title: Cree language

text: Cree (also known as Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to Labrador. If considered one language, it is the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. The only region where Cree has any official status is in the Northwest Territories, alongside eight other aboriginal languages. There, Cree is spoken mainly in Fort Smith and Hay River.


title: Cree language

text: Cree is believed to have begun as a dialect of the Proto-Algonquian language spoken between 2,500 and 3,000 years ago in the original Algonquian homeland, an undetermined area thought to be near the Great Lakes. The speakers of the proto-Cree language are thought to have moved north, and diverged rather quickly into two different groups on each side of James Bay. The eastern group then began to diverge into separate dialects, whereas the western grouping probably broke into distinct dialects much later. After this point it is very difficult to make definite statements about how different groups emerged and moved around, because there are no written works in the languages to compare, and descriptions by Europeans are not systematic; as well, Algonquian people have a tradition of bilingualism and even of outright adopting a new language from neighbours.


title: Cree language

text: A traditional view among 20th century anthropologists and historians of the fur trade posits that the Western Woods Cree and the Plains Cree (and therefore their dialects) did not diverge from other Cree peoples before 1670, when the Cree expanded out of their homeland near James Bay because of access to European firearms. By contrast, James Smith of the Museum of the American Indian stated, in 1987, that the weight of archeological and linguistic evidence puts the Cree as far west as the Peace River Region of Alberta before European contact.


title: Cree language

text: Doug Cuthand argues three reasons for the loss of the Cree language among many speakers over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. First, residential schools cultivated the prejudice that their language was inferior. While students were still speaking their native language at home, their learning stopped at school. When they left residential schools as adults, they went home and their vocabulary and knowledge of language did not include concepts or forms that an adult speaker who had not been taken to a residential school would have.


title: Cree language

text: Cuthand also argues that the loss of the Cree language can be attributed to the migration of native families away from the reserve, voluntarily or not. Oftentimes, the elders are left on the reserve. This breaks up the traditional intergenerational flow of lingual knowledge from elder to youth.


title: Cree language

text: The third point Cuthand argues is that Cree language loss was adopted by the speakers. Parents stopped teaching their children their native language in the belief that doing so would help their children find economic success or avoid discrimination.


title: Cree language

text: The Cree dialect continuum can be divided by many criteria. Dialects spoken in northern Ontario and the southern James Bay, Lanaudière, and Mauricie regions of Quebec differentiate ("sh" as in "sh"e) and , while those to the west have merged the two phonemes as and in east the phonemes are merged as either or . In several dialects, including northern Plains Cree and Woods Cree, the long vowels and have merged into a single vowel, . In the Quebec communities of Chisasibi, Whapmagoostui, and Kawawachikamach, the long vowel has merged with .


title: Cree language

text: However, the most transparent phonological variation between different Cree dialects are the reflexes of Proto-Algonquian *l in the modern dialects, as shown below:


title: Cree language

text: The Plains Cree, speakers of the y dialect, refer to their language as ', whereas Woods Cree speakers say ', and Swampy Cree speakers say "".


title: Cree language

text: Another important phonological variation among the Cree dialects involves the palatalisation of Proto-Algonquian *k: East of the Ontario–Quebec border (except for Atikamekw), Proto-Algonquian *k has changed into or before front vowels. See the table above for examples in the *kīla column.


title: Cree language

text: Very often the Cree dialect continuum is divided into two languages: Cree and Montagnais. Cree includes all dialects which have not undergone the *k > sound change (BC–QC) while Montagnais encompasses the territory where this sound change has occurred (QC–NL). These labels are very useful from a linguistic perspective but are confusing as "East Cree" then qualifies as Montagnais. For practical purposes, Cree usually covers the dialects which use syllabics as their orthography (including Atikamekw but excluding Kawawachikamach Naskapi), the term Montagnais then applies to those dialects using the Latin script (excluding Atikamekw and including Kawawachikamach Naskapi). The term Naskapi typically refers to Kawawachikamach (y-dialect) and Natuashish (n-dialect).


