Economy Watch

Kia ora, Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news China seems to be struggling to find its way through the wreckage of its property crisis. The Chinese central bank left both its 1- and 5-year rates unchanged in their mo...

Renting in New Zealand today is more difficult than a decade ago, with fewer properties available, rents continuing to increase, and the quality of rental properties not much better, Shamubeel Eaqub says. However, the economist and co-author of the 2015 book Generation Rent, rethinking New Zealand's priorities , says it's not all bad news. Speaking in the latest episode of interest.co.nz's  Of Int...

Kia ora, Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news metals prices eye a boost from the Chinese housing rescue. But first in the week ahead, it will be one dominated by the RBNZ's Wednesday Monetary Policy Statement, one tha...

Kia ora, Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news the ECB is warning investors aren't taking geopolitical risks into account nearly enough. But first in China, we are getting reports that Beijing is developing a plan to s...

Kia ora, Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news financial markets are in a risk on mood today. First, the April US inflation rate brought no surprises, coming in as expected at 3.4%, a dip albeit a small one, from Ma...

Kia ora, Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news about the latest and pre-election Aussie Budget delivered overnight. But first, the American retail Redbook Index rose +6.3% last week from the same week a year ago, su...

Kia ora, Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news China seems to be on the cusp of bringing back its traditional stimulus play to bolster its misfiring economy. But first up today there is more evidence US inflation isn'...

Kia ora, Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news of generally modest and uninspiring economic data. We start today with updates from China. Their April CPI came in +0.3% higher than a year ago, low but not as low as expe...

Kia ora, Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with that there is a surprise renewed jump in global shipping freight rates underway again. But first, new US jobless claims rose last week. The headline seasonally adjusted rate "s...

Kia ora, Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news market-moving data is scarce today but investors should be reading the latest US CBO update. First, there was only a modest rise in consumer debt in March, up a mere +1....

Kia ora, Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news the positive global economic news rolls on, despite the best efforts of some regional forces to risk everything with crazy adventures. First, today's dairy auction brou...

Kia ora, Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news the global service sector is in reasonable shape, helping generate new impetus to the world's economy. Equity markets are rising the wave. In China, their private Caixin...

Kia ora, Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news the American labour market data for April seemed to have something for everyone. But first, in the coming week it will be relatively quiet, especially on the US data front...

Kia ora, Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news the OECD sees a world economy in recovery and about to expand at an increased rate, despite the many challenges. It is a perspective of resilience. But first in the US, jo...

Kia ora, Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news today's Fed positioning is less hawkish that markets had expected. The US Fed policy announcement today brought no change in their rate targets at 5.25-5.50%. They did n...

Kia ora, Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news that as we await our local labour market report, the global economy is expanding modestly, but inflation isn't killed off yet. First in the US labour costs rose +4.2% i...

Kia ora, Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news that today we are in the quiet period before some big news coming up in the rest of the week, starting with our own labour market data out tomorrow, and the US Fed rate r...

Kia ora, Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news that jobs will be in focus this week. In the week ahead, all eyes will be on the US Fed's interest rate decision on Wednesday, followed closely by their April labour marke...

Kia ora, Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news all about American GDP and reactions to the first quarter results. US economic activity expanded an annualised +1.6% in Q1-2024, compared to +3.4% in the previous quarter...

With economic growth no longer producing benefits seen in the past such as raising living standards for the middle class, and human activity having exceeded some planetary boundaries, it's time to embrace degrowth, argues Jennifer Wilkins. Wilkins is a researcher and advocate on sustainability in business with a focus on degrowth. In a new episode of interest.co.nz's  Of Interest podcast , she dis...

Kia ora, Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news the world's factories are getting busier, especially in India. But first, the strong run of American retail sales is continuing. Sales at bricks & mortar stores on a sa...

Kia ora, Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news markets are waiting for some big earnings reports, especially from Big Tech in the US. They are waiting in a positive mood. But first in the US, the Chicago Fed's Nationa...

Kia ora, Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news the ongoing rise in the world economy is shifting some key metals prices into a bull-run. But first a look ahead. The American data to be updated this week will be their a...

For open banking to really grab people's attention the focus needs to be on the services it can enable, rather than the technology behind it, says Andrew Dentice. In the latest episode of interest.co.nz's  Of Interest podcast ,  Dentice, a technology lawyer and partner at HudsonGavinMartin, discusses the data sharing that enables open banking, what open banking actually is, why progress towards it...

Kia ora, Welcome to Friday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand. I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz. And today we lead with news that while we weren't watching a few people are making financial bets so large they could hurt us all. In its latest global financial stability report , the IMF says near-...