ANZ-Roy Morgan survey shows big fall in consumer confidence, rise in inflation expectations

B Deck stewards' survey, re will you be playing deck-quoits tomorrow? 

Meanwhile down on the farm - how will NZ feed itself?

I don't think the economy was looking too flash before this happened, the green shoots weren't really materialising. 

At what stage do the blue voters blame the current government and not the previous one?

National thought they could grow the economy by slashing spending and giving unaffordable tax cuts. Really what they should have done is addressed some of our infrastructure deficit and reduced our reliance on foreign fuel. That investment would have increased GDP instead of decreasing it and decreased unemployment / handouts instead of increasing it. And because debt is a ratio to GDP, its probable our debt level would be very similar to now. 

Not that Chippy would have been much better, all he could go on about was the cost of living. Again best way to fix that was to increase wages, the RBNZ already had inflation tracking down before the election. 

There seems to be no party that wants to invest in NZ, that seems ridiculous. Surely an "Investment" or "Infrastructure" party would be an instant win, probably hold the balance of power. I'd certainly vote for them (PDK not so much). 

Why am I not surprised at this report?

I find it reassuring to hear that businesses and individuals seem to be leaning more towards recognising the importance of individual responsibility for choices/decisions, rather than government will rescue.

I was underwhelmed by the slogan "survive to '25" as if miraculously against all indicators, NZ would return to the hedonistic times of previously. 

Just a simple look into the state of NZ balance of payments shows the country has been living beyond it's means. Just as individuals painfully discover that debt to support a chosen lifestyle can end painfully, so for the country.

Without radical expansion and diversification of export revenue generation coupled with closing loopholes to retain more of the revenue from foreign owned companies within NZ, we are predictably sliding toward bankruptcy as a nation.

Yes, government can prioritise investment in infrastructure that redresses years of neglect in water and waste water, roading, etc. But unless that is matched to productivity enhancing investment, as an economy we wont really improve - just a few jobs during construction, cleaner water ways and estuaries, and shorter travel times.

What needs to be prioritised is investment in electricity generation to a significant generation surplus state. To bring significantly lower electricity costs for industry to support further processing within NZ. 

It has been achieved in the past, and can be achieved again.