Here's our summary of key economic events over the holiday weekend that affect New Zealand, with news China is at a pandemic turning point, forced on them by a stuttering economy. It is not necessarily a positive turn.
We are ending the year with fallout from the growing stresses over China's new pandemic management. China will no longer require visitors to quarantine from January 8. They are emerging from three years of self-imposed global isolation under their Covid Zero policies, policies that hurt their economy and caused widespread public frustration.
With demand at home tanking, Chinese manufacturers are prioritising exports. But with Western supply chains full, and a fast-growing reluctance to rely on supply from China, the options for these suppliers are closing on them. Some are getting desperate. And prices for Chinese supply are falling very fast, even on a weekly basis.
Competitors in Asia and beyond are facing Chinese suppliers cutting prices hard. And that is making their life a misery. Trading rules (about dumping) can't respond fast enough. Prices for plastics and steel prices are at the forefront of this shift. Places like India, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan are feeling the brunt of the desperation. Chinese steel exports have risen +28% while prices have fallen -40%. The squeeze is intense. The story is similar for many grades of industrial plastics with prices down -25%. Solar panel component prices fell by -10% in just the past two weeks.
Also not helping is that the global car industry is cutting its sourcing from China, and rather quickly. The changed visitor policies are unlikely to reverse the trend.
This shift is very sudden, and as competitors respond, prices fall and availability rises. This is sure to put sharp downward pressures on producer prices, and renew the possibility of deflation returning.
The grim trade pressures are mirrored by grim pandemic measures at home. Beijing city is under threat and orders have gone out to protect the center of power. Several provinces have sent medical teams to the capital, despite criticism from local health officials and workers that they, too, are stretched to their limits. That is sure to continue resentment in a cascading series of what citizens see as missteps.
In their economy, China reported foreign direct investment growing less than +10% from November a year ago, which is a fast reducing pace. They are calling it 'stable".
And China's industrial profits fell further in official data to November. They had suspended this reporting for the three prior months, and that catchup is hardly believable. It is likely that the real situation is worse as State Owned Enterprises borrowed heavily to meet Beijing's requirements to mitigate the impact of the slowing economy.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese industrial production is under pressure from the full-court press by the Beijing team, and came in down -4.9% from the same month a year ago. Beijing's economic freeze is taking its toll, and now China's natural demand pull is softening fast too.
Taiwanese retail sales are losing out as well as their citizens grow worried about the China grip. They are now barely above year-ago levels and not even making inflation's expansion now.
So it is little surprise that Taiwanese consumer sentiment is very weak.
Japanese inflation rose to 3.8% in November, its highest in more than 40 years. Their price rises are broadening and will pressure the Bank of Japan to ease off on its long-running and massive stimulus. In fact the Japanese government bond yield turned solidly positive at the end of last week in a building trend that markets see a change in policy coming. Then again, events are moving fast for them. That trade pressure from China may involve yet a new calculus. Meanwhile, Japan is tightening controls on visitors from China.
Across the Pacific the giant American economy is ending with mixed economic signals, but consistent with the easing inflation pressure the US Fed is trying to manage consistent with a 2023 soft landing. Certainly the American economy is in far better shape than most analysts and pundits had assumed, both at the start of 2022, and even just three months ago. The resilience is impressive. But will it last?
US durable goods orders however came in much lower than expected. They were down -2.1% in November from October and their worst month-on-month result since the 2020 pandemic shock. However they are ending the year +6.3% of year-ago levels and keeping up with inflation. Capital goods orders were up +4.6% on that same basis and not quite keeping up.
Retail inventories were unchanged in November from October, but wholesale inventories picked up sharply, up a full +1.0%. Partly that is because consumers are buying less electronics. And it was also despite an unusual fall in imports, delivering a sharply reduced trade deficit in November. American exports did grow however.
