Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Did Grant Robertson die and go to heaven? After a winter of discontent, a new spring has sprung for the Finance Minister.Grumpy old ANZ, the bank that has always had the worst business confidence figures, has reported what they call a changing of the vibe in November."The improvement in the ANZ Business Outlook survey this month was broad and consistent," according to Sharon Zollner, their chief economist.  She reckons the significant easing in both interest rates and the exchange rate is clearly working its way through the economy, and the remarkable resilience of New Zealand's commodity prices is providing an invaluable buffer to the world's woes.No kidding. For the past two years people have been worried about what this Government might do rather than what they’ve actually done. Thankfully the mob in charge are very slack at actually doing anything.Then there’s the fillip of the stabilisation of property prices in a positive way.  Prices are still rising but not excessively so any doom merchants saying a c