Economic Weekly: The good, the bad and the ugly of inflation
- Last week’s inflation figures for the close of 2023 brought enough to keep Sergio Leone busy working through plot twists
- Inflation is falling at a quicker pace than the RBNZ had forecast (the Good); non-tradable inflation was higher than anyone had expected (the Bad), and in particular the ex-housing non-tradable inflation was very high (the Ugly)
- In the movie, the Good outguns the Bad and the Ugly. The RBNZ will certainly hope so too
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Mark Smith
Senior Economist
Mark joined ASB in 2017, with over 20 years of public and private sector experience working as an economist in New Zealand and the UK.
His resume includes lengthy stints at ANZ and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and he has also worked at the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the New Zealand Transport Agency. Mark's areas of specialisation include interest rate strategy, macro-economic analysis and urban economics.
Born and bred in the Waikato, Mark studied at Waikato University where he graduated with a Master of Social Sciences, majoring in Economics.
Mark's key strengths are the ability to use his extensive experience, inquisitive nature, analytical ability, creativity and pragmatism to dig a little deeper and to deliver common sense solutions to tackle complex problems.
When not at work Mark likes to travel, keep fit and spend time with his friends and family.
- Email: Mark
