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Kia ora,Welcome to Friday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news its all about the US and the sharp weakening of the greenback. It is now at its lowest level since early 2022. And a key part of the reason is worries about the Trump attack on the Fed's independence.Meanwhile, US initial jobless claims have stayed elevated although they fell from the prior week to +227,000 which is marginally above the same week a year ago. There are now 1.87 mln people on these benefits, +124,000 more than the 1.75 mln a year ago.US Q1-2025 PCE inflation was revised higher overnight to 3.7% in updated data - and that is up from 2.4% on Q4-2025. Early impacts of tariff-taxes are starting to show through here. Real consumer spending was revised down to just +0.5% growth from the initial estimate of +1.2% and well below the Q4-2024 rise of +4.0%. These revisions don't paint a very good picture about how American consumers fared in early 2025. Final GDP 'growth' fell -0.5% in the quarter, the first decline in three years.But there was a good rise in durable goods orders in May, up +17.5% from the same month a year ago. But non-defense capital goods orders rose only +2.4% suggesting board rooms remain hesitant, and see the tariff-related order rush as nothing more than temporary.Certainly the Chicago Fed's National Activity Index doesn't point to any upturn. Nor does the latest regional Fed survey, this one from the Kansas City Fed.The May US trade balance wasn't great either, coming in with a worse deficit than expected at -US$93.7 bln with exports dipping and imports rising from April. From a year ago the result was little-different.Globally, policy imbalances cause distortions as you would expect, and in the short term at least, they can juice up trade activity despite their intentions.Elsewhere in Singapore, industrial production slipped in May to be 'only' +3.9% higher than year-ago levels. In April the gain was +5.6% so a clear easing, even if it wasn't as much as was anticipated.More generally, we will need to be careful talking about commodity prices when the US dollar is on a downslide. Almost everything is quoted in USD so rising prices now largely reflect that depreciation.Freight rates are falling after the relatively brief 'Iran crisis' hot war. And they too are quoted in USD so the falls will be magnified in other currencies. Container freight rates were down -9% last week from the week before to be -38% lower than year-ago levels - but a year-ago they were in their own Suez crisis stress. Bulk cargo rates are falling too.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.25%, and down -4 bps from this time yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,334/oz, and up +US$12 from yesterday.American oil prices are unchanged from yesterday at just on US$65.50/bbl while the international Brent price is still just on US$68/bbl. Meanwhile Shell confirmed it isn't currently bidding for the underperforming BP, and that it is required to wait six month under UK law to take another look.The Kiwi dollar is now just on 60.7 USc, up +40 bps from yesterday and that's an eight-month high. However, against the Aussie we are -20 bps softer at 92.5 AUc. Against the euro we are unchanged at 51.8 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at 68.1 and +10 bps firmer than yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$107,338 and up +0.3% from this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been low at just on +/-0.7%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again on Monday.

Kia ora,Welcome to Thursday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news tariff-tax cost threats to inflation are being joined by seasonal climate threats in the US.First, it is hot in large parts of the US, including the heavily populated North-East. Air-conditioners are working overtime. And that means electricity grids are overloaded. Retail electricity prices have spiked to nearly US$2,400/MWhr (NZ$4000/MWhr) during peak evening demand last night. Wholesale prices on Long Island topped US$7,000/MWh. Just for context, New Zealand prices this morning are about $60/MWhr. It's a crisis here they reach NZ$1000/MWhr.Meanwhile, US mortgage applications rose last week slightly from the week before, but only because refinance activity rose. Applications to buy a new home were down sharply from the prior week although up from the same week a year ago. Interest rates were little changed.But May sales of new single-family homes dropped sharply by almost -14% from the prior month to an annualised rate of 623,000 units and far below the expected 700,000 units rate and the sharpest decline since mid 2022. May 2025 was -6.3% below year ago levels. Getting the blame was uncertain economic conditions that is causing potential buyers to wait before committing to a purchase. And things could get worse - there are now 10 month's supply of built but unsold homes at the current sales rate. We may start to see some aggressive discounting ahead - or more builders going bust.The big US Treasury 5yr bond tender earlier today was well supported even if not quite at the level of the last event. This event delivered a median yield of 3.82%, a bit less than the 4.01% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.And in Senate testimony, Fed boss Powell acknowledged that tariff-taxes could be a one-off threat to inflation, but he said that is not a law of nature, and they are worried they could also drive persistent rises in costs. He said they will stay on guard until they know the actual effect.In China, their central bank injected ¥300 bln into financial institutions through a one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) into the country's banking system. This is what was expected.And in a first, President Xi will not attend the Brazilian-hosted BRICS meeting this year, the first time he has skipped that. The reasons why aren't clear, and that is fueling speculation.In Australia, their monthly inflation indicator fell to 2.1% in May, down from 2.4% in both March and April. That is a seven month low, and lower than the 2.3% rate expected. The main influence for the reduction were fruit & vegetable prices (from +6.1% to +2.8%), and travel & accommodation (from +5.3% to +0.6%).The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.29%, and down -1 bp from this time yesterday. The price of gold will start today at US$3,322/oz, and up an insignificant US$2 from yesterday.American oil prices are up +US$1 from yesterday at just on US$65.50/bbl while the international Brent price is now just over US$68/bbl.And we should probably note that the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Dutch oil company Shell is in talks to buy British rival BP. Currently, Shell is denying the report.The Kiwi dollar is now just on 60.3 USc, up +10 bps from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are +10 bps firmer at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are unchanged at 51.8 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at 68 and +10 bps firmer than yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$107,062 and up +0.9% from this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +1.2%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Every tree in Aotearoa New Zealand's forests is about to be tracked - from space. A New Zealand data science company has just been award a million dollars from MBIE.

Kia ora,Welcome to Wednesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the US dollar is falling, and the benchmark US 10 year treasury yield is down also, near a seven week low. These are the key reactions to the easing of Middle East hostilities.But first up today, we should note that the weekly Pulse dairy auction for the two main powder products brought lower prices yer again. The SMP price fell -2.6% from last week's full auction to US$2704/tonne, which the WMP price fell -1.9% tp US$4006/tonne. The represent yet another retreat which essentially cancel the April to May price gains.In the US, Fed boss Powell was at Congress today giving his semiannual Monetary Policy Report. He is back again tomorrow. He repeated that they are in no rush to cut rates, certainly not in July, and that their scenario of two more -25 bps reductions in 2025 remains their current outlook. Their focus is on inflation risks which they still have worries about, not economic growth, and that is helped by a stable labour market.Meanwhile, the weekly Redbook survey of the US retail impulse showed sales volume growth easing lower, the lowest since the April tariff-tax induced price spike in early April. And if you exclude the seasonal dips at the end of 2024/25, this growth is the lowest since March 2024 even with the tariff-tax push effect on retail pricing.The US Conference Board's survey of consumer sentiment weakened in June. And this time the weakness spread to 'present conditions'. They report consumers were more pessimistic about business conditions and job availability over the next six months, and optimism about future income prospects eroded. It is a trend they have been noting since the start of 2025.Also fading was the Richmond Fed's latest factory survey for June. Although new order intakes declined more slowly, it still declined and the order backlogs in the region are now falling faster. Unless they get an improvement in new orders, production cutbacks are looking. And the service sector survey in the same mid-Atlantic states region is no better. In this district too, reshoring is not in evidence.We should also note that credit stress for US commercial real estate is staying unusually high. This extended trouble will force an increasing number of lenders there to book losses, and because the worst losses are coming from the largest buildings, it could be destabilising for some mid-sized banks. There was a large well supported US Treasury bond auction earlier today for their 2 year Note. This delivered a median yield of 3.73%, down from the 3.90% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.In Canada, their May inflation rate was reported overnight, unchanged at 1.7%, which was the expected result.Taiwanese retail sales were weaker in May, down -1.6% from the same month a year ago and extending a weaker trend. They were expected to rise marginally. However Taiwanese industrial production was outstandingly strong, up more than +20% from the same month a year ago and extending the April surge.In South Korea, consumer sentiment has improved sharply since the election of a reform-minded new president. Apart from a brief post-pandemic spike, they haven't been this optimistic there since 2017.And in case we don't miss it, the German economy is rising again, gaining in confidence and extending the gains that started in mid 2024. The turnaround hasn't been dramatic, but it has built more than you might have thought.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.30%, and down -3 bps from this time yesterday. The price of gold will start today at US$3,320/oz, and down -US$61 from yesterday.American oil prices are down another -US$4.50 from yesterday at just over US$64.50/bbl while the international Brent price is now just under US$67.50/bbl as Middle East security concerns seem to fade.The Kiwi dollar is now just on 60.2 USc, back up +½c from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are +10 bps firmer at 92.6 AUc. Against the euro we are up +20 bps at 51.8 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at under 67.9 and +20 bps firmer than yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$106,141 and up +3.7% from this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +1.9%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Kia ora,Welcome to Tuesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news markets seemed relieved that the Iranians responded in a localised and 'measured' way to the US attack. They took this as a sign the conflict will stay regional. Even the oil price eased back. To financial markets, 'normal' doesn't look like it is being threatened.But that is not to say 'normal' is great. And it looks like markets are stubbornly refusing to price in geopolitical risks, even when they are obviously high. If they have this collective judgement wrong, then the correction could be sharp.Meanwhile, the S&P Global/Markit PMIs for the US report that the factory sector held at a small expansion, one underpinned by a small rise in new orders, even if new export orders fell rather notably. More notable was the sharpish rise in costs and prices. This sector is losing its international competitiveness. Their service sector is expanding but the modest pace slowed in June.US existing home sales however brought a surprise surge in May from April to a sales rate exceeding 4 mln/year. However that is still lower than year-ago levels, and listings surged even more. Still, the average price rose to US$422,800, although to be fair that is only back to about the level it first achieved in June 2022.The US heatwave, which we noted yesterday may affect 200 mln people there, is worrying their electricity grid operators. They anticipate a 14 year high for electricity demand in the US north east. So it will be no surprise to know that they have issued warnings about supply interruptions.In China, Bloomberg is reporting that Beijing regulators are instructing state-owned developers to avoid defaulting on publicly issued debt. It is the latest attempt by authorities to keep a lid on their property crisis that just won't end or get properly resolved. There are about 20 SOE developers, all large, and all troubled. Clearly credit risk is still worryingly high.In Japan, although new order growth wasn't flash, their manufacturing sector expanded on a stock-build. And that was their first expansion in over a year. Meanwhile their services expansion extended, now for more than 12 months consecutively, and that was driven by new orders. These conclusions come from the early June PMI released by S&P Global/Markit.In India, their advance June PMIs show gains in both their factory and service sectors from already very good levels of expansion.In Europe, the same June PMIs show new order declines have basically ended, and in Germany in particular they rose for the first time in more than three years. Cost inflation is down, and now no longer an issue. Business sentiment rose. Their factory sector is expanding while their services sector stopped contracting in June. While none of this is vigorous, if it is a turning point, it is turning in the right way for themMeanwhile the modest expansion the S&P Global/Markit PMIs report in Australia extends this modesty to six straight months there. They haven't had a run like this since late 2022. While an expansion will be hard to notice on the ground, it is encouraging that both the factory sector and the service sector are moving in the same upward direction.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.33%, and down -5 bps from this time yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,381/oz, and up +US$14 from yesterday.American oil prices are down -US$4 from yesterday at just under US$74/bbl while the international Brent price is now just over US$72.50/bbl and down a bit more.The Kiwi dollar is still just on 59.7 USc, little-changed from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are holding at 92.5 AUc. Against the euro we are down -20 bps at 51.6 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at under 67.7 and just marginally softer than yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$102,349 and back up 2.8% from this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been moderate at just under +/-2.0%. There was a general recovery yesterday across most cryptos, but they are still down sharply from a week ago.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Kia ora,Welcome to Monday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the world's two largest economies are showing outsized vulnerabilities - geopolitical, economic, and environmental.First in China, the eye-catching retreat of foreign direct investment in April (a net outflow -US$4.8 bln) was arrested in May, positive by +US$17.8 bln for the month even if it was off the unusually declining base in April. Still, year to date, foreign direct investment into China remains unusually low, barely +US$50 bln in those five months and well below the almost US$70 bln in the same five months of 2024. For either year, these are not large amounts for a country the size of China. In 2023 the five month inflow was +US$84 bln, in 2022 it was +US$88 bln. It is a negative track that is sensitive for them.Separately, excessively hot weather and unusually heavy rain are affecting large parts of central and southern China.In Japan, May CPI inflation edged lower to 3.5%, the lowest annual rate of the year. Energy costs remained elevated, but dipped in the month. Also elevated and also dipping were food prices, now running at a +6.5% rate. However within that rice prices are almost double year ago levels, a very high profile marker that worries everyone.In the US, weekend data shows the Philly Fed's factory index booked another retreat, the third in a row although only a small one. They aren't yet benefiting from reshoring. New order levels fell. And price increases reported continued at a high level although the pace eased somewhat in this latest update.That data was just a part of the Conference Board's leading economic indicator series. And this slipped yet again in May, with the April index being revised sharply lower. They say this is "triggering the recession signal." Industrial production was the weakest contributor to the index in May. Readers may not be surprised that a Trump tariff-tax recession is on the way for the US, but we probably should brace for global consequences in 2025. It could be tougher than anticipated.At least one influential Fed governor thinks the FOMC will have to start cutting interest rates soon to lean against the recession threat. A July cut is what he suggested, saying “I think we've got room to bring it down, and then we can kind of see what happens with inflation.” Recession threats trump inflation threats for him.But inflation threats may just be starting. Until now, importers have been paying some of the tariff-taxes. But that can't last.And inflation isn't the only thing heating up in the US. Forecasters warn that dangerously hot and humid weather will blanket nearly 200 million people this coming week as a phenomenon known as a heat dome trap builds.Elsewhere, the weekend brought a raft of other central bank rate review decisions. In Turkey, their central bank left its policy rate unchanged at 46%, as expected. You may recall they raised it +350 bps at their May review.Meanwhile, at the Bank of England their governors voted 6-3 to keep their policy rate steady at 4.25% at its June meeting. Although this was the result expected, the three dissenters wanted a -25 bps cut and that was one more dissenter than was expected.In Norway however, they cut their policy rate by -25 bps to 4.25%. That was their first cut in five years.Taiwan held its official rate steady at 2%.The Philippines cut theirs by -25 bps to 5.25%.In China, their central bank left its Loan Prime Rates unchanged at their record low levels after the -10 bps dip last month.Meanwhile, Aussie miners are looking at some surprisingly weak May data for steel production in China. May and June are usually their peak months for production, but not this year. The May data shows it -6.9% lower than the same month in 2024, at 86.5 mln tonnes. That represents a very large fall away in looming iron ore requirements if it holds in June, a more than -6 mln tonne shortfall per month. (Steel production data can be seen here.)In the week ahead, we are watching for what a raft of early June PMIs tell us about the global economy. In Australia, the focus will be on the monthly CPI Indicator on Wednesday although little change at 2.4% is anticipated. Here, there will be key updates for the mortgage market activity on Friday. And in the US, Fed boss Powell will be testifying before Congress, and Trump is sure to have his attack dogs primed for that. Data on American durable goods orders are due (recovering from the sharp April drop expected), along with the May trade deficit update (no improvement expected).The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.38%, and unchanged from Saturday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,367/oz, and up +US$2 from Saturday.American oil prices are little-changed from Saturday at just on US$74/bbl while the international Brent price is now just over US$77/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now just on 59.7 USc, little-changed from Saturday. Against the Aussie we are holding at 92.5 AUc. Against the euro we are still at 51.8 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at on 67.7 and unchanged from Saturday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$99,713 down -3.5% from Saturday, its lowest since early May. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been moderate at just over +/-2.2%. The fall in the bitcoin price is the least of what other crypto prices are shifting. Generally stablecoins are holding with only very minor losses, but Binance is down -5.8% from a week ago, Bitcoin Cash is down -1.8% on the same basis, the official Trump coin is down -14.8%, and Ether is down -14.0%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Kia ora,Welcome to Thursday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the Fed governors are clearly worried about the inflation threat from the new tariff taxes.The US Fed has kept rates unchanged in their decision earlier today, holding their core policy rate at 4.25%. The projection dot plot suggested that they have two more -25 bps rate cuts pencilled in for 2025 and one more for 2026. They also downgraded their expectations on growth in the US economy, dropping the 2025 estimate from +1.7% to +1.4%, and trimming their forecast for 2026 to +1.6%. Fed boss Powell said these growth downgrades will come as higher tariffs hinder the US economy and put upward pressure on US inflation.Meanwhile US initial jobless claims eased lower to 236,000 but the reduction is all accounted for by seasonal effects. There are now 1.82 mln people on these benefits, almost +100,000 more than this time last year.US mortgage applications fell last week despite the benchmark mortgage interest rate easing lower at the same time.Also falling and rather sharply, were new housing starts in May. They fell almost -10% from April to be -1% lower than the same month a year ago.Across the Pacific, Japanese machinery orders fell more than -9% in April, a sharp reversal from March's +13% surge. This was the weakest reading since April 2020, but about what was expected. Still, they remain +6.6% higher than year-ago levels. Meanwhile Japanese exports fell in May after seven consecutive months of expansion. A retreat was expected and what they got wasn't a sharp as those expectations. However, imports slumped -7.7% from a year ago and more than expected.Meanwhile, Japanese car exports to the US fell in volume terms by almost -4% in May, but in value terms they were down almost -25%, suggesting that at the moment, Japanese carmakers are absorbing some of the new US tariffs to maintain their market share.The iron ore price is under pressure, unable to get out of its new lower range, and confirming the overall slowdown in the global economy.Meanwhile, the silver price has pushed up to a new all-time high.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.40%, and up +1 bp from yesterday, clawing back earlier falls after the Fed commentary. The price of gold will start today at US$3,386/oz, and down -US$3 from yesterday.American oil prices are still in the higher zone, unchanged from yesterday at just on US$74.50/bbl while the international Brent price is now just over US$76/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now just over 60.2 USc, unchanged from yesterday. The USD firmed slightly after the Fed decision. Against the Aussie we are down -30 bps at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are up +10 bps at 52.5 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at on 68.2 and unchanged from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$104,247 and up +0.3% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been low at just under +/-0.9%.Tomorrow is a public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki, and this briefing will take a break. And remember, it is a holiday in the US tomorrow, Juneteenth. You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again on Monday.

Kia ora,Welcome to Wednesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news we are seeing signs of the US economy losing steam just as the US Fed meets.First up today, the overnight full dairy auction brought slightly lower prices, down nearly -1% overall. This was a smaller decline than the futures market expected. In NZD terms the dip was marginally more, down -1.2%. In the end the dip in the WMP price was only -2.1% and far less than expected. The SMP price dipped -1.3%. The volumes sold were at seasonal lows. All-in-all an auction event that will change little.Also uninspiring were US retail sales in May. It slowed to a +3.3% expansion year-on-year from a downwardly revised +5.0% in the previous month. Given that US CPI inflation is being recorded at 2.4%, the volume steam has gone right out of the American retail impulse. It is surprising many analysts. Month on month, retail sales actually fell. Overall, this was the weakest result since November 2024.US industrial production in May fell too, down -0.2% from the prior month, to be +0.6% higher than a year ago. These are 'real' volume numbers and signal what the Beige Book has been suggesting - a factory sector that is losing ground.It is no better in their housebuilding sector. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell in June to its lowest since December 2022. Expectations were that it would improve, so another economic drag is building. Builders aren't happy facing higher tariff-tax costs when demand is leaking away.But these may be just the start. The tough new policies toward immigrants are being felt in ways some foresaw and will have a long term impact on American demographics. Suddenly the outflow of people from the US exceeds the inflow. And it is younger workers leaving which is making costs for servicing an expanding older population rise and much more suddenly that was expected. The speed of these changes is quite corrosive, the first time in 50 years they have had to face the fact that the US is no longer a magnet for the aspirational.And the big all-in-one US budget bill from the Trump Administration, which is struggling to get Congressional approval, is already having a depressive impact. International investors, including the giant sovereign wealth funds, face sharp new American taxes on their US investments. Most have now halted assigning funds to US opportunities. If the bill passes, there could be a rather sharp outflow of existing investments, one that would impact the USD and their current account.The US Fed FOMC is currently meeting and will report is decisions tomorrow. No change to their 4.5% policy interest rate is expected, but they will be watching the stagflation pressures of higher inflation and lower growth with some alarm, you would imagine.Across the Pacific, the Bank of Japan also held its key interest rate steady following a two-day policy meeting, keeping its rate at 0.5% amid economic uncertainty stemming from US trade policies. This marks the third consecutive meeting after which the central bank has maintained the rate; the last increase came in January.In China, new data forecasts out from the IEA shows that China's oil demand is set to peak in 2027, a trend that it calls a "fundamental transformation" in the global energy market. China has accounted for 60% of the growth in global oil demand in the past decade and slowing demand in the world's second largest economy is set to contribute to a significant surplus in oil by the end of this one.It is not all gloom. In Germany, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment surged in June to its highest level since March's three-year peak and far exceeding market expectations. That sudden sentiment boost helped propel the wider EU survey results too.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.39%, and down -7 bps from yesterday. The price of gold will start today at US$3,387/oz, and down -US$4 from yesterday.American oil prices are still in the higher zone, up +US$2.50 from yesterday at just on US$74.50/bbl while the international Brent price is now just under US$76/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now just under 60.2 USc, back down -½c from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are up +20 bps at 93 AUc. Against the euro we are down -10 bps at 52.4 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at on 68.2 and down -20 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$103,962 and down -3.7% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been moderate at just on +/-2.4%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Originally from the US, Sharon shared her inspiring journey into the world of midwifery—a calling that has taken her across the globe. From supporting births in the US, Cambodia, Tonga, Benin (West Africa), the Peruvian Amazon, Mexico, and Aotearoa New Zealand, Sharon's deep passion for whānau-centred care has left a powerful imprint in every place she's been. Sharon moved to NZ with her husband Dave and their three children (Adam, Sarah, and Will) in 2003, after time in Cambodia. She knew New Zealand was where she wanted to work as a midwife—and raise her family. For years, they called Stratford home, where Sharon managed the maternity unit until its closure in 2015—a heartbreaking time for her and the community.

In this episode of Bad Diaries Podcast, Tracy talks with writer and academic Chris Brickell about ferreting in the Hocken research collections, the joy of collaboration, and editing writers' diaries for publication.Tracy's just back from a 6-week residency at Robert Lord Writers Cottage in Ōtepoti Dunedin, where she met Chris Brickell and Vanessa Manhire who, with Nonnita Rees, edited Robert Lord Diaries (OUP 2013). In this chat recorded for the podcast, Tracy starts by asking Chris whether it feels transgressive to open another person's diary.Chris is also editor of James Courage Diaries (OUP 2021), and Tracy and Chris talk about some of the similarities and differences between these two New Zealand writers, and the challenges – and rewards – of editing and publishing their diaries.Chris Brickell is a Professor in the Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology Programme at University of Otago. He has written extensively on the history of gay men in Aotearoa New Zealand. His books include: Mates and Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand (Godwit, 2008); Teenagers: The Rise of Youth Culture in New Zealand (AUP, 2017); Queer Objects (OUP, 2019, co-edited with Judith Collard); James Courage Diaries (OUP, 2021); and Robert Lord Diaries (OUP, 2023, co-edited with Vanessa Manhire and Nonnita Rees).Find full show notes for this episode on the Bad Diaries Salon website baddiariessalon.com, or get in touch via Instagram or Facebook – we're @baddiariessalon everywhere.Thanks for joining us for Bad Diaries Podcast! Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review us, wherever you get your podcasts.Bad Diaries Podcast Season 3 is recorded and produced in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, on the iwi lands of Taranaki Whānui, and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. Seasons 1 & 2 were also recorded in Naarm Melbourne, Australia, on the lands of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Mana Whenua, and to Elders past, present and emerging, of these lands.

Kia ora,Welcome to Tuesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news there are hopes, early ones at this stage, that Iran is looking for an off-ramp in its fight with Israel, or at least, so says Trump. That was enough to bolster equity markets today. But the USD is falling and bond yields are rising.But it is shaky with the G7 summit talks starting in Banff, Canada, and all participants having starkly different viewpoints from the US which seems to be trying to get Putin's Russia back into the group. Included in those sidebar meetings is one between Trump and Australian prime minister Albanese. It's going to be a weird experience, but weird is what the US does these days on public policy.Back focusing on economic data, so far there are few signs of manufacturing reshoring in the New York region. Business activity continued to decline in New York State in June, according to firms responding to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index fell seven points to a deeper contraction. New orders and shipments both declined. However, the outlook of firms surveyed brightened to 'less negative'.There was another long bond auction of US Treasuries earlier today, for the 20 year bond. This drew -13% less demand so the recent investor appetite pullback is extending. It delivered a median yield of 4.88% which was actually lower than the 4.97% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.A recent review by the New York Fed of "who is paying the tariffs" found about 90% of manufacturers and about three-quarters of service firms import some goods, with the average imported input share among all firms at around 30%. And so far most businesses are passing on most of these additional costs to their customers. And relatively quickly. So it is a bit of a puzzle why the tariff taxes haven't yet shown up in consumer price indexes.In Canada, housing starts stayed very high again in May after the unusual jump in April, coming it at almost +280,000 annualised rate when only +248,000 were expected. This was almost the best month since September 2022 and the best two month gain ever. Canadian new house building is on a roll, especially in Montreal (+11%) and Vancouver (+10%). It would be interesting to know how much this is being driven by political refugees from the US, but we have no indications on that.Bolstering the rise in housing starts is that home sales rose in May, their first rise since November.India released its May trade data overnight and its exports delivered an unremarkable result, reinforcing that the rise of Indian manufacturing is not being export-led. Its imports actually eased lower in the month.There was important Chinese released yesterday showing electricity production was only up +0.5% in May from the same month a year ago, maintaining the weak gains that started in November 2024. This is hard to square with their data claim that industrial production was up +5.8% on the same basis.China also reported that its May retail sales rose a very healthy +6.4% from a year ago, well above the +5.0% expected and the +5.1% gain in April. It is a 15 month high. At face value this is a surprisingly strong gain.In their housing markets, China reported that new house prices fell -3.5% but the least year-on-year fall in a year. Month on month they say more gains are now showing. Prices for resales were down more year-on-year, and there are no major cities where they are rising.And recent remarks by Chinese Premier Li seem to confirm that their residential property development market is not improving, and perhaps at a new dangerous stage. Beijing is facing a new round of bailouts to prevent collapse in the sector, once a star of the Chinese economy.In the EU, they reported that wage growth in Q1-2025 was up +4.1%, less in the euro area. This was a slowing from the recent peak of +5.7% in Q1-2024. These is a rather fast cooling-off in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, whereas wages are rising faster in Spain and France.Off to a very strong start, Airbus has announced huge orders at the Paris air show. The troubles at Boeing have meant that their CEO is a notable no-show. Also of interest is that France has shut down the Israeli presence at the trade event.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.46%, and up +5 bps from yesterday. The price of gold will start today at US$3,392/oz, and down -US$38 from yesterday.American oil prices are still in a higher zone, although down -US$1 from yesterday at just on US$72/bbl while the international Brent price is now just over US$73/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now just under 60.7 USc, up +½c from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are uup +10 bps at 92.8 AUc. Against the euro we are up +40 bps at 52.5 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at on 68.4 and up +50 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$107,915 and up +2.0% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.6%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Aotearoa/New Zealand artist Marlon Williams spent five years on his latest album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, which is entirely in the Māori language. The release coincides with the current New Zealand coalition government limiting the use of the Indigenous language in the public service, and the suspension of three MPs who performed a Māori haka in protest of a bill which has been criticised as reversing Indigenous rights. Marlon Williams speaks to Reged Ahmad about singing in his first language on the international stage, and performs a song from the album in the Guardian Australia studio You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

Gareth Hughes is a former Member of Parliament, political commentator, author, and passionate advocate for economic transformation. With a decade of experience in Parliament representing the Green Party, Gareth held key roles including Party Whip, strategist, and Chair of the Social Services and Community Select Committee. Before his time in politics, Gareth led climate campaigns with Greenpeace, helping to drive awareness and action on critical environmental issues.Gareth now serves as Director of WEAll Aotearoa Wellbeing Economy Alliance, a Te Tiriti-led, non-partisan ‘think and do' tank focused on reimagining Aotearoa New Zealand's economy to prioritise the wellbeing of people and te taiao (the natural world). Through research, advocacy, and coalition-building, the WEAll Aotearoa team are helping to shape a future where thriving communities and ecosystems are at the heart of economic decision-making.In this episode, we discuss:Gareth's journey from climate activism to Parliament to economic systems changeHow his personal and political experiences shaped a deep commitment to systemic economic changeWhy the current economic model is failing—and why change is urgentWhat a well-being economy really means (and what it's not)Challenging common myths about economic growth and prosperityWhy Aotearoa needs an economy that works for everyone, within planetary boundariesThe mission and work of WEAll Aotearoa—empowering communities, policymakers, and businesses to co-create changeThe Wellbeing Economy Alliance—a global movement, now in 19 countriesTools and frameworks for action, including the Wellbeing Economy Policy Design GuideBusiness as a force for goodGareth's nationwide listening tour—hearing how everyday New Zealanders want the economy to workBarriers to shifting the system, and how we can overcome themWhat success could look like, and Gareth's message of hope and actionHow you can support WEAll Aotearoa and get involved in the movementGareth offers a hopeful, grounded, and inspiring conversation about how we can reimagine the economy to truly serve both people and the planet.To view all the links to the websites and documents, visit the show notes on our website.Please support our work and enable us to deliver more content by buying us a coffee or becoming a member of Athletes for Nature.Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky, subscribe to this podcast, and share this episode with your friends and family.

Kia ora,Welcome to Monday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the hot-war tensions in the Middle East from Israel's attack on Iran has generated substantial financial market reaction. And a 'hot' war between Israel and Iran could go on for a very long time. The first three days may only be the startThe gold price has jumped. The oil price has soared. Equity prices are falling, although the futures market suggests Wall Street may open tomorrow unchanged. Bond yields are up after an earlier risk-aversion fall. The US dollar has been falling but is now in a wavering phase.Coming up this shortened week locally are a first look at May inflation with the selected price indexes, and on Thursday, Q1-2025 GDP. Expect a +0.7% expansion from Q4-2024. And there will be a full dairy auction on Wednesday.Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East will remain in focus next week following Israel's strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, heightening fears of a broader regional conflict. Markets will also be closely watching any progress on trade negotiations between the US and its key partners.Meanwhile, attention shifts to the G7 Summit in Canada, where leaders of the world's largest economies will meet to discuss major global challenges. But one not on the formal agenda is the US's trade war with these allies. Of course it will be a hot topic in non-official discussions. Of special interest will be the meeting between Australia's Albanese and Trump.It's also a busy week for monetary policy decisions. The US Federal Reserve (4.50%), People's Bank of China (LPR 3.0%), Bank of Japan (0.5%), and Bank of England (4.25%) are all expected to keep interest rates unchanged. Decisions are also due from central banks in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. On the data front, we get China's industrial production and retail sales, and Japan's trade data.Australia's May labour market data will be updated on Thursday. So a lot to absorb this week irrespective of the uncertainties swirling over the hot wars.Bur first in China, their banks extended ¥620 biln in new yuan loans in May, up from ¥280 bln in April, but that was the lowest level for that month since 2005. Despite the monthly rebound, the May new loan figure was way less than the expected ¥850 bln, and even lower than the ¥950 bln in May 2024. Low interest rates are not encouraging lending. The average rate in May was little-changed at 1.55%.Japanese industrial production also fell in April from March, down -1.1%, but remained +0.5% higher than a year ago.Malaysian retail sales were up +4.7% in April from a year ago, but as good as that sounds it is the weakest year-on-year rise since May 2023. And these gains are before inflation, which is running in Malaysia at only +1.4%.In the US was news American consumer sentiment improved in early June from May in the widely-followed University of Michigan survey which was taken June 2-7, 2025. Although this is the first improvement in the past six months, it is off a record low and is still -11% lower than year-ago levels. This survey pre-dates the current crises. And it predates the widespread (2000+) series of well-attended protest rallies in the US (attended by up to 5 mln people), even in the face of an assassination of one Democrat lawmaker and the attempted assassination of another. Given the Proud Boys Telegram chatter, this isn't so surprising.On the US West Coast, container traffic at the large Los Angeles shipping terminals fell in May. Import traffic was down -19% from April, down -9% from a year ago. Export loadings were down -5% from a year ago. (The Long Beach May data isn't available yet but it is likely to be similar.)North of the border, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Canadian vehicle purchases rose in April to 195,700, the highest level since June 2019. Perhaps this is boosted by buyers wanting to avoid tariff-related price hikes. The jump was country-wide and was +11% above the year-ago level.Meanwhile Canadian manufacturing sales fell -2.8% in April, with the tariff impacts starting to be felt. It was down -2.7% from a year ago. Recession risks are rising in Canada.EU industrial production sagged in April from March after a strong March gain, but managed to stay marginally higher than year-ago levels. The EU publishes this data on a volume basis, so this is a 'real' gain.Finally we should probably note that the price of lithium carbonate has now crashed -90% from its giddy height in 2022. It is now back to late 2020 levels before the frenzy.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.41%, and unchanged from Saturday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,430/oz, and down -US$3 from Saturday but up +US$115 from a week ago. In contrast the silver price at US$36.17/oz is little-changed from a week ago.American oil prices are holding higher, although down -50 USc from Saturday at just on US$73/bbl while the international Brent price is now just under US$74.50/bbl. These are large jumps from a week ago on the war risks. And the full assessment of supply risks are not yet understood, so this price could be volatile this week.The Kiwi dollar is now just under 60.2 USc, down -10 bps from Saturday. Against the Aussie we are unchanged at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are down -10 bps at 52.1 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at over 67.9 and down -20 bps from Saturday (shifted a bit by a fall against the British pound).The bitcoin price starts today at US$105,794 and up +0.6% from Saturday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been low at just on +/-0.8%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

This episode is a part of the homebirth around the World Series. In this episode, I chat with Renee, a community midwife or a ‘LMC' on the North Island of Aotearoa  ‘New Zealand'. I was really excited to chat with Renee as New Zealand is often looked up to in terms of its midwifery care and homebirth access. Renee shares her journey to becoming a midwife and how the system works in Aotearoa. We cover homebirth rates and access, the challenges, risks and a bit about funding. Homebirth Aotearoa New Zealand College of Midwives - you can find a definition of an LMC here too https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-professionals/health-workforce-development/midwiferyReferral Guidelines Support the showConnect with me, Elsie, the host :) www.birthingathome.com.au @birthingathome_apodcast@homebirth.doula_birthingathome birthingathome.apodcast@gmail.com

Kia ora,Welcome to Friday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news incoherent trade policies have driven the US dollar to its lowest level since 2022 as markets don't see any easing of geopolitical risks driven out of Washington. The US said it will set unilateral tariff rates on most trading partners at the end of the month.Meanwhile, US initial jobless claims came in at 245,000 last week, little-changed from the prior week. This embeds the recent higher level and extends the 2025 rising trend. We haven't seen two consecutive high-claims weeks since mid 2023. There are now 1.8 mln people on these benefits, +7.1 more than year-ago levels.The immigration crackdown on undocumented farm and hospitality workers is having ripple impacts on corporate America, with some major brands reporting stuttering sales.And the Congressional Budget Office has set out how the Trump Budget Bill will hurt middle and poor Americans, and enrich wealthy ones. It is a report sure to annoy the President.And he is already annoyed by the Fed not cutting interest rates.Separately, as analysts expected, US producer prices came in +2.6% higher in May than a year ago.The UST 30yr bond auction today saw a -7.5% fall in investor demand, mirroring the -10% drop in support we noted yesterday in the UST 10yr auction. The median yield came in at 4.80%, up from the 4.75% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.Elsewhere, India's CPI inflation fell to 2.8% in May from 3.2% in April and dipping below analyst expectations of 3%. This is their lowest reading since February 2019, so a six year low. It is also getting closer to the bottom of their central bank's inflation target range of 2%-6%. Food price rises fell to the lowest level since October 2021, and drove the easing.In Australia, the Melbourne Institute survey for June shows inflation expectations there rising to 5.0%, the highest level since July 2023 and up sharply from the 4.1% in May.International container freight rates were unchanged last week from the prior week to now be -26% lower than year-ago levels. A year ago rates were in a strong rising trend which lasted until July, then they eased steadily until May 2025. Bulk freight rates rose +6.8% last week from the week before to their highest level since early November. They are now -5.2% lower than year ago levels.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.36%, and down -6 bps from this time yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,383/oz, and up +US$60 from yesterday.American oil prices are up another +US$1.50 at just over US$68.50/bbl while the international Brent price is now just over US$69.50/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now just over 60.6 USc, up +20 bps from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are also up +20 bps at 92.9 AUc. Against the euro we are down -20 bps at 52.4 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at under 68.3 and essentially unchanged from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$108,419 and down -0.6% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.1%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again on Monday.

Kia ora,Welcome to Thursday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news China and the US seem to have agreed some sort of trade deal although the details are still quite fuzzy. However a key part seem to be that the US will only get access to the rare earth minerals on a 180 day rolling basis. That means Beijing will retain key leverage over these negotiations as they develop.From data out in the US, CPI inflation was recorded at 2.4% in May, up marginally from 2.3% in April but coming in lower than the +2.5% expected. Food prices however were up +2.9%, rents up +3.9% in this survey. The only reason the overall level was modest is that petrol prices fell -3.5% from a year ago.Interestingly, US crude oil prices were near a one-year high a year ago at US$78/bbl. Today they are at US$67/bbl. But they have fallen steadily from there so after August it seems likely that US petrol prices will generate upward pressure on their CPI, just about at the time tariff-tax flow throughs start to bite. Could get "interesting" in about 90 days.Meanwhile US mortgage applications jumped more than +12% last week from the prior weak three weeks. It is a pattern we have observed since September - three weeks of declines followed by a single week of recovery, usually because those holding off refinancing while waiting for rates to fall can't wait any longer. The benchmark 30 year fixed rate was unchanged last week at 6.93% plus points.There was another US Treasury 10 year bond tender earlier today, and this one featured an outsized fall in demand. There were more than -10% less bids than at the prior equivalent event. The median yield achieved was 4.38% today, up from 4.28% at that prior equivalent event.This is the first time we have seen a big fall-off in demand in these official tenders, so it will be worth keeping an eye on it going forward to see if this is a one-off, or the feared pullback in investor appetite for Trump-debt.At the same time, the US Budget Statement for May showed a monthly deficit of -US$316 bln, only marginally less than the -US$346 bln for the same month a year ago. Higher tariff collections at the border are getting the credit, of US$23 bln in the month. That would mean the DOGE has had zero impact on the budget. They have booked a -US$2 tln deficit in the twelve months to May, and on track for more than that for their fiscal year to September. If the current Budget Bill passes with its tax cuts for the rich, and suspension of the debt ceiling, you can see why investors would want sharply higher risk premiums for holding US federal debt when the mismanagement is so rife.In Canada, April building consents came in -6.6% below March levels to be -16% lower than year ago levels (which featured a strong April 2024 surge).In China, May vehicle sales came in at almost 2.7 mln units in the month with almost half of them NEVs. That puts sales for the past year at a remarkable 32.7 mln, and more than double the level in the US (15.6 mln units in the past year). One key reason is the Beijing-backed trade-in incentives that are designed to support their manufacturing activity through the tariff-war and their drive to build and rely more on internal consumption. It seems to be working with this incentive in place, but can they wean themselves off it?The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.42%, and down -5 bps from this time yesterday. The price of gold will start today at US$3,323/oz, and virtually unchanged from yesterday.American oil prices are up +US$2 at just over US$67/bbl while the international Brent price is now just under US$69/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now just over 60.4 USc, basically holding from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are also holding at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are down -30 bps at 52.6 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at under 68.3 and down about -10 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$109,115 and up +0.4% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has remained low at just on +/-0.8%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Around half of people with migraine disease turn to non-medication treatments to ease their symptoms, new research has revealed. The Migraine in Aotearoa New Zealand survey from University of Otago researchers asked participants about supplements and treatments they've used including magnesium and vitamin B2 or meditation, yoga and massage. Dr Fiona Imlach is an epidemiologist at the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago and founder of charity Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand. She says there is no one-size-fits-all approach to migraine treatment and that while there are some treatments out there that are not recommended, many non-pharmacological approaches can actually help - they just aren't available here.

