The New Zealand dollar fell from a nine-month high amid concerns politicians in Washington are making no progress in talks to avert the fiscal cliff, countering the impetus growth assets got from the Federal Reserve’s further quantitative easing and weighing on stocks. The kiwi dollar fell to 84.23 US cents from 84.40 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The trade-weighted …

Hot Gossip around the China traps is that Pat English will be named the inaugural director of the NZ China Council. It was openly discussed at another of those many banquets to celebrate 40 years of official relations between China and NZ this week. Chinese businesspeople praised English who is NZ’s consul in Guangzhou as well as Trade Commissioner. law coursework …

BACK TO THE FISCAL FRONT.  With the dust settling after the FOMC tweaks, market attention invariably returns to budget negotiations.  For an understanding as to how negotiations might pan out we need to look beyond macroeconomics (which tells us to simply get a deal done: sooner as opposed to later) and into game theory. “Games” like the Prisoner’s Dilemma are examples of self …