

The market is calling the Government's bluff.

Carbon credits or snake oil? Same thing.

No one's buying figuratively and literally.

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At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.

Education: 8/10

The maths trial results this week were a tangible example of the simple truth that if you concentrate on something and work hard, you will win.

The All Blacks: 6/10

They did better than the critics seem to suggest. Rugby has changed but the attitude on expectation and winning hasn’t. This isn't 1986.

Regional councils: 8/10

Bold call, good call. We will be better off for the call.

Ginny Andersen and steak: 6/10

Who had her down as a surreptitious food stealer?

Rachel Reeves: 2/10

Have a look at her work on taxes and ask yourself how far-removed Barbara Edmonds is - or isn't.

Surrender by Thursday: 4/10

Wasn't that yet another harebrained thought bubble by a bloke who looks increasingly unhinged, or tired, or old, or mad. Or possibly all of those things.

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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 28th of November, Judith Collins speaks on the public inquiry to be held into the disappearance of Tom Phillips and his children.

Could we grow more coffee in New Zealand? And who knew we grew any sort of decent coffee here in the first place?

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson talk about the installation of Mike’s new TV and the legacy and impact of Simon Dallow as they Wrap the Week.

Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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It’s the simple question with seemingly no simple answer: why aren't more people excellent?

Naylor Love reported this week they are cracking the $1 billion revenue mark. They are an old company that has never cracked a billion.

Naylor Love are in construction. Construction is apparently having, or has had, a hell of a time of it.

So how is it a business in a tough sector can be so outstandingly successful?

They put it down to being good at complex projects. They do those well, the reputation grows, the word-of-mouth spreads and so it goes.

The other day I discovered a coffee roaster made by a company called Kaffelogic. Their machine is made in New Zealand.

The sadness is they are one of a handful left that produce appliances of any sort in New Zealand. The thing is their machine is world class because the bulk of professionals who enter roasting competitions use that machine.

So what that means is we can produce appliances, but don’t. Mostly that will be price related but like wine, or kiwifruit, or salmon, it seems there is nothing stopping us producing in small numbers if it is at the top end.

The same way there is nothing stopping Naylor Love booming in an industry that isn't booming.

The same way I can name you any number of restaurants and cafes that are doing very nicely, thank you, in a sector that is, according to press releases, in a world of trouble.

The same way, as we heard just this week, that despite all the job market downturns and tough times, at no time did it get any easier to find great talent.

No shortage of people. Just a shortage of excellence.

There seems to be a pattern here.

It seems a truism that no matter what you are surrounded by, no matter what the circumstances are, excellence will always shine and do well.

That if you are good, or dare we suggest excellent, at what you do, there is always a place for you not just to participate, but to succeed and even excel, while those around you flounder and complain and blame their lot.

Excellence is your ticket to wherever it is you want to go.

Don’t tell anyone. Heaven forbid it catches on.

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The week has come to an end, which means Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back with Mike Hosking to wrap it all up.

Mike ordered a new 85-inch TV and its installation has thrown the house into a bit of disarray. Kate’s been looking at the price of salmon, and they discuss the legacy and impact of Simon Dallow as he signs off as 6pm newsreader for the last time tonight.

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A shift in climate has opened the door to grow more coffee in the Far North.

Industry specialists have gathered near Kaikohe for the annual Coffee Producers Association conference.

New Zealand currently has about a dozen growers and more than seven thousand trees, with goals to scale-up production.

Association Chair Peter Sheppard told Mike Hosking we're in a zone where the climate has become warm enough to make the industry viable.

He says there’s huge potential in New Zealand, and they’re at the beginning of a really exciting journey.

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A mortgage advisor is joining the Finance Minister in urging banks to slash home loan rates.

Nicola Willis is asking them to pass on “as much as possible” in the wake of the Reserve Bank cutting the Official Cash Rate to 2.25%.

She says the banks have a stake in the economy, and passing the cuts on will make a significant difference.

Loan Market Mortgage Advisor Bruce Patten told Mike Hosking the banks are holding onto some really good margins at the moment.

He says he’d like to see them pass them on before Christmas – everyone needs it, so someone needs to make the move.

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The Government's move to shift e-scooter users from the sidewalk to bike lanes is being hailed as a win for common-sense.

ACC statistics for e-scooter injuries this year are close to surpassing $14 million.

There were also more than two thousand claims for e-scooter related injuries in the first half of this year.

Flamingo Scooters Co-Creator Jacksen Love told Mike Hosking it clears up confusion.

He says bike lanes are clearly a lot safer than the road and helps keep footpaths clear for pedestrians.

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