As goes New Zealand, so goes the world?

The land of the long white cloud has enjoyed a 10-year economic boom
driven by exports of milk, butter and cheese, a population riding a
housing market boom and tourists eager to sample the landscapes
depicted in Hollywood films such as The Lord of the Rings.

But
New Zealand is on the cusp of a downturn and risks seizing the dubious
honour from the US of becoming the world’s first developed nation to
sink into recession, as measured by two consecutive quarters of
negative gross domestic product growth.

GDP numbers for the January-March quarter due this month are forecast
to show a contraction of at least 0.3 per cent. TD Securities and other
economic forecasters are predicting a 0.2 per cent decline for the
April-June quarter.

Here is more information.  Elsewhere in the Commonwealth, one UK supplier is now charging $14-15 a gallon ($18 for a UK gallon) for gas, he wants to make sure his customers can always get the product.

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