Put to the test in the past two years, the idea of a “natural” rate of unemployment has failed. There’s no need to push unemployment up to any particular rate to bring down inflation.
With an inflation rate peaking at just 4.4%, Japan seems to be getting something right about managing economic pressures. How does it do this, and should New Zealand revisit its own strategies?
Many Canadians are puzzled by food prices remaining high despite the Bank of Canada’s efforts to curb inflation. If interest rate policies aren’t bringing food prices down, then what will?
Inflation has slipped faster than the Reserve Bank thought it would, and the underlying rate is down to 5.4%. The bank is likely to tread cautiously from here on.
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Even a week ago we couldn’t have predicted this. But after good news from the US, our Reserve Bank now has a chance to cement low unemployment while controlling inflation – without more rate rises.
The Measuring What Matters statement will be around the themes of “healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive, and prosperous”, Chalmers said in a speech in Melbourne delivered late Tuesday
Many people are experiencing the sticker shock of higher prices at grocery stores. But the amount we pay for food often does not reflect the real social, environmental and human costs of production.