Kia ora,Welcome to Wednesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news we are still waiting for indications of the China-US trade talks in London.Meanwhile, the World Bank said global trade expansion is now at its weakest since 2008 as the tariff tit-for-tat undermines it. They say without a swift course correction, "the harm to living standards could be deep". But they still see a global expansion of +2.3%, largely driven by China, Indonesia, Thailand and India. The retreat of growth in the US will be sharp they say halving in 2025 (+1.4%) from 2024 (+2.8%). The EU will be largely unaffected and maintain their low growth. Japan's low growth is expected to rise in the next three years. They don't review Australia or New Zealand.Elsewhere, the overnight dairy Pulse auction brought downbeat results. The key WMP price fell -1.1% in a retreat expected by the derivatives market. But even at this level it remains in the rising trend that started in mid-2024. However, the SMP price fell a hard -4.8% and much more than expected. In fact, SMP prices have now broken through their weak rising trend, and look quite vulnerable.Also showing signs of running out of steam were US retail sales growth as measured by their Redbook survey. They were up +4.6% from the same week a year ago, the weakest rise since March 2024. After inflation, this isn't any better.The the US NFIB small business optimism survey turned up in May, the first time it has done that in 2025.There was a US Treasury 3 year bond auction earlier today and that showed a small fall-off in support, something worth watching. The winning investors got a median yield of 3.92%, up from the 3.77% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.Across the Pacific, Japanese machine tool orders came in at a similar level in May as April, but that is only a +3.4% gain from the same month a year ago. It was kept positive by export orders, although domestic orders, which had been strong earlier in the year, are now cooling.In China, concerns persist about overproduction in their car manufacturing sector even though local new-vehicle sales overall, including exports, rose almost +10% in April. Those concerns are rippling through commodities that supply this juggernaut industry. Rubber prices, for example, are being hit hard as buyers lose confidence the China car industry can avoid a crash like the property sector. There are signs the government there is worried too, with Beijing telling carmakers to make sensible commercial decisions.In Australia, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey wasn't particularly upbeat, coming in little-changed in June from May. But at least it isn't going backwards. Aussie consumers remain relatively averse to real estate as an investment option and to risk in general. Indeed, responses to a question on the ‘wisest place for savings' suggest that the tariff-related turmoil this year has seen what was already a high level of risk aversion intensify even further.And staying in Australia, the closely-watched NAB business sentiment survey has improved marginally in May, recording its first positive reading in four months. But, business conditions weakened in this survey and it will be hard for sentiment to improve if business conditions get weaker. Those weaker conditions came from ongoing profitability pressures and soft demand, with signs of a further softening in labour demand.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.47%, and down -2 bps from this time yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,323/oz, and down -US$10 from yesterday.American oil prices are little-changed at just on US$65/bbl while the international Brent price is now just on US$67/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now at 60.4 USc, and dipping -10 bps from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are also down -10 bps at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are down -10 bps at 52.9 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at under 68.4 and down a bit less than -10 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$108,723 and up +0.4% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been low at just on +/-0.9%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Kia ora,Welcome to Tuesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the US and China are meeting in London to discuss China's block on exports of rare earth minerals that the US manufacturing sector needs. The hope is that the settlement will have the US pull back from its tariff-tax war. More likely, it will be a trade of US AI chips for Chinese rare earth minerals.In the background, the dismantling of civil society and the rule of law continues in the US, but you will have to get news of those overnight events elsewhere - even though they will have a corrosive impact on commerce.Our first item in the US is that consumer inflation expectations fell back in June to 3.2% for the year ahead, which wasn't what was expected. But a look at the components explains why. It was driven by the expectation that petrol prices will drop - on a weakening economy. On the other hand those surveyed expected food prices to rise to 5.5% which is a two year high, rents by 8.4%. The expectation that their jobless rate will rise remained high.And we should probably point out that analysts are noting that the UST 10 year yield (4.5%) is now well above the US nominal GDP growth rate (3.8%) for the fits time since 2011, and that is seen as a signal that corporate insolvencies will now rise noticeably after a long period of relative stability.China said its CPI price change held at -0.1% of deflation. That is the third month in a rose it has reported that, the fourth recording deflation. It does seem odd, and a tad unlikely, that Chinese consumer prices are consistently deflating at such a low level. Anecdotal observations talk of 'raging price wars'. According to the official data these are having zero impact. Year-on-year they say beef prices are down -0.1%, lamb prices are down -2.8% and milk prices are -1.5% lower. But beef prices did rise in May from April, according to this data.Meanwhile Chinese producer prices deflated more, down -3.3% from a year ago to their fastest rate of decline since July 2023.And China booked another bumper trade surplus in May. Exports rose +4.8% (about what was expected but historically low), while imports fell -3.4% and far more than expected. They benefited from the TACO trade in May. Their surplus with the US was +US$18 bln for the month although they did export less and import more. To New Zealand, they exported -3% less but imported +11% more, so our surplus rose. To Australia, their exports were little-changed but they imported almost -19% less in May.In Taiwan, they far outshone their neighbour and rival with a huge rise in exports (a new record high) and a large rise in imports from the same month a year ago. That contributed to a trade surplus of +US$12.6 bln in the month, now one eighth that of China even though their economy is only one twentieth as large.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.49%, and down -2 bps from this time yesterday. The price of gold will start today at US$3,334/oz, and up +US$26 from yesterday.American oil prices are firmish, up +50 USc at just on US$65/bbl while the international Brent price is just under US$67/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now at 60.5 USc, and up +30 bps from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are up +10 bps at 92.8 AUc. Against the euro we are up +20 bps at 53 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at over 68.4 and up +20 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$108,312 and up +1.9% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.4%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Kia ora,Welcome to Monday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news that despite the Trump-generated spectacle of intimidation and violence in Los Angeles against immigrant communities, the economic news has been contained.This coming week is not a big one for local data releases, but in Australia we will get updated surveys of both consumer (Westpac/MI), and business (NAB) sentiment surveys. Not a lot of change is expected in either.There will be a June update of American consumer sentiment from the widely watched University of Michigan. And we will get CPI updates for May from both the US (expect a small rise to 2.5% (and China (expect slightly deeper deflation at -.2%). India will also release May CPI data (expect little change).The Chinese will also release export and import data. Japan will update its machine tool order data. And Germany will release some wholesale price data too.Over the weekend, and in something of a relief, the US May non-farm payrolls growth came in at +139,000, little different to the expected +130,000 and only a minor retreat from the +147,000 growth in April. But that is a bit below the average for 2024 and well below the average for 2023, and the lowest expansion for a May since 2020. In data not seasonally adjusted, it was the lowest since 2016. The US labour market seems to be plateauing after a rather strong recovery in the prior four years.Average US weekly earnings rose +3.9% in May from the same month a year ago, similar to earlier 2025 months and the same as the average for a May over the past ten years. The jobless rate was unchanged at 4.2%.But hiring freezes and production cutbacks seem to be the themes coming out of corporate America. The landscape for reshoring isn't good, apparently.And the data is becoming clearer that foreigners are avoiding the US as a travel destination, and not just Canadians, with anti-American sentiment on the rise in Europe too. Companies like Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia all said that their financial results will be weaker than expected because of the softening demand.Total US consumer credit rose by +US$18 bln in April or +4.3%, up from a +$10 bln increase in March and better than expected. So this expansion, while modest, is back to a 'normal' pace. Revolving credit (credit cards) increased at an annual rate of +7%, while nonrevolving credit (car loans and similar) rose at a letter 3.3% rate.There was May Canadian labour market data out over the weekend too. Somewhat surprisingly, that delivered an expansion of +8,800 jobs when a -15,000 reduction was anticipated. Even better, +57,700 new full-time jobs were added in May balanced by a reduction of -48,800 part-time jobs. So, overall a rather surprising net gain.However, their jobless rate rose to 7%, the first time it has hit that level since 2016 (apart from the pandemic), so that probably raises the chance of a rate cut at their next review at the end of July.In Japan, the level of central bank bond buying tapering continues to raise concerns and undermine demand by other potential investors. It is also raising questions about the value of the yen. There is elevated debate about the right level from here and the central bank may have to slow its tapering operation. The void their tapering is leaving is not being filled by the private sector. And that could seriously twist Japanese interest rates.Late on Friday, the Indian central bank cut its policy rate again, with an outsized -50 bps cut to 5.5% when a -25 bps trim was expected. That makes it a full -100 bps reduction since February. They say the outsized move was required by the combination of fast- easing inflation and ongoing uncertainty surrounding global trade tensions.The Russian central bank also surprised with a rate cut when one wasn't expected. It cut -100 bps to 20% under Kremlin pressure, and claiming that "inflation is under control".EU retail sales for April came in surprisingly strong. They report these on a volume basis and were +2.8% higher than in April 2024. Only a +1.4% expansion was expected, and the March expansion was +1.9%. So a great result for them. Most other countries are not getting inflation-adjusted retail growth anything like this.Today is a public holiday in Australia, so our markets will be quiet.Meanwhile, both sides seem to be gearing up for trade talks between China and the US - in London.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.51%, and unchanged from Saturday, up +9 bps for the week. The price of gold will start today at US$3,308/oz, and down -US$10 from Saturday. That is up +US$24 from US$3294/oz a week ago.American oil prices are holding at just on US$64.50/bbl while the international Brent price is still the same at just on US$66.50/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now at 60.2 USc, and unchanged from Saturday at this time. Against the Aussie we are also unchanged at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are still at 52.8 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just on 68.2 and unchanged from Saturday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$106,270 and up +1.5% from Saturday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been low at just under +/-0.6%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.

Bad Diaries Podcast is ba-a-ack for Season 3!Tracy Farr is flying Bad Diaries Podcast solo, poised to land a new season of interviews with writers, talking about our own and other people's diaries.Find Jenny Ackland on MY MUM'S BAD DIARIES.Find Tracy's new novel WONDERLAND.Follow BAD DIARIES PODCAST ahead of the first episode of the new season, dropping soon – or listen back to our earlier episodes while you wait.As the podcast season progresses, as well as interviews, we'll have news of live Bad Diaries Salon events coming up.Hope you'll join us soon … on Bad Diaries Podcast.Find full show notes for this episode on the Bad Diaries Salon website baddiariessalon.com, or get in touch via Instagram or Facebook – we're @baddiariessalon everywhere.Thanks for joining us for Bad Diaries Podcast! Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review us, wherever you get your podcasts.Bad Diaries Podcast Season 3 is recorded and produced in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, on the iwi lands of Taranaki Whānui, and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. Seasons 1 & 2 were also recorded in Naarm Melbourne, Australia, on the lands of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Mana Whenua, and to Elders past, present and emerging, of these lands.

Cherida Fraser, Wellington co-ordinator for the Aotearoa New Zealand sex workers collective spoke to Lisa Owen about how the Prime Minister has ordered a review of vetting processes for parliamentary staff after his Deputy chief press secretary Michael Forbes quit following allegations he recorded intimate audio of sessions with sex workers and was in possession of intrusive photos of women. There were dozens of photos and footage on the former staffer's phone and some appear to have been recorded in public places and shot through windows at night.

Kia ora,Welcome to Friday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news US Republicans are becoming more like the CPC than they probably realise.But first, there were 209,000 initial jobless claims in the US last week, a small decrease from the prior week but less of a decrease seasonal factors would have assumed. That resulted in the widely reported seasonally adjusted level to jump to its highest in eight months. There are now 1.757 mln people on these benefits, almost +100,000 more than at this time last year.That level may grow. The Challenger job cut report came in with another outsized count for May, and were up +47% over the same in 2024. They say layoff activity is now spreading to other sectors than just the Federal government.US exports rose slightly in April, enough to claim an all-time record high. And as expected, actually a bit more than expected, US imports fell sharply after the March pre-tariff splurge. The average of March and April was about the same level they recorded in each of January and February 2025. For April 2025, the US$350 bln in imports were little-different to the April 2024 level of US$340 bln. It only looks like a big drop because of all the front-loading generated by tariff-tax uncertainty.We should note that US data reliability may become more like Chinese data - heavily influenced by politics. In a random note, the BLS said it isn't going to survey prices as deeply anymore, which could mean "inflation" will be what the Administration says it is. They are also shifting that statistics agency to be under Howard Lutnick's control. And the Republicans have gone on the attack at the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office for saying their new Budget will swell their deficit by US$2.4 tln. The employees who released that are being laid off. They will be replaced with more compliant analysts.Meanwhile, there has been a phone call between China president Xi and US President Trump. But is seems to have achieved little other than agreement for more talks. However, mutual visits are a likely result, and the set-piece opportunities may give Xi an opportunity to get Trump to "chicken out".North of the border, Canadian exports fell more than -10% while their imports fell -3.5% in April. Again, the same trade and tariff-war factors are at play here, and that has resulted in a record trade deficit for them.In China, the Caixin China General Services PMI rose in May from April's seven-month low and in line with market forecasts of only a very modest expansion. This survey shows a small uptick in new business and activity, despite a renewed decline in new export orders. New export orders fell for the first time in 2025, dampened by Trump's tariffs. The official Chinese services PMI also showed a modest expansion, one weaker than this Caixin version.In Taiwan, their inflation rate eased to 1.6% in May from 2.0% in April, and that is its lowest rate since March 2021. They are back to about what it was running in the years prior to the pandemic.Singapore released April retail sales data and that showed virtually no expansion there. Over the past six months, their retail activity has been quite unstable in its ups and downs.As expected, the ECB cut its key interest rates by -25 bps at its overnight meeting, to 2.15%. Updated inflation and economic forecasts show eurozone inflation is near their 2% target, with projections showing 2.0% in 2025 (vs 2.3% previously), 1.6% in 2026 (vs 1.9% previously), and 2.0% in 2027. They say their expansion is being held back by global events but all the same they see their combined economy expanding slightly faster over the next three years.Australia's exports rose +2.1% in April from the same month a year ago. Their imports were up +3.5% on the same basis. The result was a sharp weakening in their merchandise trade surplus, as you might have expected. It would have been worse if their gold exports had not come in +48% higher than year ago levels in April. The longer term view of the year to April 2025 compared to the year to April 2024 saw exports down -5.2% and imports up +2.7% showing the balance is tightening over the longer term too.Household spending in Australia in April was flat. But spending on recreational and cultural activities, health, and dining out contributed to a +1.5% rise in services spending, while spending on goods fell by -1.1%, with households buying less clothing and footwear and new vehicles.Last week, container freight rates jumped an outsized +41% from the prior week, with capacity struggling to cope with the sudden Trump tariff-tax pause and a new rush to beat what might happen in 90 days. It was impossible for shipping lines to adjust capacity for this unexpected shift. The largest rises were trans-Pacific rises, up almost +60%. Despite that, these container freight rates are now -25% lower than year-ago levels, although those year ago levels were in a sharp upswing that ran to mid-July 2024. Bulk cargo rates are also on the move up, gaining +9.5% in the past week.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.39%, and up +4 bps from yesterday. Wall Street is weaker with the S&P500 down -0.7% in Thursday trade as confidence in public policy fades in a sudden Trump/Musk slanging match. The price of gold will start today at US$3,352/oz, and down -US$28 from yesterday.American oil prices are up +50 USc at just over US$63/bbl while the international Brent price is up the same at just over US$65/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is still at 60.4 USc, essentially unchanged from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are also unchanged at just under 92.8 AUc. Against the euro we are up +10 bps at 52.9 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just on 68.3 and up +10 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$103,373 and down -1.6% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just under +/-1.2%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again on Monday.

