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Thursday, October 5, 2023

Robert MacCulloch: The RBNZ Blames Immigrants for Inflation and says only "some" are "stressed" by high interest rates


In a bizarre set of minutes from the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee released today, the members had this to say about immigrants:

"Members agreed that the risk of greater resilience in domestic demand remained. Upside surprises to, or greater than expected demand-side stimulus from, migration could sustain growth momentum for longer. More resilience in domestic demand could slow the pace of expected disinflation".

What evidence does the RBNZ have to link immigrants to more "demand-side stimulus". One of the UK's most respected economists, Prof Steve Nickell, former Head of the Economics Department at Oxford University & member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, told a Select Committee of the UK Parliament:

"there is certainly a broad acceptance in the UK .. that immigration has had a tendency to reduce inflationary pressure"

Seems the RBNZ (which refuses to blame itself for NZ's high inflation rate & its own $50 billion money printing program) is now taking aim at immigrants. However immigrants expand the supply side of the economy as well as increasing demand - the evidence for countries like the UK is that the net of these two effects is disinflationary. If the RBNZ cannot provide proof immigrants are a source of inflation in this country, then it should apologize for unpleasantly sticking the blame onto them and making Kiwis feel immigrants are the cause of our high interest rates when that is not true. Its one thing blaming the weather and Putin for our high inflation, but now the RBNZ adds immigrants to the mix? Is the RBNZ insulting immigrants by arguing they are adding to demand in NZ but not producing much in return?

Second, the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee "noted that pockets of stress have emerged for some in the household, commercial property & agricultural sectors" from debt servicing costs. The RBNZ doesn't have a clue about stress levels in Kiwi households so why write rubbish? Do its staff live in a gilded palace in Wellington, detached from life in the real NZ? "Pockets of stress for some"? The majority of the goddam country can't afford to pay its bills & mortgages & the RBNZ thinks its just a problem for "some", the odd "pocket"? What a callous place. I trust the bank staffers went off & bought an $8 flat white on Lambton Quay after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

Sources:
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2023/10/official-cash-rate-remains

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldeconaf/82/8206.htm


Professor Robert MacCulloch holds the Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at Auckland University. He has previously worked at the Reserve Bank, Oxford University, and the London School of Economics. He runs the blog Down to Earth Kiwi - where this article was sourced.

2 comments:

Rob Beechey said...

The second task the new government must attend to upon entering office, is fire the most incompetent Reserve Bank in the history of NZ.
Anybody with half a brain knew that this Robertson appointed Chairman was never going to raise the OCR rate the week of the general elections. He has been told to wait until after the election.

Robert Arthur said...

It depends largely on whether the immigarnts come with families or immediately produce same. Many/most here do, creating more demand than they can supply.The only argumnt for immigration for NZ is to match the maori/pacifica multplication rate and thus ward off control, maintain the averge IQ, and also to crowd the country so it less attractive to climate refugees and other invaders.