Be afraid
OPINION: Your old mate hears some of the recent uptick in farmer confidence has slipped since the political polls started leading a bit to the left, away from the current coalition of National, Act and NZ First.
Certainly, the speech warranted some lampooning, with Orr waxing lyrical about the great voyages of NZ's Polynesian ancestors being similar to the journey of central bankers during uncertain times.
Carrying on Orr's waka analogy, the Economic Weekly notes, "he didn't seem worried bout spending three months in a leaky boat between the November and February OCR decisions".
As the Weekly report says, Orr warned that people tended to put too much stock in the RBNZ's "central projection" and not enough in "the storytelling around uncertainties and risks detailed in the full statements".
This waffle is reminiscent of when Orr compared the Reserve Bank to a Kauri tree, and is a hallmark of the widely criticised governor.