title: Cree language

text: In dictionaries focused on Eastern Swampy Cree, Western Swampy Cree may readily substitute with , while Lowland Moose Cree may readily substitute with their . In dictionaries focused on Southern Plains Cree, Northern Plains Cree may readily substitute with , while materials accommodating Rocky Cree will indicate the Plains Cree that is in Rocky Cree as . Similarly, in dictionaries focused on Western Swampy Cree, Woods Cree may readily substitute with , while materials accommodating Woods Cree will indicate the Western Swampy Cree that is in Woods Cree as . Atikamekw uses [], [], and [] (which also serves as []). Eastern James Bay Cree prefers to indicate long vowels (other than ) by doubling the vowel, while the western Cree use either a macron or circumflex diacritic; as is always long, often it is written as just without doubling or using a diacritic. While Western Cree dialects make use of and either or , Eastern Cree dialects instead make use of and either , , or .


title: Cree language

text: Cree features a complex polysynthetic morphosyntax. A common grammatical feature in Cree dialects, in terms of sentence structure, is non-regulated word order. Word order is not governed by a specific set of rules or structure; instead, "subjects and objects are expressed by means of inflection on the verb". Subject, Verb, and Object (SVO) in a sentence can vary in order, for example, SVO, VOS, OVS, and SOV.


title: Cree language

text: Obviation is also a key aspect of the Cree language(s). In a sense, the obviative can be defined as any third-person ranked lower on a hierarchy of discourse salience than some other (proximate) discourse-participant. "Obviative animate nouns, [in the Plains Cree dialect for instance], are marked by [a suffix] ending , and are used to refer to third persons who are more peripheral in the discourse than the proximate third person". For example:


title: Cree language

text: The suffix marks Susan as the obviative, or 'fourth' person, the person furthest away from the discourse.


title: Cree language

text: The Cree language has grammatical gender in a system that classifies nouns as animate or inanimate. The distribution of nouns between animate or inanimate is not phonologically transparent, which means gender must be learned along with the noun.


title: Cree language

text: As is common in polysynthetic languages, a Cree word can be very long, and express something that takes a series of words in English. For example, the Plains Cree word for "school" is , "know..place" or the "knowing-it-together-by-example place". This means that changing the word order in Cree can place emphasis on different pieces of the sentence. Wolfart and Carroll give the following example by transposing the two Cree words:


title: Cree language

text: Cree dialects, except for those spoken in eastern Quebec and Labrador, are traditionally written using Cree syllabics, a variant of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, but can be written with the Latin script as well. Both writing systems represent the language phonetically. Cree is always written from left to right horizontally. The easternmost dialects are written using the Latin script exclusively. The dialects of Plains Cree, Woods Cree, and western Swampy Cree use Western Cree syllabics and the dialects of eastern Swampy Cree, East Cree, Moose Cree, and Naskapi use Eastern Cree syllabics.


title: Cree language

text: In Cree syllabics, each symbol, which represents a consonant, can be written four ways, each direction representing its corresponding vowel. Some dialects of Cree have up to seven vowels, so additional diacritics are placed after the syllabic to represent the corresponding vowels. Finals represent stand-alone consonants. The Cree language also has two semivowels. The semivowels may follow other consonants or be on their own in a word.


title: Cree language

text: Speakers of various Cree dialects have begun creating dictionaries to serve their communities. Some projects, such as the Cree Language Resource Project, are developing an online bilingual Cree dictionary for the Cree language.


title: Cree language

text: Cree syllabics has not commonly or traditionally used the period (.). Instead, either a full-stop glyph (᙮) or a double em-width space has been used between words to signal the transition from one sentence to the next.


title: Cree language

text: For Plains Cree and Swampy Cree, Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) uses fourteen letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet to denote the dialect's ten consonants ("p", "t", "c", "k", "s", "m", "n", "w", "y" and "h") and seven vowels ("a", "i", "o", "ā", "ī", "ō" and "ē"). Upper case letters are not used. For more details on the phonetic values of these letters or variant orthographies, see the § Phonology section above.