Kia ora,Welcome to Thursday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news that poor American data has seen risk aversion rise in financial markets with the USD falling, benchmark bond prices rising (yields falling), many key commodity prices either falling or showing weakness, and Wall Street underperforming global markets.The poor data was important and widespread.US mortgage applications fell last week for a third week in a row, this time by a solid -3.9% from the prior week but is +18% higher than year ago levels, even if year ago levels were quite weak. The benchmark 30 year mortgage interest rate dipped last week which makes the application levels look even weaker.Meanwhile there was weakness in the US labour market. We get the non-farm payrolls report on Saturday (NZT) but the pre-cursor ADP Employment Report was out today and it was expected to show a +117,000 jobs gain in May. But in fact it only reported a +37,000 gain - and April data was revised lower. There is no evidence in this data that factories are hiring to meet reshoring demand.And the widely watched ISM services PMI isn't showing much optimism either, slipping into a small contraction, its first since June 2024 with all the post-election hubris now evaporated. A feature of this report is the sharpness of the 'new business' component fall.And staying in the US, vehicle sales tumbled in May, falling to an annual rate of 15.65 million units. That was well short of analyst's cut-down expectations of 16.3 million and the steepest monthly decline in nearly five years. In April, sales ran at a 17.25 million rate and that was itself below the 17.8 mln rate in March when buyers rushed to get ahead of anticipated tariff-tax price hikes. Although sales at a 15.65 mln rate isn't nothing, it does indicate the margins of this market is quite price sensitive.So it will be no surprise to know that the US Fed Beige Book for May paints an uninspiring picture in most regions. Half of the Districts reported slight to moderate declines in activity, three Districts reported no change, and three Districts reported slight growth. All District reports indicated that higher tariff rates were putting upward pressure on costs and prices.Things may not improve for the American. Trump is now whining that XI won't take his call. (But he did call Putin who took his call.) And China seems to be on the verge of signing a massive aircraft deal with Airbus, at the direct expense of Boeing.Finally, the Congressional Budget Office has calculated the fiscal impact of the big Trump Budget Bill - saying it will add US$2.4 tln to US deficits, the largest expansion of these deficits ever through gigantic tax cuts for the wealthy. It may be no surprise that Trump can't do basic math, but that the whole Republican congressional party votes for this type of economic damage is quite astounding.In Canada, their central bank review of monetary policy settings left the policy interest rate unchanged at 2.75%, as was expected. They have inflation at 1.7% and an economic expansion of +2.2% in the March quarter, although that is not expected to last. They are watch for downward pressures on inflation from a weaker economy and the upward pressures on inflation from higher costs.In Japan, the 2024 total number of births was 686,061, down -5.7% from the previous year. This was the first time annual births have fallen below 700,000 since record-keeping began in 1899.Australia released its Q1-2025 GDP growth data yesterday. Their economy grew +0.2% in Q1-2025 from Q4-2024, slowing from +0.6% in Q4 and falling short of the +0.4% expected by analysts. This marked the 14th quarter of expansion but the softest pace in three quarters. On an annual basis, the GDP expanded +1.3%, holding steady for the second straight quarter but missing the expected +1.5% rise.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.36%, and down -10 bps from yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,379/oz, and up +US$26 from yesterday.Oil prices are down -US$1 in the US at just over US$62.50/bbl while the international Brent price is down -US$1.50 at US$64.50/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now at 60.4 USc, a +30 bps rise from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are unchanged at just over 92.8 AUc. Against the euro we are up +10 bps at 52.8 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just on 68.2 and up +10 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$105,010 and down -0.9% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just under +/-1.0%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Kia ora,Welcome to Wednesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the global economic expansion is losing pace, led by the US.But first up today, the overnight full dairy auction pulled back, and expected, but perhaps not be as much as the derivatives markets suggested. In the end prices were down -1.6% in USD terms and -3.0% in NZD terms on a rising Kiwi dollar. It was a mixed picture across the commodities offered.In the US, the weekly Redbook retail monitor pulled back last week to be 'only' +4.9% higher than the same week a year ago. That is a sharpish dip from the prior week's +6.1% and mid-April's +7.4%. Much of this may be attributable to tariff-tax increases, with sales volumes easing faster now.Meanwhile, April job openings were little-changed but they did come in slightly higher than expected at 7.4 mln. We get the May non-farm payrolls report this Saturday (NZT) and that is expected to show a modest +130,000 rise.Meanwhile April factory orders came in weak, down a sharp -3.7% following the boosted March gain of +3.4%. Between the two months, a slight easing that was setting in since November. From April 2024 these order levels are up +0.6% and that is before accounting for inflation.The US Logistics Managers Index rose, but because inventory costs, warehousing utilisation, and transportation prices all rose at a faster rate, probably not the indicators that help their economy.But the latest RCM/TIPP optimism survey did rise for 'positive' reasons, but only back to levels it was in November after retreating rather sharply from a February high. The tariff-tax staggers may be easing among investors and the surveyors say this indicates US "consumers are closer to optimism".In Canada, Canadians have so heavily altered their travel plans to the US that the duty-free stores at the border seem to be on their knees in what is being called a 'collapse'.In South Korea, the candidate of the more liberal Democratic Party seems to be the winner of Tuesday's snap presidential election. It is a clear break, with voters turning away from the conservative party, who's previous President triggered their constitutional crisis. It's a win for the rule of law. The other main candidate has conceded.In China, they have delivered something of a surprise. The May Caixin China factory PMI unexpectedly dropped to 48.3, down from April's expanding 50.4 and missing market forecasts of a faster expansion (50.6). This was the first contraction in the sector in eight months and the steepest since September 2022. Output shrank alongside a renewed drop in new orders, with foreign sales declining at a faster pace. The official factory PMI came in at 49.5, a small improvement (lesser decline).Eurozone consumer price inflation eased to 1.9% in May, down from 2.2% in April and below market expectations of 2.0%. With inflation under control, that gives the ECB some room to trim interest rates further at their Friday (NZT) review.Globally, the OECD has lowered its economic expansion forecasts as the Trump tariff-taxes bite, and the US an economy they see suffering as much as others from the impact.That is spurring free trade talks among other nations, especially between Australia and the EU.In Australia, their Fair Work Commission's Expert Panel announced the National Minimum Wage and award wages will increase by +3.5% from 1 July 2025, following the 2024-25 Annual Wage Review. That means their National Minimum Wage will increase by +AU$0.85 to AU$24.95 per hour. (NZ$26.90/hr) The New Zealand adult minimum wage is currently $23.50/hr.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.46%, and unchanged from yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,353/oz, and down -US$22 from yesterday.Oil prices are up +50 USc in the US at just over US$63.50/bbl and the international Brent price is up +US$1 at US$66/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now at 60.1 USc, a -10 bps dip from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are down -10 bps at just on 92.8 AUc. Against the euro we are unchanged at 52.7 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just on 68.1 and down -10 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$105,965 and up +1.6% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.2%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Kia ora,Welcome to Tuesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the Americans seem to be making a concerted effort to adopt a stagflation policy. The USD is falling toward a three year low, gold is rising again, as are US benchmark interest rates.But first, the week ahead will feature central bank rate decisions from Canada (expect a hold at 2.75%), the ECB (-25 bps to 2.15%) and India (-25 bps to 5.75%). And the week will end with the US non-farm payrolls report (+130,000 and extending the ho-hum trend).But the week will be dominated by factory and service sector PMIs, closely watched for the consequences of trade war activity. More damage came from the US over the weekend with the doubling of steel tariffs, from 25% to 50%. These are certain to make the US steel industry even less competitive globally, embedding higher producer costs for American factories and higher prices for its customers.We can see that from the latest ISM factory PMI for May, where a small contraction is now taking place, and the cost pressures are still very high. The final S&P/Markit May factory PMI recorded the most cost pressure since 2022, but a tiny expansion in this one.China released its official PMIs over the weekend, with the factory version contracting much less, and their services little-changed in a tiny expansion. Inflation pressures aren't evident here. The US trade pressure may be preventing China's economy from growing much but it isn't pushing it into a contraction. And so far, Beijing has resisted Trump's request for a phone call with Xi.And there were May PMIs out for Japan (contracting less), Canada,(holding a sharp contraction) Taiwan (contracting less), Korea (small contraction, but stable) Singapore (stable small contraction) and Australia (stable but expanding a bit less) on Monday. So this set isn't yet showing much change, but the trade war does seem to be embedding stagnation. Inflation doesn't seem to be much of a problem here, it is only the US that is getting them both.Stagnation without inflation does allow central banks to try a rate cut remedy - a remedy not available to the Americans.In China they are applying both monetary (lower rates) and fiscal policies (more spending) to stabilise their situation. Beijing is spending big to counter the downward pressure on its economy. As a result, the country's broad fiscal deficit expanded at its quickest clip since 2023 in the first four months of 2025, reaching a -¥2.7 tln (-NZ$630 bln) deficit in the period, almost 60% more than in the same period in 2024.They need all of that because it is pretty clear their real estate sector slump isn't anywhere near over yet, despite all the official help for it.We should also note that it is a holiday in China today, for Dragon Boat Festival.India reported Q1-2025 GDP outcomes, claiming a heady expansion of +7.4% from a year earlier, far better than the +6.7% expected and the +6.4% expansion in Q4-2024. This expansion was led by both the construction sector, and consumer spending.And Canada also reported an expanding economy in Q1-2025, gaining +0.5% in the quarter to be +2.2% higher for the year. Both these indicators of economic activity are better than analysts had expected. Of course these are only of historical interest because they pre-date the tariff-war actions of the US that started in April.Back in the US, the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey recovered its early month drop in the second half of the month, ending similar to the April level. The pause in the tariff war and the hope this would ease inflation pressures during the survey period was said to be behind the mood change. Still, this level is very pessimistic, -24% lower than year-ago levels.In Australia, job ad growth has turned into a decline, with the number of job ads dropping -1.2% in May from April, when they fell a downwardly revised -0.3%. Year on year they are down -5.7% although they remained +14% higher than pre-pandemic levels.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.46%, and up +6 bps from Friday. The price of gold will start today at US$3,375/oz, and up +US$86 from yesterday.Oil prices are up +US$2 in the US at just under US$63/bbl and the international Brent price is just under US$65/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now at 60.2 USc, a +50 bps rise from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are up +20 bps at just on 92.9 AUc. Against the euro we are up +10 bps at 52.7 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just on 68.2 and up +30 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$104,272 and down -0.9% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.0%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

Multiple Sclerosis New Zealand is calling for more governmental investment in specialist neurologists, clinical nurse specialists and allied healthcare workers to better diagnose and treat the growing numbers of people with MS in Aotearoa New Zealand. National manager Amanda Rose told Jesse the need is urgent.

Kia ora,Welcome to Friday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the legality of the US tariff taxes is now under court scrutiny.But first, US initial jobless claims rose +10,000 last week from the prior week to 212,000 when seasonal factors suggested it should have fallen -7,000. (The headline number was +240,000.) There are now 1.78 mln people on these benefits, +120,000 more than this time last year or a +7% rise.There was an update to the Q1-2025 US GDP growth rate out overnight, and it was little-changed, still showing a stall. Now they say it contracted at an annualised rate of -0.2% in the quarter, a slight improvement from the initial estimate of a -0.3% decline. However, it is still the first quarterly GDP contraction in three years. The slight improvement was driven by stronger-than-expected investment, which partially offset weaker consumer spending and a larger-than-anticipated drag from trade.The same data showed corporate profits fell sharply in the period and could continue to be squeezed this year by higher costs from tariffs.Pending home sales retreated an outsized -6.3% in April from March, far more than the -0.9% drop anticipated by analysts and fully erasing the revised +5.5% increase in March. The industry blames "high interest rates".The US Treasury 7yr bond auction today was supported a bit better than the prior event, resulting in a median yield of 4.14% compared to the 4.07% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.In a US Federal Court, the Trump Administration lost a key case challenging the imposition of his "Liberation Day" tariffs, where it was claimed the President didn't have the authority to impose them without Congressional approval. The issue will end up in the US Supreme Court soon for 'final' resolution. If it doesn't go Trump's way in his stacked court, things could get 'interesting'.In Japan, consumer sentiment is still trending down after peaking in March 2024. But the May survey recorded a bounce back from the unusual drop in April.In Australia, capex investment is not growing, especially for plant and equipment. And that is a hesitation in the rising trend that started in 2014 and continued until September 2024. The recent Q1-2025 data softness seems to be embedding.Globally, passenger air travel demand was up +8.0% with international travel demand rising almost +11%. In the Asia/Pacific region it was up more than +14%. Wanderlust is back fully after the pandemic period.Air cargo demand was up +5.8% in April, up +10% in the Asia/Pacific region, no doubt boosted by the rush to beat US tariffs.Meanwhile, container freight rates rose +10% last week from the week before to be -41% lower than year-ago levels. Trade uncertainty surrounding 'new' tariff-taxes is causing the current scramble to get goods moved. Bulk cargo rates dipped -2.5% in the past week however.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.43%, and down -5 bps from yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,322/oz, and up +US$26 from yesterday.Oil prices are down -US$1 at just under US$61/bbl in the US and the international Brent price is now at US$64/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is now at 59.9 USc, a +30 bps rise from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are unchanged at just under 92.8 AUc. Against the euro we are down -20 bps at 52.6 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just under 68 and up +10 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$106,229 and down -1.1% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.3%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again on Tuesday.

Kia ora,Welcome to Thursday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news the trade chaos and tariff-war skirmishes have markets worldwide watching for inflation signals as much as growth signals.First, in the US their Redbook retail index was up +6.1% last week from the same week a year ago, driven increasingly by tariff-tax price increases, which is why this metric is diverging so much from the formal retail sales volume data.American mortgage applications fell last week from the prior week. That is consistent with the benchmark 30 year mortgage rate rising, now almost touching 7% again.The Richmond Fed's regional factory survey came in negative again in May with activity slowing and new order levels still quite weak. The service sector report for the same mid-Atlantic region was weaker too. In both cases they recorded price pressures over +6%.The Dallas Fed services survey was just as negative, in fact even more so. Input prices are a real issue here too, over 5%..The well-supported US Treasury 5 year bond auction continued the trend of bidders wanting and getting higher risk premiums. This one delivered a median yield of 4.01%, up from 3.93% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.The minutes of the May 8 (NZT) Fed meeting released overnight revealed policymakers are uncertain on how to assess the future risks of inflation and their labour market, and how they can meet their dual mandate when forces are pushing in different directions. They seem to see the inflation risks are the key priority. They are also watching the USD depreciation because that too brings inflation risks. For them, it is a waiting game.India's April industrial production expansion slowed from March, but not by as much as was expected. It seems to be settling in at an under +3% rate which is far more modest than the overall economic expansion there. India's economic rise isn't really being built on manufacturing prowess. Of course the trade and tariff-war backdrop won't be helping.Euro area inflation expectations are rising again, and came in at 3.1% in the latest survey (in April) for the ECB, results they won't have liked. These expectations are back to early 2024 levels, unwinding the progress the ECB policymakers had thought they had won.In Australia, their monthly inflation indicator, also for April, shows it stuck at 2.4%. A small easing was expected but didn't eventuate. But 2.4% isn't a killer level and probably doesn't change expectations that the RBA will keep reducing its cash rate target, currently at 3.85%, by another -25 bps at their next meeting on July 8, 2025. A lot could change in between however, and analysts will be watching for upside risks.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.48%, and up +4 bps from yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,296/oz, and down -US$6 from yesterday.Oil prices are up +US$1.50 at just on US$62/bbl in the US and the international Brent price is now at US$65/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is down at 59.6 USc, a small +10 bps rise from yesterday at this time. Against the Aussie we are up +50 bps at just under 92.8 AUc. Against the euro we are up +30 bps at 52.8 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today still just under 67.9 and back up +30 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$107,462 and down -2.6% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.4%.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

From 9th June, the United Nations Ocean Conference is being held in France, which is co-hosting the event with Costa Rica. More than 50 world leaders are expected to attend, with 1500 delegates from almost 200 countries.  The conference follows the world's first deep-sea mining application for the international seabed, which was submitted to the United States government as opposed to the United Nations regulator. Wire Host Caeden spoke to Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Rarotonga), seabed mining campaigner at Greenpeace, about the conference. 

