Lunch with Infometrics Principal Economist, Brad Olsen

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand’s economy has shown itself to be resilient and weathered restrictions, outbreaks, and vaccine rollouts to end up with better health and economic outcomes than most of the world. But substantial challenges remain, with Omicron threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems and delay a global economic recovery. Supply chains remain disrupted, and inflation will be a key challenge for New Zealand in 2022 as prices continue to rise. Record low unemployment and intense labour market pressures will push wages high but make it difficult for the economy to expand further. The housing market remains in the spotlight, with high build levels, difficulty accessing credit, and a variety of changes looking to influence where prices go next. Interest rates are rising for the first time in a decade. New Zealanders are reshaping how they go about life, with more working from home and higher online spending.

There’s a huge amount of change currently underway at breakneck speed. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen will discuss how all of these factors are connected, and how they might play out, over 2022 as we navigate another uncertain year with COVID-19.