title: Cree language

text: The sound of Woods Cree is written "th", or "ð" in more recent material. Plains and Swampy material written to be cross-dialectical often modify "y" to "ý" and "n" to "ñ" when those are pronounced in Swampy. "š" is used in Eastern dialects where "s" and "š" are distinct phonemes. In other dialects, "s" is used even when pronounced like .


title: Cree language

text: The stops, "p", "t", "k", and the affricate, "c", can be pronounced either voiced or unvoiced, but the symbols used for writing these sounds all correspond to the unvoiced pronunciation, e.g. "p" not "b", "t" not "d", etc. The phoneme /t͡s/ is represented by "c", as it is in various other languages.


title: Cree language

text: Long vowels are denoted with either a macron, as in "ā", or a circumflex, as in "â". Use of either the macron or circumflex is acceptable, but usage should be consistent within a work. The vowel "ē" /eː/, used in southern Plains Cree, is always long and the grapheme "e" is never used. In northern Plains Cree the sound has merged with "ī", and thus "ē" isn't used at all.


title: Cree language

text: The use of unmarked "o" and marked "ō" for the phonemes /u/ and /oː/ emphasizes the relationship that can exist between these two vowels. There are situations where "o" can be lengthened to "ō", as for example in ᓂᑲᒧ! "nikamo!" “sing (now)!" and ᓂᑲᒨᐦᑲᐣ! "nikamōhkan!" “sing (later)!".


title: Cree language

text: In alphabetic writing, the use of punctuation has been inconsistent. For instance, in the Plains Cree dialect, the interrogative enclitic "cî" can be included in the sentence to mark a yes-no question such that this is sometimes considered to be sufficient without including a question mark (?). However, in many modern publications and text collections ("cf." "The Counselling Speeches of Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw" (1998)) full punctuation is used.


title: Cree language

text: Additionally, other interrogatives ("where, when, what, why, who") can be used, as in other languages, and questions marks can thus be used for such questions in Cree as well.


title: Cree language

text: Hyphenation can be used to separate a particle from the root word that it prefixes, especially particles that precede verbs ("preverbs" or "indeclinable preverbs") or nouns ("prenouns" or "indeclinable prenouns"). One example is "māci-pīkiskwē" ("start speaking!"), derived from "pīkiskwē". Note that "māci-" can neither stand alone as a separate word, nor is it an essential part of a stem. There are some more complex situations where it is difficult to determine whether an element is a particle. Some frequently used compound words can be written as unhyphenated. Stress can be predicted in some cases based on hyphenation.


title: Cree language

text: Vowel reduction or vowel dropping, as is common of unstressed short "i" , is not denoted in order to be more cross-dialectal—instead of using apostrophes, the full unreduced vowels are written.


title: Cree language

text: Representation of sandhi (such as "oski-aya → osk-āya") can be written or not written, as sandhi representation introduces greater complexity. There are additional rules regarding "h" and "iy" that may not match a given speaker's speech, to enable a standardized transcription.


title: Cree language

text: Cree is also a component language in at least five contact languages, Michif, Northern Michif, Bungi, Oji-Cree, and Nehipwat. Theses Michif and Bungi are spoken by members of the Métis, and historically by some Voyageurs and European settlers of Western Canada and parts of the Northern United States. Nehipwat and Oji-Cree are blends of Cree with Assiniboine (Nehipwat) and Ojibwe (Oji-Cree).


title: Cree language

text: Michif is a mixed language which combines Cree with French. For the most part, Michif uses Cree verbs, question words, and demonstratives while using French nouns. Michif is unique to the Canadian prairie provinces as well as to North Dakota and Montana in the United States. Michif is still spoken in central Canada and in North Dakota.


