Radical leftists like the Greek government under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and nationalist right-wingers like France’s National Front do not have many things in common. However, they can both hope to be supported by Moscow. Read more

A higher kiwi dollar could boost New Zealand exporters’ productivity, leaving them better off in the long run. Earlier this month the kiwi reached a record high against the euro, trading at a whisker under 70c – the highest level the kiwi has been valued against European currency since its inception. Read more

Among the most sought after locations you find in Sydney is the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont. It is not only home to headquarters of major companies such as American Express, Accenture, Vodafone, and Google. Read more

Among the most sought after locations you find in Sydney is the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont. It is not only home to headquarters of major companies such as American Express, Accenture, Vodafone, and Google. Read more

If the latest signals coming from the Federal Reserve are anything to go by, it is only a matter of time until the US central bank increases its funds rate. Most likely it is going to happen some time over the northern hemisphere summer. Read more

For years, we have been warned that New Zealand is facing a manufacturing crisis. The Kiwi dollar’s high exchange rate would hurt exporters and drive industrial activities out of New Zealand. Read more

When the new Greek government took office in late January, I wondered whether they might be trying to play the ‘madman strategy’ in a game of chicken (The euro crisis has become a game of chicken, January 29). Behaving erratically and seemingly irrationally, so I wrote, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his finance minister Yanis Varoufakis might just drive the other Europeans to insanity -- and force them to surrender to prevent the worst. Read more

For foreign exchange traders, there is nothing more interesting than speculating on central bank policies. Changing interest rates obviously have an effect on exchange rates so traders need to follow the moves of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and sometimes even the Reserve Bank of New Zealand with interest. Read more

It was an unfortunate coincidence that earlier this week two interviews were published almost at the same time that demonstrated the schism between European wishful thinking and Europe’s not-so-wishful reality. Speaking to German conservative broadsheet Welt am Sonntag, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for a common European army. Read more

It is fair to say that New Zealand and Portugal are not particularly close nations. Yes, there were a few Portuguese whalers in 19th century New Zealand but according to the latest census the NZ Portuguese population is estimated to be just under 1,000 people -- or roughly 0.02 per cent of the total population. Read more

As widely reported this week, Auckland Council’s economic development arm has created a posting for one of its senior executives in London. Costing ratepayers a total of $230,000 over the course of a year, the city’s new ambassador Grant Jenkins is meant to promote better links between Auckland and London. Read more

It was more than a little bizarre when news broke on early Saturday morning that Greece and the eurozone had reached an agreement in their dispute over the country’s debt and bailout program. What was so strange about the deal was the fact that it was announced much earlier than anyone had anticipated. Read more