Kia ora,Welcome to Wednesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.And today we lead with news a relief rally is underway on Wall Street, responding to the delays in tariffs by the US on EU goods.But first, an update of the overnight dairy Pulse auction where prices for both SMP and WMP slipped although less than the futures market had suggested. The WMP was down -2.7% in USD from the prior week's full event, and a bit more in NZD. To be fair both prices had risen sharply since April but this pullback still leaves it in a rising trend despite today's adjustment.Data releases resumed in the US after their weekend holiday with durable goods orders pulling back in April after the unusually strong March gains. The pullback was largely in line with what was expected however, -6.3% lower than the prior month but up +2.7% from a year ago. Perhaps worryingly, excluding aircraft orders, nomn-defence capital goods barely budged in April, a sign that boardrooms remain skittish about future investment.That was matched by the Dallas Fed's May factory survey where activity was reported flat with a decline in new orders.But consumers seem happier, according to the Conference Board's May survey of consumer sentiment. But it was a survey taken before the latest US threats on the EU, so there is a sense of 'relief rally' here after the China tariff pullback. However, despite the month-on-month gain, this indicator is still tracking lower on the longer term, still lower than year-ago levels.Sentiment will be challenged again soon. There were a couple of housing indicators out overnight, and both recorded falls in American house prices. The FHA one was spun as an improvement, but it wasn't. The S&P/Case-Shiller one was a gain but a tiny one and the least since mid-2023.The bond market isn't feeling any better. The latest US Treasury 2 year auction, although as well supported as usual, brought a median yield of 3.90%, up from 3.74% at the prior equivalent event a month ago.And we can note that pricing for Trump Media shares, a marketplace that basically attracts investors who are supporters, is doing terribly. TMTG is down -11% today, down -33% so far this year, down more than -50% from a year ago. To rescue itself, it says it wants to raise US$2.5 bln to shift into crypto investing. It is an idea not going down well with shareholders.Across the border, core Canadian business activity is struggling a bit too. April wholesale trade was down -0.9% from March. That is kind of a lot for a one-month impact, one that records the initial tariff-war skirmishes.Across the Pacific in China, profits at industrial firms rose +1.4% in the first four months of 2025 compared to the same four months in 2024, picking up from +0.8% growth in the January–March period. For April alone, that was a rise of +5.2% from April 2024. Having noted that, April 2024 was a weak base. Still, given the trade challenges, and that China's factories are still very export oriented and vulnerable to trade war risks, this has to be seen as a good result in the circumstances.And we should start to keep an eye on China's carmakers. It is attracting increasing scrutiny because the economic fundamentals seem to be leaking away and quite fast. It could be another 'property development' industry failure, and could have just as large consequences if it wobbles too. They have no problem making cars, and good ones. But not only are they making more than the world needs, there are serious questions as to whether they can sell them for more than they cost to make.We should probably note that South Korean consumer sentiment jumped in May, rising back to levels that were common in November 2024 and prior. The ugly confusion period when its president went full-Trump and tried a palace coup (which resulted in impeachment, one that was upheld by the courts) is now behind it and Koreans are breathing easier. The rule of law won against a power grab. South Koreans will vote in a snap presidential election on Tuesday, June 3.And still in South Korea, they should join the CPTPP and diversify its trade as part of the bloc in the face of US uncertainties, a senior trade ex-minister is saying. (New Zealand runs a huge trade deficit with Korea.)In the EU, consumer and business sentiment basically held steady in May, according to the latest update. The trade wars are not yet unnerving the Europeans.The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.44%, and down -6 bps from yesterday.The price of gold will start today at US$3,302/oz, and down -US$38 from yesterday.Oil prices are down -US$1 at just over US$60.50/bbl in the US and the international Brent price is still just under US$64/bbl.The Kiwi dollar is down at 59.5 USc, a -½c retreat from yesterday at this time as commodity currencies are out of favour today. Against the Aussie we are down -20 bps at just on 92.3 AUc. Against the euro we are holding at 52.5 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today still just over 67.6 and down -30 bps from yesterday.The bitcoin price starts today at US$110,309 and up another +1.2% from yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/-1.2%.Check back with us at 2pm for the RBNZ's May Monetary Policy Statement and OCR review. As you will knwo by now, 'everyone' expects a -25 bps cut. But the outlook from there is reasonably clouded, so Governor Hawkesby's analysis at 3pm is keenly awaited. We will have full coverage.You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.