Meanwhile inflation's impulse seems to be moderating there. Their widely watched PCE price index was up +5.5% in November, a notable reduction from the +6.1% rate in October. "Better" still, the month on month rise was at an annualised +1.5% rate, the least in four months and well below the annualised +5% rate in October from September. In November, incomes are still rising at a +5% annualised rate, so faster than expenditures. Overall, these trends are positive.
Also positive was the rise in new home sales in November, up +5.8% from October when a fall was expected. But that can't hide the fact that they are running substantially slower than year ago levels, about -15%. Still, there was an unusual boom over the pandemic, so they are really just lack to pre-pandemic levels again.
And the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey not only confirmed the rising mood, it came in above their flash result. Although it is not back to year-ago levels, it seems to be on its way. Helping are the American petrol prices which continue to edge down. And at this time of year heating oil prices are important for many families and they too are now well off their June highs and back to February 2022 levels. Administration management of these pressures seems impressive in hindsight.
The massive spending bill just approved by Congress (8% of GDP) will flow through their economy in 2023, much of it in local industrial production, not insignificantly because to get Republican support, an outsized part was for the Pentagon. There will be international flow throughs however, not the least being enhanced support for Ukraine's defence.
In Germany the mood is brightening as we have reported earlier in the week, partly because the weather is cooperating. But there remain questions about whether this will translate into higher personal spending in the face of threats on their borders. The German savings instinct may crimp their economy.
We should also note that insurers are now pulling back from covering ships that trade with Russia, and this is likely to roil oil and gas markets.
The war on Ukraine is about to heat up. The winter has been milder there than usual, meaning the mud has stayed longer than expected. When it freezes allowing heavy military vehicles to move, both side are gearing up for new attacks and counter-attacks. Things will be tense until the Spring thaw as Russia throws men into the southern and eastern meat-grinder battles. The inability of the Russians to change tactics as they suffer enormous losses is striking.
The UST 10yr yield started today at 3.85%, and up another +10 bps from Christmas Eve. The UST 2-10 rate curve is little-changed at -57 bps. But their 1-5 curve is noticeably less inverted at -77 bps, while their 30 day-10yr curve has moved back more positive, now at +13 bps. The Australian ten year bond is up +1 bp at 3.84%. The China Govt ten year bond is up +3 bps at 2.92%. And the New Zealand Govt ten year will start today little-changed at 4.41%.
On Wall Street, the S&P500 is softish, down -0.2% in Tuesday trading. That makes it -20% lower for the year so far. Particularly painful is the Tesla share price fall, down -72% from the start of 2022 so far, and down -8.4% just today. European markets ended about +0.5% firmer, although London didn't trade overnight. Yesterday, Tokyo ended up +0.2%, Hong Kong ended down -0.4%. But Shanghai rose a full +1.0% on their opening up news. Of course, neither the ASX200 nor the NZX50 traded yesterday.
The price of gold will open today at US$1814/oz and up +US$16 from yesterday.
And oil prices start today up +US$1 from pre-Christmas levels at just under US$81/bbl in the US while the international Brent price is just under US$86/bbl.
The Kiwi dollar opened today at 62.4 USc and down -¼c from this time yesterday. Against the Australian dollar we are a little softer too at 93.1 AUc. Against the euro we are just under 59 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at 71 and down -20 bps.
The bitcoin price is now at US$16,653 and down -1.5% from this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has again been modest at just under +/- 1.5%.
The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».
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111 Comments
China is kaput.
Chinese people have rushed to book overseas travel after Beijing announced it would reopen its borders next month. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64102176
I for one welcome our regime-fleeing friends.
As long as they don't bring some hideous new Covid variant with them.
This is the world as it has been for thousands of years, where bacteria and viruses have always evolved and we have lived on through :-)
... yes , but back then they didn't have epidemiologists and modelers to scare them witless ...
They either died a little bit ... or , survived & carried on regardless ...
... so much better now , huh ! ...
We as humanity, not we as individuals.
That might mean some serious imported deflation though as they lower their prices.
Where's our buddy Xingmowang got to ?
.... we could do with a good laugh , at his take on how China is showing us the way in all things political & economic ... and Covid ...
