What a difference a job makes

• Tweet
• Email

Australian Business Unit

I was reading several RNBZ reports today and was surprised that most of the data they were using for forecasting was actually Australian economic data.  In fact I couldn’t even find comparable figures at QV, Statistics New Zealand or RBNZ to compare. It appears current data is readily, (publicly) available in OZ but not here.

I say surprised because we can’t really compare ourselves with OZ when we have such different employment profiles, one of the key drivers for property.

So if we were following Australia in all respects we would have headlines like this today in OZ:

“House prices forcing more people closer to the edge

The share of debt-free households in Australia has plunged to a nine-year low, new figures show, amid signs people are borrowing heavily to keep pace with the rapid growth in house prices.

According to a Melbourne Institute survey, only 36.2 per cent of households held no debt in the September quarter, the lowest since the series began in 2001.”

Oh to have this problem right now.  THEY have it because they have a growing population and very high employment.

A lesson seemingly lost on consecutive governments here in NZ.  If we increase our population we stimulate our local economy and create lots of new jobs.

Another 2 or 3 million people here would do wonders for our economy I reckon.  What do you think?

Use Facebook comments below to have your say

Stay Inspired and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus