Mieke Welvaert recently discussed gift giving, pointing out that it was significantly more complicated than the “just give cash” statement Matt Nolan made a few years back. For example a gift is an inherently different good to the same self-purchased product – I good is not just the set of physical properties that constitute it: There […]
Continuing his discussion of the tourism industry (here and here), Benje Patterson has decided to have a deeper look through the regional figures (Infometrics link). The analysis is built on the following graph: What each quadrant means, and why territorial authorities are where they are, is discussed in the article.
Recent statistics indicate that households are ramping up the number of goods and services they are buying. With debt levels still elevated and the spectre of the Global Financial Crisis still fresh in our minds is this a cause for concern? Gareth Kiernan indicates that perhaps current spending behaviour is more ‘sustainable’ than meets the […]
After the most recent Financial Stability Review in New Zealand, Benje Patterson has decided to have a look into whether dairy farm debt really is a significant financial stability risk – and what this means for macroprudential policy (Infometrics link). His conclusion: On balance, it seems that a sharp correction to both dairy and farm […]
This time, David Grimmond discusses the loan-to-value speed limits that the RBNZ introduced from October 1 (Infometrics link). David covers a range of concerns about LVR’s in his piece, however he is also concerned about whether having a central bank use such policies is appropriate and whether it is really a reasonable part of their […]
Benje Patterson decided to discuss the incentives he faces when deciding to whip out the credit card to pay for purchases (Infometrics link). After discussing the benefits he gets from different rewards schemes he points out: These benefits sound too good to be true, but they really aren’t, so long as you maintain the same […]