In New Zealand, there is a train of thought that the Wellington regional economy is relatively “recession proof” given the high number of public servants. However, according to EconLog this isn’t necessarily the case in capital territories. The money quote has to be: It turns out that outlandish pay increases for public sector unions are […]
On Thursday the Reserve Bank is going to take another look at interest rates – and they will also be releasing a new set of forecasts. Like last time, lets try to describe the Reserve Bank’s decision and state what they are likely to do (rather than stating what we think they should do). Essentially, […]
The June terms of trade numbers (due out on Wednesday) are likely to come in lower than they did in March – as a result of the huge lift in petrol prices over the quarter. However, even so, New Zealand’s terms of trade will still be at a historically elevated level. A higher terms of […]
The latest(August) Barefoot sales statistics are now available. In the news release we are told that sales have fallen sharply since July while prices have risen. However, if we take into consideration what we discussed last time, we will remember that the sale of an apartment block both biased down prices and increased sales in […]
When I drink on Friday I suffer from a commitment problem (likely stemming from my own time inconsistency *). Fundamentally, before drinking I don’t want to go into town and drink too much (as I have work to do on Saturday), the next day I would prefer it if I hadn’t drunk a lot, but […]
Following the improvement in business confidence, New Zealand has now experienced a rebound in consumer confidence: Source (Roy Morgan) Now consumer confidence is still at low levels compared to recent history – however, it is now in net “optimistic” territory, a sure sign that consumers are becoming more willing to open their wallets. Furthermore, the […]