Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.
What will it take for NZ to be a ‘rockstar’ economy again?
New Zealand should aspire to become a “rockstar” economy again, but it will take some work to get there. That is according to HSBC chief economist for Australia and NZ Paul Bloxham, who made headlines a decade ago when he said New Zealand would be the “rockstar economy of 2014”.
Could cauliflower ice cream and tamarillo chocolate be our export future?
Think about how New Zealand promotes its food and fibre exports and your mind probably goes to bucolic, rolling landscapes dotted with cattle and snowy peaks in the background. It’s a comfortable, if not dominant, image of New Zealand’s primary industries. But is it out of date? Or even plain wrong? Is it time for a more sophisticated approach to understanding consumer demand? Professor Joanne Hort politely says yes.
Five data points that show the New Zealand economy may be in worse shape than you think
New Zealand’s economy is going through an undeniable downturn. Unemployment is up, gross domestic product (GDP) is down and sentiment has fallen significantly. But economists warn that the situation may be worse than the headline figures indicate. Here are five things that could show that the economy is in worse shape than you think.
Tony Alexander: In the most dangerous part of the cycle – time to call it quits?
The decline of sufficient cash flows for many businesses will initially be accepted as temporary. But as the owner trims costs, perhaps sells off assets to shore things up, there comes a point where it will be clear that continuation of the business is not possible. The problem is that the owner is probably not going to acknowledge this situation until it is too late to save some capital, their home, their marriage and maybe their health, says independent economist Tony Alexander.
Wool pigments tick environmental box
Wool Source chief executive Tom Hooper is confident wool-sourced pigments are a big commercial opportunity once the barriers to getting them to market are overcome.
The staggering number of people expected to be unemployed before peak
Another 26,000 people may find themselves out of work before the peak in unemployment is reached, forecasters say.
Farming families facing ‘huge pressure’
A recent Federated Farmers banking survey showed that one in four farmers reported coming under undue pressure from their bank.“Rural banking issues are nearing crisis point and farmers are quickly losing confidence,” Richard McIntyre the lobby group’s commerce and competition spokesman said.
Check before you tap: Consumer warning over PayWave surcharges
PayWave — the ability to make a purchase with the tap of a credit or debit card — has taken off in recent years, but with convenience, there is always a cost. Now, most payment machines display a sign warning of a surcharge — and that surcharge is not the same everywhere.
Mining ‘back in business’ with plan to double export value
Resources Minister Shane Jones released a draft minerals sector strategy at a community meeting in Blackball – “the heart of mining country” – on the West Coast. The Government projects the strategy, if implemented, would double the already more than $1 billion value of exports, bringing it to $2 billion by 2035, and result in over 2000 more jobs.
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