Backbencher

I read an article in the New Zealand Herald this morning discussing an unexpected growth of the economy is the final quarter of 2007. However, financial advisers are not taking this very seriously because of the many factors that are disrupting the economy already such as rising oil prices, rising food prices, and rising mortgage rates. This sounds eerily familiar.

The same economic stresses that New Zealanders are facing are the same that we in fact are facing ourselves. How are they handling it? How does their currency compare to the U.S. dollar? These are some questions that I will have to do a little more research to find out.

I would also be interested in knowing what kinds of taxation the people of New Zealand have developed over time. Do they issue "Economic Stimulus Packages" to try to prevent the country from going into a recession? The more I read about New Zealand, the more I find out that they share a lot of the problems that we do.

In a separate article I read that Auckland has grown so much in recent years that some families have been forced to double-up or live in garages to make ends meet. This was due housing shortages and increases in rent. Some families were said to have been paying $495 per week for a 3-bedroom house.

I can see how overcrowding would be a problem in New Zealand for the same reasons it is for Japan. Inabilities for expansion and lack of places to build other than up. I would be interested to know what their outmigration numbers have been in recent years.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10500670
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/8/story.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10500391