title: Cree language

text: Bungi is a creole based on Scottish English, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Cree, and Ojibwe. Some French words have also been incorporated into its lexicon. This language flourished at and around the Red River Settlement (modern day location of Winnipeg, Manitoba) by the mid to late 1800s. Bungi is now virtually extinct, as its features are being abandoned in favor of standard English.


title: Cree language

text: Cree has also been incorporated into another mixed language within Canada, Nehipwat, which is a blending of Cree with Assiniboine. Nehipwat is found only in a few southern Saskatchewan reserves and is now nearing extinction. Nothing is known of its structure.


title: Cree language

text: The social and legal status of Cree varies across Canada. Cree is one of the eleven official languages of the Northwest Territories, but is only spoken by a small number of people there in the area around the town of Fort Smith. It is also one of two principal languages of the regional government of Eeyou Istchee/Baie-James Territory in Northern Quebec, the other being French.


title: Cree language

text: Cree has about 117,000 documented speakers today. They are still a minority language given the dominance of English and French in Canada. There are programs in place to maintain and revitalize the language, though. In the Quebec James Bay Cree community, a resolution was put into action in 1988 that made Cree the language of education in primary schools and eventually elementary schools.


title: Cree language

text: In 2013, free Cree language electronic books for beginners became available for Alberta language teachers.


title: Cree language

text: The Government of the Northwest Territories releases an annual report on First Nations languages. The 2016–2017 report features successes they have had in revitalizing and supporting and projects they are working on. For example, they released a Medicinal Plant Guide that had information in both Cree and English. An important part of making the guide was input from the elders. Another accomplishment was the dubbing of a movie in Cree. They are working on broadcasting a radio station that "will give listeners music and a voice for our languages".


title: Sadia Khateeb

text: Sadia Khateeb is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She made her acting debut with Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film "Shikara" (2020) for which she received Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut nomination. Khateeb has since starred in "Raksha Bandhan" (2022).


title: Sadia Khateeb

text: Khateeb made her acting debut in Hindi films with the 2020 film "Shikara", a drama by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film narrates a love story at the peak of Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir and the subsequent exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. She portrayed a medical student opposite Aadil Khan and received praises for her role. Pallabi Dey of "Times Of India" wrote "Sadia, with her infectious smile, is a natural in portions where she is playing the younger part".


title: Sadia Khateeb

text: Khateeb next appeared in "Raksha Bandhan" portraying Akshay Kumar's sister. The film received mixed reviews. A critic for "Bollywood Hungama" rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The Akshay Kumar starrer "Raksha Bandhan" is a touching family saga, with a highly emotional second half that uplifts the film". She received praises for her role, with critics stating "Sadia Khateeb leaves the maximum impact and looks quite stunning".


