At the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) held in Auckland from 8-11 November, economist and former managing director of the IMF John Lipsky debunked the arguments put forth by others, such as Bob Prince, Bridgewater associates, and Massimiliano Castelli, UBS Asset Management (see previous blogs) that the world economy would see low interest rates and low growth for the foreseeable future. “Despite the alternatives and the pessimism, the outlook, and trend analysis, the consensus forecast isn’t that bad,” he said, adding that “if it [an improvement in the global economy] can be achieved in a structural sense it will start to improve the performance and expectations that I think is going to set the stage ..for a much more favourable outlook ahead.”

Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.