Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy on Thursday, January 15:
The Lead: NZ First Leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters told off new Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman via X yesterday, accusing her of ‘involving New Zealand in US domestic politics’ by co-signing a letter with other central bankers backing Fed independence.
The Sidebar: In effect, Peters was prioritising his support for Donald Trump’s attack on Fed independence, and his fear of any reaction by Trump against the central bankers, over respecting the law protecting the Reserve Bank’s independence, which Peters didn’t oppose
voted for1 in 1989, and voted for in effect in 2018. Hear and see more detail and analysis below and in the podcast above.Elsewhere in the news: Dwelling consents rose 2.8% in November from October and were 7% up for the year, but non-residential consents fell 6.9% over the year. StatsNZ
In the Scoop of the Day: Finn Blackwell reports for RNZ the Ministry of Education failed to notice two children were missing from school for years before their bodies were found in suitcases in a storage unit.
In the Chart Pack of the Day, new dwelling consents per 1,000 people rose to 6.8 in the year to November from 6.4 the previous year, but remain below the record high of 13.4 per 1,000 in calendar 1973.
Today’s Deep-dive of the Day is from Susan Edmunds for RNZ on the need for more public funding for dental care.
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