"the hidden non-performing loans of the "Big Four" Chinese state banks would likely bring down China's financial system and its communist government"
"The end of the modern Chinese state is near. The People's Republic has five years, perhaps ten, before it falls"
Not news...
Are Central Banks Going Bankrupt? Morgan Stanley Makes A Striking Observation
As a sidenote, based on average Treasury yields at the various points that the Fed has expanded its balance sheet, we estimate that the Federal Reserve’s $9 trillion balance sheet is now underwater. If the Fed was an actual bank, and if banks marked their assets to market value, the Fed would be insolvent. Of course, the Fed doesn’t mark to market, nor have banks done so since the early-2009 market low, when the Financial Accounting Standards Board relaxed FAS Rule 157 (which is actually what ended the global financial crisis – by making bank insolvency opaque). In effect, the Fed has created liabilities for which there is now no corresponding asset, and now finds itself wandering into fiscal policy, which is the sole domain of Congress. Needless to say, nobody cares.
Even without capital losses (which can be recovered by holding the bonds to maturity), the Fed will also go underwater if the interest it pays on reserve balances exceeds the interest it earns on the bonds it purchased. In this case, the Fed can be expected to book any loss as a “deferred asset.” As Ben Bernanke explained before Congress years ago, when the Fed books a loss as an asset, “it is an asset in the sense that embodies a future economic benefit that will be realized as a reduction of future cash outflows.”
What Bernanke meant with that hand-waving gibberish is this: Fed normally returns the interest received on its asset holdings back to the Treasury, for the benefit of the public. If the Fed’s bond purchases lose money, that interest will instead be used to cover losses. See, “it is an asset in the sense that it embodies a future economic benefit [to the Fed] that will be realized as a reduction of future cash outflows [to the public].” Yay. Link
Ukraine war tolls death knell for NATO
Biden has understood that Russia cannot be defeated in Ukraine; nor are Russian people in any mood for an insurrection. Putin’s popularity is soaring high, as Russian objectives in Ukraine are being steadily realised. Thus, Biden is getting a vague sense, perhaps, that Russia isn’t exactly seeing things in Ukraine as a binary of victory and defeat, but is gearing up for the long haul to sort out NATO once and for all.
Seemingly Russia is poised for a spring/summer offensive westwards just as the Wehrmacht was in 1942, ironically enough, eastwards. During WW2 both sides knew full well that the key to that front was Kharkov. Twice the Germans captured Kharkov, twice it was recaptured by the Russians. These big battles are often overlooked as they did not quite develop into sieges. However strategically the city was vital, as it controls from its northward position, any movement southwards east of the Dnieper. Russia currently has been pushed back in the southeast over the Dnieper, bridges are long gone, any new landed invasion to the west will require first to capture Kharkov. In WW2 Russia had an extremely economic regard for the lives and wellbeing of its troops and today this reportedly, has not altered much. If Russia mounts a new large scale offensive and fails to capture Kharkov and stalls, then the ultimate fate suffered by the Wehrmacht is very likely and then the question will be raised by the Russian people, on a very large scale, for what purpose are our sons fighting and coming home in body bags.
Hmmmm....
Ukraine’s General Zaluzhny shared with the Economist a “wishlist” of weapons he claimed he needed in order to restore the February 23, 2022 borders of what Kiev claims is Ukraine. The list included 300 tanks, 600-700 infantry fighting vehicles, and 500 howitzers – numbers NATO couldn’t provide Ukraine no matter how much it wants to.
This “wishlist” follows Ukraine expending a massive reserve made up of weapons, vehicles, and ammunition the collective West transferred to Ukraine ahead of the so-called Kharkov and Kherson offensives. In addition to losing multiple brigades worth of men, huge amounts of equipment were also lost as Russian ground forces withdrew and instead used long-range weapons to strike at Ukrainian forces now out from behind well-laid defenses.
The temporary political points Ukraine’s offensives gained by taking territory came at the cost of expending the vast majority of what the West could afford to transfer to Ukraine.
