This is the nail in the coffin for the recession camp.

There is a cost to the economy.

The central bank has identified the triggers that will make it raise rates. We don’t think those things will happen.

Annual wages growth is still accelerating. It is premature to talk of interest-rate cuts while such stretched capacity still exists.

If Peter Costello wants more taxpayers, he is going to have to find more child-care places so mothers can actually get back to work.

You can draw a pretty strong conclusion that better availability and cheaper child care would certainly encourage more women to work.

Yes, the economy is slowing, but New Zealand is not in recession. Even if you take January and February together, you’ve still got retail sales travelling at 1.1% for the quarter. Sales growth was also...

Inflation is going the wrong way, from 3.2 to 3.4 per cent.

Aside from the unexpected slump in non-rural goods, we note that imports are still strong in capital, so the business investment theme is still alive and well.