This article reproduces the paper for a speech given by Governor Alan Bollard on 14 July 2009 to the Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce, Napier, New Zealand. It argues that certain basic factors will promote sustainable growth and reduce the New Zealand economy’s vulnerability in the recovery phase following the global economic crisis of 2008-09. These factors are greater savings by households, to reduce the need for foreign funding of the economy; investment in the economy’s productive base, particularly in the tradable sector; and greater durability and depth in funding markets, including a lengthened maturity structure for bank funding. The speech also looks at the major drivers of the crisis and world recovery, and the impact of the crisis on New Zealand.