A growing number of admissions are now being made regarding the limits of Western aid to Ukraine.
Yeah. Russia will get where its going and deserves to go.
I would take articles like this sourced from India with a grain of salt it not based on reality
Nice piece of Russian propoganda there Audaxes..do you believe it somehow?
Ukraine is stuffed, on Aljazeera just yesterday the power grid is going to take years to fix and the first winter is now here. Ukraine will be forced to negotiate or all the people there will be forced to leave, either way Russia wins.
Russia wins how?
Russia survives when NATO leaves.
The are no wins in a war. The most stupidity of human intelligence is trying to win something by killing the other person. Ask a mother whose son is killed. More importantly ask the mother whose son kills the other but then lives with post traumatic disorders.
We say humans are intelligent, no they are not by a far measure.
Forced to negotiate is assumptive. It may take years to rebuild but that will be done with Western help. Ukraine is fighting for a reason - Russia has given so many reasons for the "special military operation" most of them laughable, that it makes them seem confused right to the very top. I think Russia believed it would be over in ten days - and many in the West did as well. Ukraine would be occupied before the West could react, the West would go "oh well" and life would continue as normal for Russia.
Putin had to give a reason for the SMO which seemed plausible but didn't reflect his true aims (if you can determine what are or were the SMO aims). The key to the Black Sea is Crimea and the strategic advantage it gives. Problem is it lacks one important thing - water. Ukraine dammed the canal that supplies water to Crimea back in 2014. Consequently Crimea suffered. Those in Crimea were starting to complain - Putin needed to save his legacy. The ferry couldn't supply Crimea with it's needs so the bridge was build. That was still not enough.- a land bridge was needed and the water needed to be restored. Hence the SMO.
The problem with Russia is that you can't mobilize and then politize. The Russian people for the most part abdicated any interest in pollical life so when it time to mobilize there just wasn't the willingness nor understanding - there was no Russian national ideology.
While if Russia is ejected from Ukraine and there is no substantial change if leadership in Russia there will be vengeful Russia on Ukraine's doorstep. This could prove problematic for Ukraine.
Don't forget the ethnic component Bad Robot. It's Russian speakers versus Ukrainian speakers.
Ethnic conflicts are evil, especially there is no border line you can draw that is correct.
Aye. Holodomor. Pre and post WW2. Not even reached its 100 year anniversary. Ukrainians will not have forgotten, there will be some of them still alive from then, and from what has taken place so far, at the hands of the Russian occupiers, nor would they expect Putin to be any of a softer prospect than Stalin.
Fourteen thousand dead civilians between 2014 and 2022 in the DNR and the Luhansk. I am just amazed how people continually memory hole things that happened just a few years ago. The narrative remains of course.
Fake news. The deaths started when Vlad sent his mercenaries into a neighbouring sovereign state. Some things never change, when a country is run by "El Presidente for life".
You have confused two things palmtree. This has been a conflict since 2014 with the commonest death estimate of 14,000.
Be careful before crowing 'fake'.
Oh no KH, definitely fake. I posted a reference that didn't refute directly what the above Kremlin apologist was trying astroturf us with, because I couldn't quickly find the document I was looking for. Now I have spent some of my precious time off, to track down what I couldn't quickly do before. "Total conflict-related casualties in Ukraine in 2014-20217 OHCHR estimates the total number of conflict-related casualties in Ukraine from 14 April 2014 to 31 December 2021 to be 51,000–54,0008 : 14,200-14,400 killed (at least 3,404 civilians, estimated 4,400 Ukrainian forces , and estimated 6,500 members of armed groups, and 37-39,000 injured (7,000–9,000 civilians, 13,800–14,200 Ukrainian forces and 15,800-16,200 members of armed groups"
Ah yes, the 'Indian Punchline'.
Thank heavens that we live in a world where the evil intentions of the mass media can be countered by the personal blog of a retired Indian diplomat. What would we do without such credible & well informed journalism?