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The economy of New Zealand is a highly developed free-market economy. It is the 51st-largest national economy in the world when measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 63rd-largest in the world when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). New Zealand has a large GDP for its population of 5 million, and sources of revenue are spread throughout the large island nation. The country has one of the most globalised economies and depends greatly on international trade, mainly with Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. New Zealand's 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia means that the economy aligns closely with that of Australia.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand's diverse economy has a sizable service sector, accounting for 63% of all GDP activity . Large-scale manufacturing industries include aluminium production, food processing, metal fabrication, wood and paper products. Mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas, water, and waste services accounted for 16.5% of GDP . The primary sector continues to dominate New Zealand's exports, despite accounting for only 6.5% of GDP . The information technology sector is growing rapidly.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The major capital market is the New Zealand Exchange (NZX). , NZX had a total of 258 listed securities with a combined market capitalisation of NZD $94.1 billion. New Zealand's currency, the New Zealand dollar (informally known as the "Kiwi dollar") also circulates in four Pacific Island territories. The New Zealand dollar is the 10th-most traded currency in the world.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: For many years New Zealand's economy was built on a narrow range of agricultural products, such as wool, meat and dairy. These products became New Zealand's staple and most valuable exports, underpinning the success of the economy, from the 1850s until the 1970s. For example, from 1920 to the late 1930s, the dairy export quota was usually around 35% of New Zealand's total exports, and in some years made up almost 45%. Due to the high demand for these primary products, manifested by the New Zealand wool boom of 1951, New Zealand had one of the highest standards of living in the world for 70 years.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In the 1960s, prices for these traditional exports declined, and in 1973 New Zealand lost its preferential trading position with the United Kingdom when the latter joined the European Economic Community. Partly as a result, from 1970 to 1990, the relative New Zealand GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power declined from about 115% of the OECD average to 80%.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Between 1984 and 1993, New Zealand changed from a somewhat closed and centrally controlled economy to one of the most open economies in the OECD. In a process often referred to in New Zealand as Rogernomics, successive governments introduced policies which dramatically liberalised the economy.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In 2005, the World Bank praised New Zealand as the most business-friendly country in the world. The economy diversified and by 2008, tourism had become the single biggest generator of foreign exchange.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Prior to European settlement and colonisation of New Zealand, Māori had a subsistence economy, the basic economic unit of which was the sub-tribe or hapū. From the 1790s, the waters around New Zealand were visited by British, French and American whaling, sealing and trading ships. Their crews traded European goods, including guns and metal tools, for Māori food, water, wood, flax and sex. Their increasing lawlessness and plans for formal settlement by the New Zealand Company were two of the drivers behind the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, which established New Zealand as a colony. Settlers continued to be dependent on Māori for food until the 1860s. From then immigrants became self-sufficient in farming, and started quarrying a variety of minerals including gold, which was discovered at Gabriel's Gully in Central Otago, leading to the Otago Gold Rush in 1861. Settlements flourished in areas where these quarries were established. In the 1880s, Dunedin became the richest city in the country largely on the back of investments from the gold rush.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Sheep farming began in the Wairarapa but soon spread up and down the east coast from Southland to the East Cape once rudimentary roads and transport became available. Much of the land used for farming was taken or leased from Māori. Sheep numbers grew quickly and by the mid-1850s, there were already a million sheep in New Zealand; by the early 1870s, there were 10 million. Wool became the first staple export, initially exported from the Wellington settlement in the late 1850s, although unrefrigerated meat and dairy products were exported as far as Australia.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In the 1870s, Julius Vogel was periodically both colonial treasurer and premier. He viewed New Zealand as a "Britain of the South Seas" and began the development of infrastructure in New Zealand investing heavily in roads, railways, telegraphs and bridges funded by public borrowing. Progress slowed after the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878 which led to a contraction in credit from London, the centre of the world's financial system at the time. Economic activity was depressed for some years afterwards, until refrigeration was introduced in 1882. This enabled New Zealand to start exporting meat and other frozen products to the United Kingdom. Refrigeration transformed and shaped the development of the economy but, in the process, established New Zealand's economic dependence on Britain.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The success of refrigeration was directly related to the growth and development of farming in the country. In the 19th century, the bulk of economic activity was in the South Island of New Zealand. From around 1900, dairy farming became increasingly viable in areas which were less suitable for sheep, particularly in Northland, the Waikato and Taranaki. As dairying developed, the North Island slowly became more important to the economy. As more land was cultivated and farmed, Britain became the sole market for New Zealand meat and animal products. The dairy farming can therefore be seen as a response to the powerful market demands in Europe, transforming not only New Zealand's countryside, economy and production techniques, but also causing migration in order to create the needed supply of dairy farming.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand was established as New Zealand's central bank on 1 August 1934. Up until that time New Zealand's monetary policy had been set in the United Kingdom, and the New Zealand Pound was issued by private banks. A separate central bank gave New Zealand's government control of monetary policy for the first time, although New Zealand remained part of the sterling area by pegging its pound to the British pound sterling until the introduction of the New Zealand dollar in 1967, after which the dollar was instead pegged to the United States dollar.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: By the mid-20th century, pastoral-farming products made up more than 90% of New Zealand's exports, 65% of which was going to Britain in the 1950s. Having a secure market with guaranteed prices also enabled New Zealand to impose high tariffs on imported goods from other countries. Tough import controls gave local manufacturers the ability to produce similar products locally, broaden the base of jobs available in New Zealand and still compete against higher priced imports.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: This prosperity continued up to 1955 at which point Britain stopped giving New Zealand guaranteed prices for its exports. From then on, what New Zealand received was dictated by the free market. As a result, during the 1950s and 1960s the country's standard of living began to slip as the export sector was no longer able to pay for the level of imported goods required to meet the country's growing consumerism.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Britain applied to join the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1961, but was vetoed by the French. The government of Keith Holyoake reacted by attempting to diversify New Zealand's export markets, signing the first free trade agreement (Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement) in 1965, and opening new diplomatic posts in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Saigon, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Britain applied again to join the EEC in 1967, and entered into negotiations for membership in 1970. Holyoake's deputy and successor, Jack Marshall, (briefly Prime Minister in 1972) negotiated continued access for New Zealand exports to the United Kingdom under the so-called "Luxembourg Agreement".


