Man, what a gloomy way of reporting.
The NZD is down - great, we can actually export more product and get money flow into the country instead of out. This is a good thing - really!
Stop all this "ball and chain" nonsense and just use the facts. Low NZD is good for this country, unless all people want is a cheap TV.

I think what would be most needed is a currency value based on the country's real trade in productive goods, not speculation. Whatever that value is, high or low, that is what should set a fair value of exchange for other goods and services. Anything else is not reflecting the real capacity of the country to exchange its own goods & services for those we need or want from overseas trading partners.

But i am sure any 'expert economist' will swiftly try to kill that kind of argument, as it would mean speculative fluctuations should be tried to be avoided through some sort of regulation. And we can't have this! Hail to the open 'free market'.... Did I just say FREE??

Even less chance of our real wages catching up with Aussie as our dollar slides into The Ditch. 2025, was it, Don? Oh. He's busy with his new job.

Yes but wait we will have to pay more for imported goods - namely petrol and other important consumables.. don't jump for joy just yet - very coin has two sides.

With you there guys, this low dollar is bad...bad i say!

Under the current monetary and fiscal system in NZ there isn't really any other way than to run an export led economy. Therefor a low dollar of say 55c is the best way. Why do you guys think China kept their currency pegged to the US dollar...? Also the reality is that Socialism (inefficiency) is here to stay in NZ so forget about competitive & efficient free markets, we have to do what we can with the voting block we've got hence why we have a conservative govt afraid to do anything to rock the boat... it's more of the same people.

A lower NZD is really only good if the money from trade receipts are recycled back into the economy in such a way that wages ultimately rise to compensate for rising costs associated by the lower dollar. Since most of the trade receipts are actually used to repay debt, I would argue that a lower NZD does not have the impact many expect.

As is said, under the current (broken) system a low dollar is the only way.

Complete monetary reform is actually what's required but we can forget that ever happening so move on.

Well the generally held assumption is that a lower NZD will make NZ inc "earn more", and its true that our receipts will nominally be in fact more. But like any business, its net profit at the end of the day that actually matters. A lower NZD will bring both more income but equally more expenses, so I would argue that out net profitability hasn't changed. But when you then look at households the situation becomes worse because wage growth would be lagging price inflation.

I understand about the advantages of a lower $. Im very happy about it as my investments are almost entirely in Aust. Can someone tell me what it does to our overseas debt?

Matt, it's possible that the increased income won't come straight down to staff, but sustained improved income will - note sustained and not a volatile NZD.
Put is the other way - a high dollar = less exports and less places for people to have a job to buy the newly cheap TV, etc. Whish would you prefer?

A lower dollar means more of those stunningly beautiful young German tourists I saw in Dunedin , Queenstown and Hokitika !!!.................. Dive you fecking dollar ...........plummet and belly flop !!!

Novo.. my point was that a lower dollar is not all it seems.. it comes with a flip-side, a trade-off if you will. Without going into the feedback loops, consider this ..

-- A lower NZD, combined with low interest rates = increased farm incomes. I can tell you the first thing that will happen will be another boom in farm property prices .. a little slack in the economy and us kiwi's are busy leveraging ourselves up to the eyeballs in debt again ..

A lower NZD = a better economy for us all is nothing more than wishful thinking... but just my 2c.

MattS - doesn't necessarily mean a boom in farm prices. With three of the major lenders who between them hold 60% of rural debt, shutting their loan books, banks are not going to be lending to farmers anymore based on 'capital gain' potential. Strong cashflows are the only thing banks are interested in now. Any dairy farmer worth their salt will be expecting volatility in dairy prices so will be prudent with their cash and making sure they have saved for when the payout falls again. A banker down south told me the only ones buying farms at the mo are sheep and beef farmers, as the dairy farmers are no longer in the game. And even then only the ones with economy of scale.
If we see a fall in commodity prices, which I believe we will,farmers will not be any better off. Frankly as a farmer, I prefer to see a dollar at around $0.60-0.65centsUS.