Taiwan’s defense ministry said China sent 71 warplanes and seven naval vessels on “strike drills” — rehearsals for conflict — into its air-defense zone on Monday.
Chinese authorities are desperate for a win to quell dissent among its people.
Something worth paying attention to. The BBB-rated US corporate bond market has grown to be roughly $4 trillion big. Given the massive tightening in 2022, one should expect some rating downgrades in 2023. Many institutional investors can’t buy junk bonds. So: who is going to? Link
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Departmental-Papers-Policy-Papers/I…
IMF report unnoticed (?) by MSM. Quick take: NZ features heavily for all the wrong reasons.
Useful link. Thank you.
Wow ! ...that's an awesome report , thanks ...
... I note that from its peak in Q3 1974 , house prices in NZ plunged 38.2 % by Q4 1980 , the bottom of the trough ... a grinding 26 quarters of falling house prices ...
This time around , will history repeat , given how astoundingly overpriced housing is compared to other countries and compared to affordability ... we're leading the world ...
Certainly - low priced failed export orders dumped locally at bargain prices.
Striking isn’t it GBH how those words “world leading” no longer appear daily in our government announcements nor in the patsy media coverage.
... the word " transformational " seems to be missing now , too ...
" Lamingtons " is getting a good workout ... for sure , the Lamingtons are flying ...
Still being kind abounds. Otherwise the adjective “little” which is commonly part of the insult, may well have been included in the unladylike off mike description of the leader of the ACT Party. Suggests, as election theme song next year, Glenn Campbell - Try a Little Kindness?
... don't get me wrong , " let's be kind " is an awesome concept ... love it ... but , shouldn't they practise it , not just preach it ... otherwise , they look like such a bunch of arrogant pr*cks ...
As kind as the PM! you chose to omit “Little” too.
... ah ... gotcha ... Ms Ardern is trying a little kindness ... not a big lot of kindness ... but a very little kindness ... a wafer thin kindness ... the littlest kindness possible before we need to crank up the James Webb telescope to locate it ...
Is this referring to the 'Little' that has been done by Mr Little in the healthcare sector. My all nighter in Wellington Hospital early Decemer can confirm this, as well as all of the nurses' sentiments.
As Dr Reti has repeatedly highlighted the extra $ millions touted as being spent on healthcare has largely been dedicated to a new headquarters and structure for the MoH in Wellington and the multitude of consultants hired to facilitate that and install an alternative branch designated by racial selectivity. Regardless of whether or not this will actually offer any improvement on the previous structure and function, it is hard to fathom how this was a utmost priority over increasing clinical staff and associates, equipment and facilities given the warning the rest of the world had provided re the impact of covid on arrival.
They have thrown in extra $ Billions ... billions with a capital " B " ... and spent those $ Billions on bureaucracy ... not beds ... not a single extra bed ...
... this government could sell the country a Norwegian Blue parrot & claim that it wasn't dead ... merely pining for the Fjords ... resting after a long squawk ....
This is precisely why my wife left the MoH. Their 'values' aren't worth a cent in terms of the level they display them when seen from the inside of the organisation. I couldn't agree more, better to maintain one's self respect than work for a corrupt behemoth
No more of that tired and false trope ‘at pace and scale’, either, thank god
This is not a competition you really want to be winning, there will be a stupid prize.
I award " The Stupid Prize " to those farmers who in the 2020 general election voted for Labour instead of for the Gnats , in an attempt to keep the Greens out of power ...
...now we're all reaping what you silly buggers sowed ... a bitter harvest ...
Myth.
... by all means , elaborate that point ... because as I saw it , blue ribbon National electorates swung to red in 2020 ... some of them for the first time in decades , some of them very agricultural , Otago & Southland for instance ...
Myth , you say ...