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Britain gained full membership of the EEC on 1 January 1973, and all trade agreements with New Zealand came to an end, except the Luxembourg Agreement. By the end of that year, only 26.8% of New Zealand's exports were to Britain. This had a significant effect on the standard of living. In 1953, New Zealand had the third highest standard in the world. By 1978, it had dropped to 22nd place.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Having lost unrestricted access to its traditional market, New Zealand continued to search for alternative export markets and diversify its economy. The Government of Norman Kirk, who succeeded Marshall, put greater emphasis on expanding New Zealand's trade, especially with South East Asia. Following the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, an oil embargo was put in place by the Middle Eastern oil exporters, leading to the 1973 oil crisis. This compounded New Zealand's dire economic situation further. Inflation greatly increased as the cost of transport and imported goods soared, causing standards of living to decline.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Following the 1979 energy crisis resulting from the Iranian Revolution of that year, Robert Muldoon, the prime minister between 1975 and 1984, instituted an economic strategy known as Think Big. Large scale industrial plants were established based on New Zealand's abundant natural gas. A new range of products for export such as ammonia, urea fertilizer, methanol and petrol were produced and with greater use of electricity (with the electrification of the North Island Main Trunk railway) with the goal that this would reduce New Zealand's dependence on oil imports.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Other projects included the Clyde Dam on the Clutha River, which was built to meet a growing demand for electricity, and the expansion of the New Zealand Steel plant at Glenbrook.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, which opened in 1971, was also upgraded as part of the Think Big strategy and now brings in approximately NZ$1 billion in exports every year.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Unfortunately for New Zealand, most of these projects only came on line at the same time as oil prices dropped during the 1980s oil glut. The price of crude went from more than US$90 a barrel in 1980, to about US$30 a few years later. Because these Think Big projects required massive borrowing to get started, public debt soared from $4.2 billion in 1975 when Muldoon became prime minister to $21.9 billion when he left office nine years later. Inflation remained rampant, averaging 11% in the 1980s. Once Labour came to power in 1984, many of these projects were sold to private industry as part of a wider sale of state-assets.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The Muldoon Government did make some moves towards deregulation however. For example, in 1982 it removed the transport licensing restrictions on road carriers carting goods more than 150 km, and turned the Railways Department into a statutory corporation.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The Fourth Labour government, elected in July 1984, moved away from government intervention in the economy and allowed free market mechanisms to dominate. These reforms became known as "Rogernomics", named after minister of finance from 1984 to 1988, Roger Douglas. The changes included making the Reserve Bank independent of political decisions; performance contracts for senior civil servants; public sector finance reform based on accrual accounting; tax neutrality; subsidy-free agriculture; and industry-neutral competition regulation. Government subsidies including agricultural subsidies were eliminated; import regulations were loosened up; the exchange rate was floated; and controls on interest rates, wages, and prices were removed; and personal rates of taxation were reduced. Tight monetary policy and major efforts to reduce the government budget deficit brought the inflation rate down from an annual rate of more than 18% in 1987. The deregulation of government-owned enterprises in the 1980s and 1990s reduced government's role in the economy and permitted the retirement of some public debt.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The new Government was faced with an exchange rate crisis the day after it was elected. Speculators expected the change of government to result in a 20% devaluation of the New Zealand dollar, which led to the 1984 New Zealand constitutional crisis due to Muldoon's refusal to devalue, worsening the currency crisis further. As a result, the dollar was floated on 4 March 1985, allowing for the value of the dollar to change with the market. Prior to the dollar being floated, the dollar was pegged against a basket of currencies.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Financial markets were deregulated and tariffs on imported goods lowered and phased out. At the same time subsidies to many industries, notably agriculture, were removed or significantly reduced. Income and company taxes were reduced and the top marginal tax rate was reduced from 66% to 33%. These were replaced by a comprehensive tax on goods and services (GST) initially set at 10%, then increased to 12.5% and recently increased to 15% in 2011. A surtax on universal superannuation was also introduced. Many government departments were corporatised, and from 1 April 1987 became State owned enterprises, required to make a profit. The new corporations shed thousands of jobs adding to unemployment; Electricity Corporation 3,000; Coal Corporation 4,000; Forestry Corporation 5,000; New Zealand Post 8,000.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The wage and price freeze of the early eighties coupled with the removal of financial restrictions and a lack of investment opportunities, led to a speculative bubble on New Zealand's sharemarket, sharemarket crash of 1987, in which New Zealand's sharemarket shed 60% from its 1987 peak, and taking several years to recover.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Inflation continued to be a major problem afflicting the New Zealand economy. Between 1985 and 1992, inflation averaged 9% per year and the economy was in recession. The unemployment rate rose from 3.6% to 11%, New Zealand's credit rating dropped twice, and foreign debt quadrupled. In 1989 the Reserve Bank Act 1989 was passed, creating strict monetary policy under the sole control of the Reserve Bank Governor. From then on the Reserve Bank focused on keeping inflation low and stable, using the Official Cash Rate (OCR) – the price of borrowing money in New Zealand – as its primary means to do so. As a result, inflation rates fell to an average of 2.5% in the 1990s, compared to 12% in the 1970s. However, the tightening of monetary policy contributed to rising unemployment in the early 1990s.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The Labour Party was greatly divided over Rogernomics, especially following the 1987 sharemarket crash and its effect on the economy, which slumped along with the rest of the world into recession in the early 1990s. The National Party was returned to power at the 1990 general election and Ruth Richardson became minister of finance under Prime Minister Jim Bolger. The new Government was again thrown a major economic challenge, with the then state-owned Bank of New Zealand needing a bail-out to stay operational.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Richardson's first budget in 1991, nicknamed the 'Mother of all Budgets', attempted to address constant fiscal deficits and borrowing by cutting state spending. Unemployment and social welfare benefits were cut and 'market rents' were introduced for state houses – in some cases tripling the rents of low-income people. Richardson also introduced user-pays requirements in hospitals and schools. These reforms became known derisively as Ruthanasia.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: By this time, New Zealand's economy faced serious social problems; the number of New Zealanders estimated to be living in poverty grew by at least 35% between 1989 and 1992; many of the promised economic benefits of the experiment never materialised. Gross domestic product per capita stagnated between 1986–87 and 1993–94, and by March 1992 unemployment rose to 11.1% Between 1985 and 1992, New Zealand's economy grew by 4.7% during the same period in which the average OECD nation grew by 28.2%. From 1984 to 1993 inflation averaged 9% per year, New Zealand's credit rating dropped twice, and foreign debt quadrupled. Between 1986 and 1993, the unemployment rate rose from 3.6% to 11%.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Deregulation also created a business-friendly regulatory framework which has benefited those able to take advantage of it. A 2008 survey in The Heritage Foundation and "The Wall Street Journal" ranked New Zealand 99.9% in "Business freedom", and 80% overall in "Economic freedom", noting that it takes, on average, only 12 days to establish a business in New Zealand, compared with a worldwide average of 43 days.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Deregulation has also been blamed for other significant negative effects. One of these was the leaky homes crisis, whereby the loosening up of building standards (in the expectation that market forces would assure quality) led to many thousands of severely deficient buildings, mostly residential homes and apartments, being constructed over a period of a decade. The costs of fixing the damage has been estimated at over NZ$11 billion ().