NOTE: SHOW LINKS FOR ALL THE MENTIONED PODCASTERS WILL BE ADDED SOON (AND WILL ALSO BE IN THE NOTES FOR NEXT EPISODE TO ENSURE THEY GET SEEN), FOR NOW GETTING THIS OUT WHILE I CAN! TRANSCRIPT: Good Evening Everyone, Welcome to Popeular History. My name is Gregg, and this is another admin update I'll try to keep from being too boring, in part by offering some observations and speculations about the new Papacy interspersed throughout. First, some personal updates. I was very tired by the end of last week, thank you for asking. I got some rest and then made sure Vice-Pope Mrs. Popeular History's primary Mother's Day present was rest. I am immeasurably grateful for her support, but the reality is even if she weren't so supportive of this passion project of mine and the fairly unhinged extremes I took it to in the last few weeks, I would still be immeasurably grateful to her for a million other things. She's the best partner I could have ever hoped to have for so many reasons, and all of you are welcome to be jealous.   I'd also like to thank my children for being malleable enough that I can pass on my love of the faith in general and also my nerdiness to them. Patrick, Catherine, Joseph, William, Gabriel, I love you all and thank you for sharing me with the internet a bit more lately. I try to shield my children from my more concentrated geekery so they can have somewhat normal childhoods, much like I try to spare my Vice Pope so she can have a somewhat normal marriage, but I will admit I felt a special sense of pride when I heard footsteps after I had invited any of my children interested in appearing on one of my livestreams to come on down to the studio. Those footsteps were from Catherine, who was by that point a good hour and a half into a livestream of the Pope's funeral that had began at 4am our time. To be clear, the kids aren't usually up at that time–I mean, neither am I–but wanting to be on the livestream she had asked to be awakened when it began, so I woke her and set her up with a watching station before kicking things off. Days later, she still excitedly references things from it. Just one of many special times from the last couple weeks. My thanks go not only to my immediate household, but to my family beyond as well, in particular my father, who came over at another particularly uncivil hour and summoned black smoke basically as soon as he arrived so I could go rest, as well as my in-laws, who bore with me through a packed weekend of a wedding and a papal funeral. And again, Vice Pope-Mrs Popeular history through it all.   Thanks are due as well to the lovely and supportive folks at work. I wouldn't want to name anyone who would rather I not name them, so I will be general when I say the atmosphere there has been lovely, and in particular I appreciate those who knew I was their best local source for answers to questions about Popes and Cardinals and conclaves and such. I lead a charmed life these days, and work, from my team to my coworkers to those above me and those supporting me, is full of amazing people I could not appreciate more.   Before I thank even more people, including you the listeners, let's talk about the New Pope, Leo XIV, specifically, his status as an American. And please, I beg you, don't be one of the contrarians who have been trying to make “United Statesian” a thing, it's fine to call Leo XIV the First American Pope. Of course you're welcome to use the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that Pope Francis is also from “the Americas”, but “American” is the demonym for a person from the United States and there is nothing wrong with using that word in that sense, so stop trying to make fetch happen.   Anyways, Pope Leo was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. The date is memorable for Catholics as the Triumph of the Cross, one of the more venerable feasts of the Church, commemorating Emperor Constantine's mother Saint Helena's apparently successful expedition to the Holy Land in search of the Cross Christ was crucified on, AKA the True Cross. Of course, many of my listeners are more captivated by the Chicago aspect, so let's hone in on that. First, to get this out of the way, yes, he was raised in Dolton, a community just *outside* Chicago, but contrarians should brace for more disappointment as it remains technically correct to describe Robert Francis Prevost as being “from Chicago”, having been born at Mercy Hospital in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side.   In a way, it would be somewhat surprising if Pope Leo *weren't* from the midwest, considering 80% of the 10 American Cardinals who participated in the conclave are midwesterners by birth. But also that number should actually closer to 90%, considering that's including the Irish-born Kevin Cardinal Farrell under the American tally, and by that logic the future Leo XIV should probably count as Peruvian. But I'm not gonna begrudge anyone who wants to claim the Pope as one of their own. Even without that wrinkle, I think we can agree Ireland can count as the midwest, especially given the whole Notre Dame thing.   If it were tallied as its own nationality, the Midwestern United States would be the second most represented county in the conclave, still actually in the same place that the United States currently occupies: comfortably behind Italy, and a bit ahead of Brazil.   Nor of course is Chicago unfamiliar to Cardinals in general, having had their senior cleric sporting a red hat–or getting one at the first opportunity–for  over a hundred years running, putting them in extremely rarified air, actually I think they're the only US see that can claim the red hat century club when it's set on hard mode like that, as New York's Cardinal Dolan wasn't elevated at the first opportunity, presumably because Cardinal Egan was still kicking around and Conclave-eligible for a while, and Archbishop Henning of Boston just got passed over last December despite Cardinal O'Malley having freshly aged out.   And my midwest Catholic trivia dump can't be complete without noting that spookily, Mar Awa III, the current Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, which shares the spotlight on my upcoming 0.22 supplemental, was also born in Chicago, which may further help the ecumenical relations I discuss in that supplemental episode. Here's hoping!   One more topic relating to Pope Leo's roots I want to touch on today: His Louisiana creole and black caribbean heritage. Both of His Holiness' grandparents on his mother's side were described as black or mulatto in census documents of their day, with his mother's father, Joseph Martinez, being listed as born in Santo Domingo, now the capital of the Dominican Republic, though it was then part of Haiti, the only country to have been born as the result of a successful slave rebellion, making black heritage from that region particularly poignant.   I'll note that His Holiness' melanin levels are such that he can fairly be described as white passing, and I'd consider it unlikely that the matter was discussed during the recent conclave, though I expect then-Cardinal Prevost was aware of this bit of family history. That said, it's certainly *possible* that it was a surprise even to him. One way or another, the basic fact is that these genealogical records exist. What to make of them, I leave to those more competent than I. I will commit to circling back to the topic in time, though. For now, it's time to thank, like, a lot of podcasters.   First and foremost, you probably wouldn't be listening to this if it weren't for Bry and Fry of Pontifacts. Their support has been critical in a number of ways and I could not be more appreciative of the way they've shared their platform with me, and so much more, right down to Bry making sure I checked my email when she saw that NPR had reached out for an interview. I tragically did not have Bry's attentive support on the inbox situation when PBS invited me on solo, so that one will always be a bit of a what-if, a hint of how much harder things are without the active support of so many. So again, thank you all, especially people I'm sure I'm forgetting since I'm extremely forgetful.   I think the safest thing to do is to thank the rest of the podcasters who have collaborated with me in order of appearance this year, starting back in February with the Intelligent Speech crew, in particular my fellows on the religion panel discussion, namely Trevor Cully of the History of Persia Podcast as well as the cheekier America's Secret Wars podcast, Aurora of the Swords, Sorcery, and Socialism podcast, and Bailey of Totalus Jeffianus. What a panel we had. And oh, by the way, apparently I've got the green light to share both that and my talk on the Original Grey Eminence, François Leclerc du Tremblay on this feed, so watch out for that in due course. Oh, and uh, shoutout to David Montgomery of The Siecle for his help with French pronunciation this year, not to mention various other assists through the years. All errors are my own, and David is a good guy to know.   Thank you to Jerry of The Presidencies podcast for having me on for one of his intro quotes, his process is impeccably professional just as one would expect after having listened to his show, and it was a great honor to take part.   Thank you as well to Thomas Rillstone of the History of Aotearoa New Zealand podcast for picking a surprisingly fascinating year to solicit info about, even if your release timing was ultimately made awkward by the death of the Holy Father. Oh, I suppose I can release that for you guys as well, though really, go check out his lovely show. Aotearoa is spelled: A-O-T-E-A-R-O-A   Moving on to my guests from the recent sede vacante, the first you all heard was Umberto from the So You Think You Can Rule Persia podcast, who, in addition to offering a fascinating overview of the history of transitions among the Islamic Caliphate also it turns out had the extremely clutch ability to offer live translations of Italian, which put our humble livestream ahead of EWTN, no offense to that major network.   The following day this feed was graced by the previously mentioned Aurora, now on as half of Tsar Power, along with Roberto, who is also from The History of Saqartvelo Georgia and Quest For Power. I'll let you sort all that out from the links in the show notes, but it's worth noting that you can expect more collaboration with Roberto on this feed, starting in the not too distant future with a conversation we unwittingly recorded just hours before Pope Francis' passing, talking optimistically about the future prospects of his papacy. Fortunately there's still cause for such optimism: Habemus Papam, after all.   Right before the conclave began, I put out a Cardinal Numbers First Judgment segment with John from Prim e Time, though admittedly that episode was originally recorded over a year ago. We did have a fresher appearance from John on the Youtube side of things, as he joined us to meet the new Pope after the white smoke, having cunningly signed up for the correct smokewatch to do so, much like Umberto our live translator. Ethan from Play History on Youtube was also kind enough to join us, helping hold down the fort along with Fry while I juggled toddlers and the white smoke first billowed out. Memorable times, all.   A special thank you to all those who shared the episode I had already prepared on Cardinal Prevost with the wider world, leading to thousands of exposures and hundreds of new listeners. Which, welcome if you're one of the new listeners. Thank you for tuning in, and I promise I'll update my Episode 0 soon to help you find your way.   Ok, it's time for another bout of new Pope stuff before I fill you all in on what to expect from me moving forward. I think it's appropriate that we take a look at what Pope Leo himself has outlined as important topics and themes here at the start of his papacy.   First, peace, which was literally the first word of Leo's papacy. An emphasis on peace is no surprise, for one thing, as the newly-elected Pope Leo himself pointed out, his greeting of peace was in the tradition of the resurrected Christ Himself, and thereby an appropriate greeting for the Easter season, which Pope Francis had opened right before his death and through which Pope Leo will continue to guide the Church until Pentecost on June 8th.   The topic of peace is even less surprising in light of the rare public message from the College of Cardinals that was released just before the Conclave, pleading for peace amid escalating war. In light of that, it would have been surprising if he *hadn't* come out advocating for peace. As is, it's definitely a core message, and needless to say a timely one too, with Pope Leo already echoing the late Pope Francis' observation that World War III is already being fought piecemeal.    The appeal for peace does seem to be getting a bit of traction, with India and Pakistan agreeing to a ceasefire, and the Trump administration proposing the Vatican as a mediator in the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. If you don't look in the box marked Gaza or consider the actual likelihood of a breakthrough in Ukraine, you might be tempted to feel hopeful: admittedly as you can probably tell I'm more on the skeptical end myself, though I'd be happy to be wrong.   Another topic Pope Leo emphasized in his first speech–and repeatedly since–is togetherness, which could also be filed under dialog or even unity: the interplay between commonality and difference is critical here, and the most consistent analogy is one very suitable to his role as Pope, that of a bridge-builder, a pontifex in Latin, a traditional title of Popes for centuries, though probably not one that really traces back to the ancient Roman priestly title of Pontifex Maximus directly, as it seems to have been primarily added to the Pope's titles during the renaissance, when the classical world was very fashionable. Now, to really tie the old and the new together, I can tell you that a title once held by Julius Caesar is Pope Leo's handle on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter: @Pontifex.   When it comes to the Papacy, concepts like building bridges and promoting togetherness play out on multiple levels. First, as pastor of the giant flock known as Catholicism, we can talk about healing divisions within the church. Then, we can talk about healing divisions among all of Christianity, since the Pope is the head of the largest Christian group–and frankly it's always worth noting that most Christians are Catholics. But really, getting arrogant about it isn't the way to bring people on board, and from what I can tell so far Leo seems to have taken that lesson from Francis to heart–not that humility is a novel lesson in the history of the Papacy that Francis just invented, but still, give the guy his due..   Lastly, though certainly not leastly, what about healing divisions all over the world, not just among all Christians or even among all religions, but among all people? We're talking about the Vicar of Christ here, the idea of “not my circus, not my monkies” does not apply, and the more divisions across humanity are healed, the more likely we are to see enduring peace. So, Pope Leo has his work cut out for him, indeed I daresay we all do, as I am going to charitably assume you all want to make the world a better place.   Another priority of the new Pontiff is one that came to light even before his first speech: Vatican-watchers know that modern Popes don't just pick names at random, for example Pope Francis was strongly broadcasting that he was going to do something different by being the first  in the modern era to choose a truly new Papal name. As for Pope Leo, my first impression was quickly confirmed, as Pope Leo XIII looms large in modern Catholic history and his encyclical Rerum Novarum was a watershed moment in the development of modern Catholic Social Teaching, which is a foundational enough topic that I capitalized all those words and you will absolutely catch folks calling Catholic Social Teaching “CST” for short. Before Pope Francis, when you were talking about social justice in a Catholic context–which, by the way, is the context where the idea first gained traction, being popularized among the Jesuits in the early 19th century–anyways before Pope Francis, when you were talking about social justice in a Catholic context, you were talking about Pope Leo and Rerum Novarum, published in 1891 as a critique of modern economic systems from Capitalism to Communism and all over, emphasizing the fundamental importance of worker's rights given, well, the fundamental importance of workers themselves, as human beings with divine dignity. The Church has been revisiting Rerum Novarum on a regular basis ever since, and Pope Leo has explicitly centered it for those wondering what to expect from his papacy. To borrow the language of a generation slightly ahead of me, it's based, so get hype.   Of course lots of people are wondering what Pope Leo will get up to beyond these key starts of peace, unity, and social justice in the mold of so many of his predecessors. We can be here all day and I still won't be able to comment on every individual topic, nor will h e. We'll see more of Pope Leo in the years to come. Of course we can look to his past comments on anything you like, but the basic reality is Robert Francis Prevost is dead, and  Pope Leo XIV is a different man. At least, he may be, anyhow. History has shown election to the Papacy can change folks, but it's also shown that that's not always the case. Sorry to disappoint those looking for surefire answers, we'll find out together in the coming years and quite possibly decades, as, at 69, Pope Leo will likely be with us for a generation.   BUT, and this is a big but, I do think from what he's indicated so far and from the apparent expectations of the Cardinals who elected him, not to mention historical patterns, I do think it's very likely that Pope Leo will, on the whole, prove to be something of a centrist. That's not to say that he'll be middle-of-the-road on all issues–I really do expect him to lean into the Leonine legacy of Rerum Novarum-style social and economic justice with a major encyclical on the topic within the next few years–but on average I do not expect him to be as progressive as Pope Francis or as conservative as Pope Benedict. Again, how exactly that all will shake out remains to be seen, and I am very bad at making predictions anyways. After all, when I got asked directly about the possibility of an American Pope, I gave a simple “no” and moved on. In my defense, apparently the future Pope Leo did the same, allegedly telling his brother “they're not going to pick an American Pope” on the eve of the conclave that did just that.   Now I want to take a moment to thank some non-podcasters who have been very supportive of my work the last few years, specifically the priests at my home parish of Saint Francis de Sales. Shoutout Fr. Mike, Fr. PC, and Fr. Sizemore, who have all supported me in various ways both in relation to the podcast and off-mic. In particular I want to thank Fr. PC for helping review my upcoming worldbuilding episodes on mass and the Eucharist to make sure I didn't go too far off the rails, and Fr. Sizemore for his consistent support and encouragement of my work, as well as his willingness to promote it. Longtime listeners know that I am willing to set aside the Pope-colored glasses to offer necessary critiques of the Church at times–indeed, necessary critiques are actually themselves part of Pope-colored glasses anyways. It's been very cool to have that support even when offering that criticism at times, and I am, of course, grateful.   To give a little more personal insight, I think it's worth noting that I'm bringing Fr Sizemore and Fr PC up in part because they're on my mind and in my prayers a little extra these days since they are going to another parish as part of the normal juggling that occurs with basically any diocese. Back in the day such moves were less common, and could indeed be signs of darker things, but more recent practice has keeping priests from staying at a particular parish for too extended a period as a guard against exactly such dark things as may occur when a pastor is seen as the absolute bedrock of a faith community and is effectively given all sorts of extra deference and leeway and such to an inappropriate degree. In the end, Christ is the foundation, it's not about any particular pastor. Nevertheless, I will miss Fr Sizemore deeply, as excited as I am to see what he does at his new parish, and as excited as I am to meet our new pastor, Father Tom Gardner, and the other priest and a half that are coming to Saint Francis as part of the general shuffle. Interestingly, this will have our household lined up with a relatively young priest, a relatively young bishop, and a relatively young Pope, so these positions are likely going to be set in my life for a while yet.   And now that we've talked a bit about the future of my home parish, let's talk about the future of Popeular History.   First, as you've already seen if you're caught up on the feed, I have some content from Conclave Time still being edited and prepared for release on this feed. In the last week or so you've seen my chat with Benjamin Jacobs of Wittenberg to Westphalia and Why Tho?, who had me on as his guest of his 100th episode for the former. He's more like me than most, so if you enjoy this, go check him out. And if you don't enjoy this, well, I'm confused as to the sequence of events that has you somehow still listening, but even then, you should *also* still go  check him out. Just in case. You never know.   Also already released is a chat with Meredith of The Alexander Standard, another Rexypod in the mold of Cardinal Numbers and of course Pontifacts, reviewing, rating, and ranking all the successors of Alexander the Great from Perdiccas to Cleopatra VII. Meredith bravely volunteered to take the first spot on what was a near nightly guest list during the recent sede vacante, and we had a great chat that you should go check out if you haven't already.   Still to come most likely this month is a very extended conversation I had with Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy Podcast, a collaboration that was pretty long overdue. I first reached out to Steve over five years ago when Popeular History was just starting out, but I was too timid to propose a collaboration at the time. I was actually still too timid to suggest such a thing when Pope Francis' fading health got us talking again earlier this year, but fortunately for all of us Steve had no such scruples and when he suggested we get together over a couple of mics, well, so far we've got hours of good stuff that will be ready for your ears very shortly, I just wanted to get all this admin stuff and early Leo discussion out first so I did. But you can expect hours of Steve and I on this feed soon, and if you just can't wait–don't! Bec ause it's already out on his feed at the History of the Papacy Podcast. Part III talking Leo specifically is already in the works, with hopefully more to come from Steve and I collaborating in the years to come.   After that, you'll hear a chat I had with Quinn from Nobelesse Oblige, one half of another rexypod that ranks all the nobel laureates from 1901 until he and cohost Maggie run out of people. Their show was on hiatus, but is back now, so rejoice! All the best shows go on hiatus, like, a lot, amirite? Look, subscribe and you'll know when any shows with that particular habit get back. Anyways, that's gonna be another conclave second helping episode.   The third on the conclave second helping trilogy, likely appearing early next month at this rate with apologies to my patient guest, will be a great chat I had right before the doors were sealed with none other than Garry Stevens of the History in the Bible podcast, in which I fielded his conclave questions and talked about the recent movie as well. Thank you as always, Garry, especially for your patience as I edited my way through our chat!   After that puts a cap on my conclave coverage, it'll be high time to release the previously mentioned chat I had with Roberto of Tsar Power and more, right before Pope Francis passed.   And there you go, that's the plan for the next month or so. After all that, it'll be 5th anniversary time, and I think it'll be fun to do a bit of Q&A for that. The anniversary will officially on June 29th, so let's go ahead and say send in almost any question you like to popeularhistory@gmail.com by June 20th and I'll answer it for you on the show. The only limit I'm placing is that the question should be relatively family-friendly so I don't get flagged as explicit content by the powers that be.    After that, well, we'll see. Popeular History and Cardinal Numbers will be carrying on, I'm looking forward to finishing my longrunning Catholic worldbuilding series, as well as covering all the living Cardinals I haven't gotten to yet. And those items just represent finishing up the current stages. Plus, tere's gonna be more Pontifacts collaboration, including the much hyped Habemus Pointsam project, ranking all the Papal transitions with Bry! But do  keep in mind I had *just* put out a note indicating that I was going to stay on hiatus for a while longer right before all this happened, and the factors that lead me to that are still present. I've got a strong head of steam for when I'm officially back up to full production, but until then, you won't hear from me quite as regularly as I'd like. Actually, let's be honest, you're never going to hear from me as regularly as I'd like unless there's a wealthy patron who wants to hand over a living wage for myself and my family as compensation for me doing this full-time. And nah, I'm not counting on that. I do have a patreon though, so if you want to help offset my costs and fuel Taco Bell expeditions or moving to Rome, you know, little things like that, you can. Mary specifically said I can get Taco Bell every time I get a new patron, so thank you very much in advance. Also, a big thank you to Joe, my current patron, who hosts Prime Factors with his son Abram, and yes that's another Rexypod, in fact, yes, that's another Rexypod ranking the British Prime Ministers! Prime Time is the other one in case you've already forgotten, and now you can easily find both of them on one another's feeds as they recently did a collaborative special you should absolutely check out! I especially owe Joe as I forgot to keep mentioning him when speeding through my recent sede vacante coverage, a situation which will be remedied hopefully in small part by this note, and then eventually with judicious editing. Thanks again for your support, Joe!   If you'd like to support my work and are financially able to do so, go to Patreon.com/popeular. I'm going to do as much as I can even without many patrons, but more patron support  would go a long way to making things easier, I have to admit. So if you want to join Joe on the wall of ongoing thanks, there are still spots left! And if you can't support financially, no sweat, do what you gotta do, but please consider spreading the word about Popeular History and keeping me and my family in prayer while you're at it. Words of encouragement or any other words you'd like to send can be sent to popeularhistory@gmail.com or you can also find me on social media in a few spots, primarily on Bluesky these days at Popeular as I'm focusing more on direct content creation rather than trying to keep up with socials and the website and such. Oh, speaking of the website, Google Domains went caput so the website's kind of frozen, not that I was updating it much anyways apart from the automatic RSS feeds, which for what it's worth are still chugging along. But the rest you can ignore, in particular the big daily show announcement that's still up there, because that was fun while it lasted but that is definitely on the list of things that are not happening unless I get thousands of patreon dollars a month to make this a full-time job, which, again, I am realistic enough to not expect. It just turns out I can't take that notification down without tanking the whole site at the moment, or without, you know, a fair amount of extra work, and since the RSS feeds are still handy and my time is still fairly crunched, I'm reluctant to do that. So, uh, here we are. Awkward. Ignore the big daily show announcement. Thank you.   Now, I'm going to make a couple specific predictions about the future of Leo's papacy that I'd be happy to be wrong about. But before I do *that*, I want to note that after today, apart from the contemporary cardinals episodes, I plan to get back to history, leaving current events to other commentators generally, with the exception of a plan to have some commentary on contemporary news, Catholic and otherwise, available as bonus content for my Patreon subscribers. That would allow my regular listeners to have access to all the historical goodies I find without barrier, while still offering something interesting and informative, you know, hopefully, for my backers. If you hate the idea, let me know, and of course if you love the idea, sure, let me know that too. I'm thinking maybe some kind of monthly roundup, something like that.   Anyways, on to those predictions. First, while I genuinely believe we would have seen Sister Rafaella Petrini elevated to the College of Cardinals had Pope Francis lived to create another batch of Cardinals, I do not see that happening under Pope Leo, though he did reconfirm her in her role as President of the Governorate of Vatican City State as part of his general “as you were” instructions right after his election, reconfirming all of Pope Francis' appointments in one of the more unambiguous signs of continuity you can have. It's of course likely that there will be shuffling in time, but I think Petrini is safe in her role, I just don't expect her to be the first Cardinelle at the next opportunity, as Leo appears interested in a degree of centrist rapprochement.   Similarly, while I had fairly big hopes for the observances of the 1700th anniversary of Nicea that were due this month, namely a reunified dating of Easter, obviously those observances aren't happening right now. And, while it look like there are now plans for later this year, around the Feast of Saint Andrew–November 30th–I think that moment has passed, and I expect it's not something we'll see in year one of a Papacy. Again, I'd be happy to be wrong, but I don't think that's a “coming super  soon” type situation at this point. And that's it for today, thanks for sitting through a record-breaking amount of admin. Thanks, Joe!