Mirth
Don’t know.National with the opportunity of a far great number of mps in opposition than usual, had made a fine display of stuffing itself and revealing a few identities of highly questionable capacity and integrity. If what has been a unexpectedly divisive and unsettling issuance of policy by this Labour government then it is likely it would have been even more so if the Greens were actually in a hard coalition. The Green’s wilful support in the clandestine attempt to subvert accepted democratic practice to entrench three waters, is due to testament to such a scenario for instance. In order for them to stay in power next year, the electorate will be asked by Labour to elect a coalition comprising themselves with its mps now clearly breaking ranks , the Greens, and the Maori Party, the latter two with cabinet positions. That in my opinion will be as a structure, unstable and doomed to fail, and an approval that will not be forthcoming from the electorate, an outcome which the polls are already tracking.
True ... but when you've only got a two way split between Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber you've gotta decide who you reckon is the less dumberer one of them ... whether Labour or National win , the result will be a no-brainer ...
...or the less racist
Unless I stand corrected, the 38% fall in house prices referred to in the report (1974-1980) was adjusted for the then rampant inflation. Outright falls were nowhere as steep. I think the current correction is by far more severe. We are now experiencing outright falls that many never thought possible and if we were to adjust for current inflation, this correction looks more spectacular and its only been a year! If history were to repeat with another 26 quarter decline, there will be more than just tears to deal with.
Unlikely, given global instability and billions of people looking for a safe place to move and a govt in waiting, wanting to turn the place into the next/last over crowded s hole.
A stat in the back of my mind, one I probably posted here over a decade ago, is that you could buy a house in NZ in 1982 for the same price it was bought in 1962.
And in 2042 for less than it cost in 2022.
Oh hang on I just remembered that house prices are obliged to double every 10 years so in 2042 the average will be $4 million and in 2062 it will be $16 million. In 2122 the average will be over $1 billion, a bargain I’m sure.
I doubt it, the way things are moving I expect bunkers to be in short supply and pretty expensive.
The most important is the IMF saying NZ and Aus real estate are out of sync of the people's salaries. The house prices are 50-70% inflated
I am not sure about Aussies but I am sure Kiwis are just laughing at this report as they don't know anything else but year on year gains on their house prices and then pile up the mortgage to spend up large.
The agent telling them, just buy this property, it will be worth more than twice in a few years.
A few more sold at unrealistic prices this week i guess.??
I remember the depths of the GFC when houses in Auckland were really cheap, a friend didn't buy because they wanted to "catch the bottom".
Indeed but it's harder to pick the top as it falls away quicker than the bottom rises.... how many people do you know that sold in Nov 2021? In 2011 people started to attend auctions again, people where making offers. It was in many ways quite easy to pick where the market was. At the top it was crazy with developers push 10-20% past reserves.
It's interesting watching asset values slowly drop in multiple segments:
The price of a used Tesla has plunged 17% in the past five months — from a peak of $67,297 in July to $55,754 in November, according to a Reuters report. During that same period, the overall price of used cars dropped just 4%.
Hopefully the NZ used car market starts following. 50k for a 25 year old LandCruiser? Bananas man.
It will. Shipping almost back to normal and will be by the end of the summer as China's covid wave breaks.
The 25 year old Landcruiser will go another 25 years, which is why they hold their value. I'd be surprised to see anyone driving around in a Tesla for more than about 10.
With $25k in maintenance costs sure..the Land cruiser will keep on going
$1k per year, not too bad. So long as you can avoid the creeping brown death, most parts are designed to be cheap, repairable, and easily replaceable.
The seat warmer subscription for your Tesla is likely to cost you more than that.
Yer but $2 to fill up...you forgot that part.
Depends on how many times it gets sold on before the pass-the-parcel tesla finally blows up or dies. Watch this space
People can ask whatever they want for a car, most of them are dreamers and it will not actually sell. Used Teslas are going to have a very poor resale value anyway, in 10 years they will be pretty much scrap.
Same as your new Mazda Carlos...
Nah 10 years easy out of an ICE. Main issue these days is to keep it in a garage, the sun is a real killer now in New Zealand it destroys the paint, rubber and the dashboard with long term exposure. Not buying a Mazda either but anyway. Also are you going to leave that EV on charge in your garage unattended ? I do not even leave my cellphone or laptop on charge unattended.