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Unemployment continued to fall from 1993 to 1994 fiscal year, until the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis again pushed the rate higher. By 2016 the unemployment rate decreased to 5.3 percent, the lowest level in 7 years.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Between 2000 and 2007, the New Zealand economy expanded by an average of 3.5% a year driven primarily by private consumption and the buoyant housing market. During this period, inflation averaged only 2.6% a year, within the Reserve Bank's target range of 1% to 3%. However, in early 2008 the economy entered recession, before the effects of the global financial crisis (GFC) set in later that year. A drought over the 2007/08 summer led to lower production of dairy products in the first half of 2008. Domestic activity slowed sharply over 2008 as high fuel and food prices dampened domestic consumption, while high interest rates and falling house prices drove a rapid decline in residential investment.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Around the world instability was developing in the finance sector. This reached a peak in September 2008 when Lehman Brothers, a major American bank, collapsed propelling the world into the global financial crisis.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Uncertainty began to dominate the global financial and economic environment. Business and consumer confidence in New Zealand plummeted as dozens of finance companies collapsed. To try and stop a flight of funds from New Zealand institutions to those in Australia, the Government established the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme to cover depositors funds in the event that a bank or finance company went broke. This protected some investors but nevertheless, at least 67 finance companies collapsed within a short period of time. The largest of these was South Canterbury Finance which cost taxpayers NZ$1.58 billion when the company collapsed in August 2010. The directors of many of these finance companies were subsequently investigated for fraud and some high-profile directors went to prison.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In an attempt to stimulate the economy, the Reserve Bank lowered the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from a high of 8.25% (July 2008) to an all-time low of 2.5% at the end of April 2009.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Fortunately for New Zealand, the recession was relatively shallow compared to many other nations in the OECD, it was sixth least affected out of the 34 member


