Business confidence is a hopeless indicator. But that doesn’t mean the economy isn’t in trouble

Business confidence has fallen off a cliff. Economist Cameron Bagrie says it’s meaningless, but other bad indicators can’t be ignored.  The economy is headed for recession if you believe the readings from business confidence. Thankfully we can largely ignore business confidence readings. We can’t ignore other survey measures though that are saying growth has slowed … Read more

The Bulletin: In this economy?

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Slight rise in unemployment sparks concern, leading construction firm collapses amid building boom, and calls for more serious kauri measures.  Both unemployment and underutilisation have ticked up slightly in the latest Stats NZ quarterly survey. The seasonally adjusted rise is marginal in both categories, but the unemployment rate remains … Read more