I do not even leave my cellphone or laptop on charge unattended.
Wow paranoid much...
Maybe you should research the increased number of fires each year now due to devices on charge.
If you don't have a garage then a reflective sun visor that you put in the windscreen works well.
You can also treat the seals with spray to reduce them drying out. But yes, UV will make some of these plastic car parts very brittle in a few years.
Dear lord...I understand now why you live alone Carlos
.. I don't understand ... has he got B.O. or toe fungus or something ?
Been out with to many nut jobs Gummy. Not worth the grief and the older you get the less shit you are prepared to put up with. Got a nice partner, she owns her own house, its the ultimate setup. To much money in the game now, not interested in losing half of it anymore but if you are hot, aged 35-45 and have a net worth of $1.5 million, get in touch cos I don't want to join Tinder.
... I gave up on the local ladies in my mid 30's ... turned my gaze to Asia ... should've done that 10 years sooner ... got a nice partner ... a village who welcome me ( I pay the tuition to get lots of kids through college ) ... life is sweeter than ever ...
That news is deflationary.
And oil prices start today up +US$1 from pre-Christmas levels at just under US$81/bbl in the US while the international Brent price is just under US$86/bbl.
Putin bans Russian oil supplies at "capped" prices from February 2023 — decree
"Our prosperity was based on China and Russia. [Russian] Energy and [Chinese] market. And clearly, today we have to find new ways for energy, from inside European Union as much as we can because we should not change one dependency by another. The best energy is the one that you produce at home. And this will produce a strong restructuring of our economy. That’s for sure, people are not aware of that but the fact that Russia and China are no longer the ones that were for our economic development will require a strong restructuring of our economy," Borrell said at the annual conference of EU Ambassadors in Brussels. Link
Russia Is Prioritizing Gas Exploration In The East To Supply Asian Partners
Russia plans to ramp up geological prospecting and exploration of hydrocarbons - gas in particular - in the country’s east as it looks to increase supplies of gas to Asian partners, Russian Natural Resources and Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov has revealed in an interview.“We have set a priority for ourselves in geological prospecting and exploration and in aiding the search for mineral resources, particularly hydrocarbons, to be geographically closer to future consumers and transport infrastructure. For example, the Power of Siberia pipeline, gas from which goes to China. We have made the decision to carry out geological exploration throughout Yakutia and to do everything to [understand the production potential] in relation to hydrocarbons, particularly with gas, to be known. So that there’s not one, but more pipelines going in the eastern direction. Because this is guaranteed revenue for our country, guaranteed sales to a major partner,” Kozlov said.
Queenstown businesses struggling to retain staff amidst the age-old accommodation crisis returning to the town. This comes when we're about halfway to 2019 levels of influx. Link
Sky-high rents, low wages, insufficient housing - This is what 2.5 years of downtime and hundreds of millions in taxpayer funding spent on tourism recovery plans buys you in NZ.
We just need to pay everyone $50/hr and be willing to cough over $14 for our flat whites
That’s how the Qataris rationalised their use of modern slaves to build their football stadia.
Comrade Ardern should take tips from the Emir and build slave camps in Kingston. We could bus them into town everyday, provided we can find slaves to drive buses for $23/hr.
My point was 2.5 years of downtime and nearly a billion taxpayer dollars could’ve been spent on building affordable houses in tourist centre. Instead it was spent to keep businesses on dole, most of whom don’t pay wages to survive the ridiculous living costs in these centres.
Is Queenstown the #1 centre of whinging excellence in the country or something. They really haven't stopped at any stage of the last three years. You'd think by the large number of very negative and even abusive comments that accompany such stories they may just step back and take a look in the mirror, but no.
If they actually had any foresight all the big businesses in town would have invested in purpose built staff housing many years ago. Perhaps council could have pitched in too.
But it’s a microcosm of the NZ economy - speculative get rich quick cowboys.
