Auckland University helps explain the NZ economy

7 October 2011

New Zealand Economy Explained

A new, handy pocket guide to the New Zealand economy – which will enable advisers and analysts in both the private and public sectors, as well as the public at large, to understand how the economy is performing and why – will be published on 7 October by Auckland University Press.

The New Zealand Economy: An Introduction by leading economists Ralph Lattimore and Shamubeel Eaqub introduces the structure and performance of the New Zealand economy by interpreting key data series on the economy in a historical and global context.

The data will be updated quarterly and made available to readers via the internet at http://sites.google.com/site/eaqubs/ – making The New Zealand Economy: an Introduction continuously relevant and authoritative.

Small and open, the New Zealand economy is frequently buffeted by changing international commodity prices and interest rates as well as shifts in domestic policy. To make sense of our dynamic economy, Lattimore and Eaqub have interpreted data on these key economic indicators over time – GDP, interest rates, population, employment, productivity levels, trade, investment and government accounts.

“New Zealand has developed a reputation in recent decades for what many people consider to be ‘continuous reform’”, the authors say.

“The international trade policy expert Professor Razeen Sally is of the view that New Zealand is one of only two countries in the world that have the capacity to deal politically with continuous reform (the other being Australia). That is a major strength for the nation but it puts a great onus on advisers, analysts, policymakers media and the general public to fully understand how the economy is performing and why.”

Lattimore and Eaqub have, therefore, designed The New Zealand Economy: An Introduction to help inform necessary debates on policy changes. They focus particularly on two issues of key importance to contemporary New Zealand.

First, on how the globalisation of the world economy over the last 30 years has transformed the New Zealand economy.

“Over this period, developing countries have grown more rapidly than high income countries and become more embedded in global supply chains.

“At the forefront of these developments has been a set of emerging economies, including China, India and Vietnam, which have grown strongly in recent years. These changes in the global economic landscape are significantly influencing New Zealand’s performance and prospects.”

Secondly, they examine the continuing effects of the 2007/08 Global Financial Crisis.

“The ensuing recession and the difficulties associated with finding an exit strategy from the massive fiscal and monetary stimuli have left world financial markets in an uncertain state. In this environment, our book pays particular attention to capital and financial markets in New Zealand and overseas.”

As an introduction, the book does not go into depth on most economic issues. However, two guest case studies are included which explore issues of technological and geographic change accessibly for general readers. Both case studies are designed as introductory resources for further exploration in these two important areas of economic research.

About the Authors
A professor of economics for many years, Ralph Lattimore is now a consulting economist who has worked for the New Zealand Institute for Economic Research and the OECD. He is the author, with Brian Silverstone and Alan Bollard, of A Study of Economic Reform: The Case of New Zealand (1996), among numerous other publications.

Shamubeel Eaqub has been a private sector economist since 2001 in New Zealand and Australia and is now the principal economist at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

About the Book
The New Zealand Economy: An Introduction
Ralph Lattimore and Shamubeel Eaqub
Publishing 7 October 2011 by Auckland University Press
Paperback; tables, graphs, case studies; ISBN 9781869404895; RRP $34.99
Supporting web page: http://sites.google.com/site/eaqubs/

ENDS

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