Professor Robert MacCulloch: Proof that NZ's Reserve Bank has Inflicted Unnecessary Pain up and down the Nation.

In the past few hours, it has been stated that the US economy grew at a solid 3% rate last quarter, as given in the American government's final estimate. New Zealand's economy, on the other hand, shrank at a rate of -0.2%. The US Federal Funds rate (the equivalent of NZ's Official Cash Rate, OCR) is currently set at between 4.75 & 5 percent. By contrast, our OCR is presently at the higher rate of 5.25%. Meanwhile inflation in NZ was just over 3 percent for the June 2024 year, whereas inflation in the US was just under 3 percent for that same year.