They did in the 1970s and then sold it all off in the 1990s.
For those of you on statins , kindly avert your gaze :
... medical researchers have drawn a possible link between taking statins to reduce cholesterol and osteoporosis .... bone density in lab mice was shown to markedly reduce after injections of statins commonly prescribed by doctors for their human patients ...
... oooops !
If only humans were mice...
If only we could genetically engineer mice to have human ace2 cells in their lungs, then do gain-of-function experiments with bat virus in a Chinese lab, with US funding, as this type of research was banned in the US. We could develop a cure to the next possible pandemic..... wait a minute.....
... who says they're not ! ...
Gummy all pharmaceuticals have negative effects, but that is all our indoctrinated doctors know. Watched a u-tuber doctor defending statins. First sentence he explained, "Statins work well, but first you need to change your diet." Never heard his second sentence.
... what the doctors aren't telling patients if that you get your diet & exercise sorted , you dont need statins at all ...
Doctors dont understand nutrition : every problem put in front of them has the answer in a prescription tablet ...
Doesn't get much airplay but silver priced in NZ now up 17.7% in past 3 months and 60% in 3 years.
Interestingly gold priced in NZD is flat for the same 3-month period but almost identical price appreciation over same 3-year period.
When are you expecting it will surpass the 2011 peak?
I wonder why Jacinda hasn't stopped flights coming from China? Merry Christmas and happy new year to all.
... because she's on holiday ! ... she needs a break from being harassed all year by arrogant pr*cks ...
Hmmmm she'd best stop practicing her speches in the mirror then
I hope luxon is piling on the sunscreen ...slip slop slap
Reminds me of the Benny Hill Show , when he slapped the tiny bald guy on the top of his head ... imagine doing that to Luxon , with handfuls of sun screen ...
... slappy slap slap , slop , splorch ... splurk ...
sunburnt scalp with the white handprint haha, some real Saruman stuff there
Lol no idea why my comment was deleted...
... me neither ... can you repeat it , so we can judge its' suitability for ourselves ....
Their price rises are broadening and will pressure the Bank of Japan to ease off on its long-running and massive stimulus
Respectfully David, you can't comment on the Japanese economy using medieval monetarist assumptions like this. Japan is actually embarking on a significant stimulus package - they are looking straight past higher commodity prices caused by temporary global disruptions, and watching in disbelief as other central banks needlessly tank their economies. Have a read of the Bank of Japan Governor's recent speech to business here for example - imagine if we had anyone with half the know-how in charge here? Imagine if RBNZ explicitly targeted increases in profits and wages?!?
You might like this Jfoe re employment in Japan.
The job availability ratio was unchanged at 1.35 in November, meaning there were 135 job openings for every 100 job seekers, ending 10 straight months of improvement, according to separate government data.
Although the number of job offers and job seekers both decreased from the previous month, companies remained willing to hire, with some failing to fill vacancies amid a labor shortage, a labor ministry official said.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221227/p2g/00m/0bu/010000c
Nice. What I love about the Japanese approach is that they think having labour sat idle is abhorrent - so a tight labour market is a good thing because it reduces the risk of involuntary unemployment. The Japanese also want to see workers and shareholders share profits fairly - something that only happens in a tighter labour market when workers have some negotiating power.
This worked better when most industries where labour intensive. Now in high tech coding, AI etc etc, its possible to automate your way to amazing profits. Sure others can copy but you often have a few years or patent protection. I do not think in NZ Labour has that much power, witness nursing, teaching, police etc
Yes. But there is always beneficial stuff that can be done. If we have spare labour because of AI, we can have cleaner streets, well maintained walking trails, older people well looked after, kids taught music, extra help in classrooms etc. Or, alternatively, we could channel profits from increased productivity to a few wealthy shareholders, and everyone else can make a living doing ram raids and selling drugs to each other.
Japanese also want to see workers and shareholders share profits fairly - something that only happens in a tighter labour market when workers have some negotiating power.
Big difference from the West. Job security is a higher motivation in Japan.
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