According to their recent official cash rate decision they might: The reduction in domestic spending will be partly offset by the depreciation of the New Zealand dollar over the past few months, falling oil prices (emphasis added) and the recent loosening of fiscal policy Now I have no problem with this view – hell we […]
Over at Econlog Arnold Kling takes to task virtually all mainstream Macroeconomists for there “description” of the current economic crisis. This combined with my reading last night on reductionism in economics (I think it was Robert Frank Kevin Hoover – although I have now forgotten as it was an essay in a larger book) currently […]
Thanks goodness – they have changed the deposit insurance scheme such that the premium depends on risk!!!! We have discussed that here (*, *, *, *). Also they have capped the amount you can insure at $1m – very good. The one concern left is the wholesale market. With no wholesale insurance available the wholesale […]
So the OCR is now down to 6.5%. This was in line with market expectations given recent credit market turmoil. According to the statement “ongoing financial market turmoil and a deteriorating outlook for global growth have played a large role in shaping today’s decision” – consistent with the view of the market Although I was […]
Often in New Zealand we bemoan the fact that so much of our “skilled labour” is heading overseas. This concern is fine – however, looking at this factor by itself does not tell us anything about the change in our skill base domestically. In a paper by Satish Chand and Michael Clemens it is claimed […]
To put my personal value judgments out initially, I generally DO NOT think that government (through fiscal policy) can be blamed for inflation. However, among many people, and even many economists there is a feeling that government is to blame in some way. Personally, I completely blame monetary policy for the failure to control inflation […]