Yes, Kate. Not exactly reassuring. Not even a well-crafted piece of PR. Dr Bollard's spinner needs to write some better lines, and avoid raising rather more questions than the sentence answers.

S&P's negative outlook on NZ is to me one of the "be worried" flags because of the potential consequences of the warning. I'm looking for some real leadership in NZ on the economic stiutation, but all that seems to exist is a "don't frighten the horses" approach from Bollard. Is John Key distracted or just not telling until he must? Do any of them know what to do, or are they acting rather like rabbits caught in the headlights of the global meltdown? I had hoped the former head of forex at a major bank might have figured out the economy was not looking good. but I'm not hearing any real 'vision' from any of them.

It's time to deal the public in.

Ruru....will S&P see Fonterra's burgeoning mountain of milk powder as pseudo money in the bank for farmers and bond holders (don't mention it is tainted by the smell of Sanlu) ? This swelling vault of milk money 'underpinning' the rural economy has a used by date when it will be become as valuable as toxic CDO's!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4848508a13.html

Vision like underpinning were key (pun) corporate eco$peak words...You say, rabbits blinded by headlights...no possums flat on the road....Japan and NZ evidently have something in common...no leadership...

I have asked previously why can't Dr B and JK can't see the reality and magnitude of the regression. Why do we know and they don't know ...or are they scared to tell the public the truth...bluff won't work...this is not a pokergame?

All the toxic mortgage bonds created by the US Investment Banks had AAA ratings from S&P. Therefore NZ's AA+ credit rating doesn't mean much either. Bollard's credibility in the Financial Markets disappeared a lnog time ago. I can't see him lasting much longer under a National Govt. However his replacement will be just as useless as the vast majority of neo-classsical economists are clueless about what is happenning in the real world economy. Steve Keen in Australia is one of the best commentators on the current financial crisis with regard to Central Banks being unable to foresee this catastrophe occurring and even more incapable of providing worthwhile solutions.

This so called confidence tour was not so much that as a cap in the hand begging tour as under taken by the like s of Nash and Muldoon during past account deficit debt repayment crisis. The reason our bailout package is miniscule is that the central banks are saying we are that far in the stook that they wont even lend us anymore of their created credit unless it is at very usurous rates or our internal banks put up their/our mortgages/housing as colateral. These massive physcal stimulation packages of created credit are only going to do to the international reserve currency what the same measures did to the Zimbawean currency.
I believe we are facing imminent state owned asset sales and privitisation of most every public service, unless an alternative monetary system replaces the current privately owned pyramid scam. If you think the National Party Cabinet Executive are in there fighting against this on behalf of the basically decent majority of NZ citizens and business owners, you had better think again, these people are in this up to their eyeballs for personal gain. Laiz faire(anything goes), caveat emptor(buyer beware), law of the jungle is all they abide by.

I was really feel like sharing with as many people as I could bout this. It really worth it. I funded my trading account 6 months ago with $5,000 and now my account has a Profit of $18,000.