I recently had this email from an exporter in Wanganui.

Dear John,

Thanks and regards for your efforts to get traction with the Government over trade.

I watched Q&A this last weekend and was amazed to see politicians actually discussing the plight of manufacturing exporters. I could only imagine their salaries had arrived a day late in their bank accounts or some...

tags: exporter, jobs, exporter, currency

Increasingly I am hearing that this time it is different, the pressures are extreme and the buffers in the system are almost exhausted. The policy settings we have are not working for everyone, jobs and businesses in the real economy are being threatened and might well be lost. The some feel mortally threatened the others claim there is no crisis - how can such a difference in view...

tags: joyce, brownlee

John Walley's presentation to the EPMU Jobs Crisis Summit held in Auckland on 12 October 2012. Where MPs and business people discussed economic policy settings in the context of the continuing loss of NZ jobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n9IJ9i-fgU

tags: summit, monetary policy, exchange rate, jobs

This is a note I received recently from Simon Ward of A-Ward Attachments, Simon is frustrated that those who he expects to represent his interests will not even engage in an open discussion. I post it here to underline how disjointed the representation of the real economy is in New Zealand. Fundamentally we have to decide as a nation what is important, what is worth defending and what...

Solid Energy’s announcement of job losses is no surprise with the NZ Dollar staying overvalued despite falling commodity prices. This comes after reductions in milk payout forecasts from Westland Milk and Fonterra due to the same impact of an overvalued dollar combined with lower milk prices.

Solid Energy’s Chairman John Palmer outlined their problems:
“Solid Energy’s...

tags: currency, solid energy, reserve bank amendment bill

This IMF paper discusses and compares macroprudential tools by various countries - were they successful and what were the costs if any?

http://www.johnwalley.co.nz/files/IMF on macroprudential instruments.pdf

tags: imf, macroprudential tools, loan to value ratio

http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/61024/labours-finance-spokesman-david-parker-told-oecd-economist-nzs-monetary-policy-totally

Maybe we can ignore the current account deficit, maybe we can ignore the contraction of our export base, maybe we...

The lack of local preference in procurement from both central and local government has resurfaced in the Canterbury earthquake rebuild. Some firms in particular markets have seen some increase in activity, but overall it has been a slow process and the activity has been captured by a few of the Government’s preferred suppliers. This attitude towards procurement risks missing some of the...

tags: local preference, local procurement

I respond to the Government's plan to increase exports to 40 percent of GDP on Breakfast this morning. It is about providing conditions where exporters are confident to invest. That means doing something to manage the exchange rate.

tags: exchange rate, export investment

The retirement entitlement has come up again with 88 percent of respondents to the Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom survey saying the retirement age should be raised.

Unfortunately when the response was put to Bill English he reaffirmed that the Government would not change the age. The argument was essentially because John Key said we wouldn’t – not the best economic...

tags: superannuation, entitlement age, treasury, government debt