2% is not rocketing along but it's not stuck in a ditch, either.
And given the war and diesel and Trump, some (i.e. the government) might even say it's fantastic.
As you know we follow the data quite closely on this show - many of you are businesspeople, farmers, small business owners, do-ers in the economy and want to know what's going on.
Manufacturing hit it out the park and now services, two-thirds of our growth, is expanding.
The key missing ingredient is consumer spending - discretionary spending.
You see that in hospitality and other fine print from the services sector read yesterday.
And while an OCR hiking cycle doesn't help with confidence, most of it's priced in and at this point the rates are still technically wind at our backs, not our faces.
American consumers are far more robust and confident that us. They spend like tomorrow they'll win lotto. And they basically do that 99% of the time.
We're far more cautious, and often with good reason.
Not only does that demand help push their economy along, even when headlines suggest they shouldn't, but their ability to dream big, invent new things and create value is also important here.
The AI surge. The share prices. The investment it generates. The plants it builds. The jobs it creates.
If success is a positive mindset and unequivocal self-belief, the Americans have it bottled.
We have it too, but perhaps we can take a leaf out of their book and actually believe it.
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
I don't believe in our economy. It is founded on a fundamentally flawed constitution and society and until that is fixed our economy cannot succeed.
I don't care about what Luxon is doing with the economy, I just want him to so something, anything, about our huge race and democracy issues.
The economy can always be recovered.
Equal rights and privileges cannot.
Actually, I don't want him to say anything, as he has lost all credibility with his empty promises - action needed.
The economy does worse under National than under Labour. If we are to believe in it, as Ryan’s said, we need to act on election day.
In response to some of the commenters above, the economy has nothing to do with culture war distractions. In fact, it is t
One of the very things they are trying to get you to ignore in favour of the fabricated distractions.
Unfortunately Anon 9.38, most voters aren't as high-minded and principled as you, and tend to worry about more mundane matters like the cost of living. Democracy and race issues are not at the forefront of their minds and they vote instinctively rather than intelligently. Luxon knows this and clearly has a better feel for the public mood than you. And he's the one running for office.
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