There is a growing call for rate cuts to the OCR in New Zealand given the high unemployment rate, indications that the September quarter was very weak, and the fact people are pissed off that the weakness in the New Zealand economy has been so persistent! Now I’m not going to go one way or […]
For all the talk both within New Zealand and abroad not enough time is given to the hypothesis that it is in fact improvements in technology that are “hollowing out” the manufacturing sector … and that what we really need to help the unemployed is availability to skills training, rather than trying to prop up […]
At work we are writing occasional articles for the fine people over at Rates Blog at the moment. I’ve decided to focus on an issue that will get people irritated – an explanation of the GFC where I largely defend economists (although admiting that the mainstream missed the development of the shadow banking sector). I’ve […]
Labour has an interesting proposal to build state houses. I know some other economists who have a more intimate knowledge of the building industry, and they tend to agree with the concept. From what I can tell the justification is: The credit market for builders/developers/housing is dysfunctional at present and there is no direct solution. […]
A big deal was made during the release of the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) of the decline in construction employment. According to the HLFS, employees in the construction industry (including the self-employed) fell 4.0% from a year earlier in the September quarter – even as New Zealand’s second biggest city was supposed to be […]
Some links. Marginal Revolution. Mainly Macro. Summary: The implied impact of fiscal policy at the ZLB is the same channel as direct monetary policy (such as QE). Response is, yes but we have more certainty about the impact of fiscal policy. Sidenote: As the central bank directly does balance sheet management instead of changing the […]