In this panel discussion we get to hear on Housing in Aotearoa New Zealand from the following speakers at the New Zealand Green Building Council Housing Summit held on 7 May 2025 (more on NZGBC is here): Ali Hamlin-Paenga - Chief Executive of Te Matapihi (Site: https://www.tematapihi.org.nz)  Cate Kearney - Chief Executive of Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (Site: https://www.ocht.org.nz)  Paul Gilberd - Chief Executive of Community Housing Aotearoa (Site: https://communityhousing.org.nz)                     Steven Moe – Chair of Community Housing Funding Agency (Site: https://chfa.co.nz)  Thanks to Bernard Hickey for the questions at the end as well.  Listen to his "When the Facts Change Podcast" and follow his work here https://thekaka.substack.com  Description of the session: "Partnering for a better result on housing supply Housing supply is more important than ever. With Community Housing Providers a vital, growing part of the solution, how are they stepping up to support mitigating the housing crisis? How will they be financed? Join Steven Moe from the Community Housing Funding Agency as he leads our panel talking strategic partnerships, the funding mechanisms, and the challenges in rolling out best practice in community housing initiatives." Thanks to the NZGBC team for all the work in putting the conference on! For more on seeds visit www.theseeds.nz 

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party's Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about The $2 billion boost for naval helicopters, the voting ban for prisoners and the party's new members bill to ensure that imported products meet animal welfare regulations. For this week's Get Action! He spoke to Tara Forde from Aotearoa Covid Action to discuss a petition of hers calling for improvements to the air quality in schools. And he spoke to Rachel Mackintosh from E Tu Union to discuss Brooke Van Velden's changes to pay equity claims Max spoke to National Co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, John Minto, about the attack on the ‘Conscience', a Freedom Flotilla boat which was loaded with life-saving humanitarian aid for Gaza, before being disabled off the coast of Malta. And he spoke to Ronan Payinda, a student at the University of Auckland, who led a study which looked into the location and frequency of Vape stores, around schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Meena is a social innovation consultant and design strategist tackling complex social challenges through human-centered design and community engagement dedicated to tackling complex social challenges through human-centered design and community engagement. With a background in social anthropology and design, she has worked across diverse settings, from urban slums to corporate boardrooms. Previously, Meena spent eight years at IDEO, where she led community engagement for OpenIDEO and advised IDEO U's initiatives. Her expertise lies in fostering collaboration, equity, and innovation to drive meaningful change. Born in Aotearoa New Zealand with Indian ancestry, she brings a global perspective to her work in social impact.Meena was the Spring Social Innovator in Residence with the ERA Chair in Social Innovation and the DESIS Lab at NOVA SBE.Follow Meena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meanestindian/?originalSubdomain=nzand on Subtack: https://randomspecific.substack.com/Credits:Host: Anne-Laure FayardPost-production: Claudio SilvaMusic & Art Work: Guilhem TamisierRecorded at the Fidelidade Creative Studio, Nova SBE

It is so often our differences that divide people, but have you ever noticed the beauty in difference? In this episode of Sunday Sanctuary, Petra goes in search of what that means, and why difference is something o be desired, despite it's challenges. Dame Anne Salmond is Petra's first guest. She lays out the advantages of difference at an anthropological level (as she is so good at doing!) Rev Brett Jones is up next! Leader of the Weslyan Methodist church in Aotearoa/New Zealand, his own church and the many he oversees are full of a beautiful diversity of people. But what does this mean in actuality? We have a new intro song! It's called You Are the Gold by Terrible Sons. The sacred text in this episode is from a post by @dusttodigital. Music:Intro by The xxHarvest for the World by The Isley BrothersJust Saying by Jamie xxMarechia by Nu GeneaGive a Little Bit by SupertrampOcean City by Gunn - Trusincski Duo

Celebrating 500 episodes! What's my favorite thing about podcasting? Listen in! And then you'll love this gorgeous chat on magic, listening for the yes, and tuning into what YOU need as a writer. Iris Beaglehole is the enchanting author of the spellbinding Myrtlewood Mysteries series. As a self-identified druid, witch, and aspiring astrologer, Iris weaves magic into her stories and takes readers on a thrilling journey to the mystical town of Myrtlewood. When she's not crafting her fantastical stories, Iris can be found sipping tea with her feline companions and tending to her herb garden in Aotearoa New Zealand.

We are releasing our final Flags of the Moana tshirt drop! Listen in to see how you can win yourself a free tee

Harry Broad reviews Preachers, Pastors, Prophets: The Dominican Friars of Aotearoa New Zealand by Susannah Grant published by Otago University Press

Curious for more? Each month, I share reflections on the nervous system, creativity, and our connection with the more-than-human world. If that's something that lights you up, I'd be so glad to have you along for the journey and explore together here

Asetoa Sam Pilisi is a community leader and current PhD Candidate of Niuean and Samoan descent. He has done youth work and community work for many years in Auckland, New Zealand and Western Sydney, Australia - particularly with Pacific youth. He currently is completing a PhD in Public Health at the University of Auckland focussing on wellbeing, burnout, duty, service and collectivism in the local Oceanian community. He also is an active community leader in local Niue communities. Niue is one of the smaller islands of Oceania located in "West Polynesia" near Samoa, Tonga, Tokelau, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Rotuma, Uvea and Futuna. With only 1564 living in Niue and 34,944 Niue peoples living in Aotearoa New Zealand, the language is at risk of being lost.The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world. We'd love to connect!Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms — including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.Email hello@themoanan.comSend us a textThe Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world. We'd love to connect!Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms — including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.Email hello@themoanan.com

In this episode of Citizens Climate Radio, Elise Silvestri explores how art can strengthen climate advocacy with Carrie Ziegler, an interdisciplinary Artist, Speaker, and Community Engagement Expert. Carrie talks about her process for creating and executing the Chrysalis Project: Transforming Together, an art and climate policy project that enacted powerful change over Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the participating students, Brisa Sabel, shares her experience of the successful campaign and the  joy and inspiration it gave her.  Peterson Toscano has a surprisingly good news story: like our responses to climate change, the format of CCR is adapting! [insert finalized details here] Listen to Carrie Ziegler discuss the power of art storytelling in making meaningful, local climate policy. Guest Bio: Carrie Ziegler Carrie Ziegler harnesses the collective power of art to drive social and environmental transformation. Through her Art in Action initiatives, she collaborates with diverse entities—local governments, organizations, schools, and universities—to create multi-dimensional works that blend participant creativity with pressing societal issues. These projects inspire active engagement, bringing communities together to create lasting change. Along with the Chrysalis Project, Carrie also led the Plastic Whale Project, where students created a life-sized whale out of plastic bags. The whale played a pivotal role in successfully passing a ban on single-use plastic bags in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Thurston County, Washington.   Based in Olympia, Washington, Carrie is recognized internationally, bringing her impactful vision to global forums, including Aotearoa (New Zealand), Ghana, France, Mexico, and Canada. She empowers Artists and Change Makers to maximize their societal impact through art, inspiring a broader movement of change driven by creativity. Complementing her hands-on work, Carrie is penning her inaugural book, Eclosion: An Artist's Path to Power and Peace. In this work, she intertwines her memoir with a practical guide for unleashing personal and collective potential, offering a blueprint for transformative change through art—a light for a world in desperate need of inspiration. Check out her work on her Instagram, @carriezieglerart.

Elise Silvestri explores how art can strengthen climate advocacy with Carrie Ziegler, an interdisciplinary Artist, Speaker, and Community Engagement Expert. Carrie talks about her process for creating and executing the Chrysalis Project: Transforming Together, an art and climate policy project that enacted powerful change over Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the participating students, Brisa Sabel, shares her experience of the successful campaign and the joy and inspiration it gave her. Peterson Toscano has a surprisingly good news story: like our responses to climate change, the format of CCR is adapting! [insert finalized details here] Listen to Carrie Ziegler discuss the power of art storytelling in making meaningful, local climate policy. Carrie Ziegler harnesses the collective power of art to drive social and environmental transformation. Through her Art in Action initiatives, she collaborates with diverse entities—local governments, organizations, schools, and universities—to create multi-dimensional works that blend participant creativity with pressing societal issues. These projects inspire active engagement, bringing communities together to create lasting change. Along with the Chrysalis Project, Carrie also led the Plastic Whale Project, where students created a life-sized whale out of plastic bags. The whale played a pivotal role in successfully passing a ban on single-use plastic bags in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Thurston County, Washington. Based in Olympia, Washington, Carrie is recognized internationally, bringing her impactful vision to global forums, including Aotearoa (New Zealand), Ghana, France, Mexico, and Canada. She empowers Artists and Change Makers to maximize their societal impact through art, inspiring a broader movement of change driven by creativity. Complementing her hands-on work, Carrie is penning her inaugural book, Eclosion: An Artist's Path to Power and Peace. In this work, she intertwines her memoir with a practical guide for unleashing personal and collective potential, offering a blueprint for transformative change through art—a light for a world in desperate need of inspiration. Check out her work on her Instagram, @carriezieglerart.

Not gonna transcript this, but bottom line enjoy your Easter when it comes, hiatus is continuing, current target for getting back to regular schedule is 6/29/25 (5th anniversary of the show). There will still be some new collab stuff coming out including a special on the fascinating 1769 conclave where the Holy Roman Emperor showed up in person while pretending to not be the Emperor, which will be on the History of Aotearoa New Zealand feed of all places: https://open.spotify.com/show/6VnykMReqvxl9QJMmzlN28?si=cb53cd96a14e4618

Another year - another drop in trust in the news here, according to the biggest annual survey of it. But the slump seems to have stalled and some outlets have even gained trust this time round - though we're still world leaders in ‘news avoidance.' Mediawatch looks at all this - and talks to a Canadian confronting the same trends there. New Zealanders' trust in the news has been falling for years - five years in a row according to the most comprehensive annual survey of it carried out that's carried out here. And we've also been leading the world in the proportion of people who say they actively avoid the news.So no wonder our news outlets fear the worst when the AUT's Trust in news in Aotearoa New Zealand report comes out. But the latest survey shows the slump trust in our news media has stalled - and local outlets are actually more trusted this year. How come? Also Mediawatch talks to a longtime journalist striving to restore trust in local media in Canada with the help of fellow 'Ink-Stained Wretches. And they're also coming to terms with the turmoil of Trump turning on former friends north of the border in a big way.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Mark Adams is one of Aotearoa New Zealand's foremost photographers. His focus on Samoan tatau, Maori-Pakeha interactions in Rotorua, carved meeting houses, locations of significance for Ngai Tahu in Te Waipounamu, and James Cook's landing sites reflect his deep engagement with our postcolonial and Pacific histories. A new exhibition Mark Adams: A Survey He Kohinga Whakaahua showcases more than 65 works spanning his 50-year career as a photographer.

New research, which has been commissioned by the Helen Clark Foundation shows that many are expressing concern for social cohesion in the country. Tuesday Wire Host, Castor, spoke to the Movement Building and Advocacy Director for Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand, Lisa Woods, about this research, and why people may be concerned for social cohesion in New Zealand.

The History of Aotearoa/New Zealand asked for a little boost in the "what going on elsewhere in the world?" category ca. 1759. Well, we were inclined to be accommodating... It also just so happened that the Qing Empire under the Qianlong Emperor happened to be engaged in a tremendous border clash far to its south... Presenting: The Sino-Burmese War Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On sonic gratitude, developing our deeper gifts, the peril of expectation, the potency of the present, and the beauty of self-acceptance. (0:00) - Musical Journey and Transformative Work (5:12) - Early Career Challenges and Breakthroughs (12:25) - Personal Transitions and Professional Growth (14:57) - The Power of Gratitude and Creative Process (15:38) - The Role of Meditation and Yoga in Creative Work (19:35) - The Impact of Friendship and Support (19:57) - Arlie's Musical Projects and Future Aspirations (20:21) - The Influence of Elena's Writing on Arlie's Music (20:42)- The Importance of Self-Acceptance and Present Moment Awareness Arli Liberman is an award-winning screen composer, producer and guitarist who creates vibrant, immersive music for film, TV, multimedia and live experiences. With an unwavering dedication to his craft, Arli's approach to music serves as a transformative force that resonates both on and off the screen. As a screen composer, Arli has worked on a wide range of films, including Sam Kelly's gang movie 'Savage', winning the 2021 APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award. In 2024, he collaborated with Tiki Taane to create the score to the historical drama in Te Reo Māori 'Ka Whawhai Tonu - Struggle Without End' directed by Mike Jonathan, with the theme song 'Hold On To The Dream' featuring Louis Baker, released as a single. Arli composed the original score for NZ film 'The Mountain' (2024), with music by Troy Kingi, directed by Rachel House and produced by Piki Films and Sandy Lane Productions. In 2023, he scored 'Stylebender' a documentary directed by Zoë McIntosh about Nigerian - New Zealand mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya, which was premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. His signature sound can be heard on the 36th America's Cup theme, the opening titles of the FIFA Women's World Cup, The All Blacks Experience at SkyCity, and in the Auckland Art Gallery's filmic exhibition Te Mata. As a solo artist, Arli is also prolific, with his fifth solo album coming out on Bigpop Records, in addition to creating a new collaborative album with renowned composer Rhian Sheehan due out in 2024. Arli's production work on Ngatapa Black's album 'I Muri Ahiahi' earned a nomination for Māori Album of the Year at the Aotearoa Music Awards, and he has performed at MoMA New York and the Montreux Jazz Festival, among other international festivals. Originally from Israel, Arli was a member of the groundbreaking White Flag Project, a pioneering crossover band uniting Palestinian and Israeli musicians. Under the mentorship of platinum-selling English record producer Mark Smulian, he was urged to 'find the back door of the electric guitar sound', which marked the beginning of Arli's journey in developing his sonic identity. In 2009, Arli moved to Aotearoa New Zealand, where he continued to develop his innovative approach to music and began exploring the synergy between composition and visual storytelling.