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: nations with negative real GDP growth totaling 3.5%. In 2009 the economy picked up, led by strong demand from major trading partners Australia and China, and historically high prices for New Zealand's dairy and log exports. In 2010 the GDP grew by a modest 1.6%, but over the next couple of years economic activity continued to improve, driven by the rebuild in Canterbury after the Christchurch earthquakes and recovery in domestic demand. Through 2011, global conditions deteriorated and the terms of trade eased off their 2011 peak, continuing to moderate until September 2012. Since then, commodity prices have rebounded strongly, with strong demand from China and the international situation improving. Commodity prices have been at record highs in recent quarters and remain elevated. High commodity prices are expected to provide a considerable boost to nominal GDP growth in the near term.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In 2013, the economy grew 3.3%. HSBC chief economist for Australia and New Zealand, Paul Bloxham, was so impressed that he predicted New Zealand's growth would outpace most of its peers, and he described New Zealand as the "rock star economy of 2014". Another financial commentator said the New Zealand dollar was the "hottest" currency of 2014. Only three months later, the New Zealand Productivity Commission expressed concern about low living standards and problems affecting the long-term drivers of growth. Paul Conway, Director of Economics and Research at the Productivity Commission, wrote: "New Zealand's broad policy settings should generate GDP per capita 20 per cent above the OECD average, but the actual result is more than 20 per cent below average. We may be punching above our weight, but that's only because we are in the wrong weight division!" In August, Bloxham admitted that "the sharp decline in dairy prices over the last six months has clouded the outlook somewhat". In December however Bloxham stated that he thought the New Zealand economy would continue to grow strongly.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In 2014 increased attention was paid to the growing gap between rich and poor. In "The Guardian", Max Rashbrook said policies implemented by both Labour and National governments have increased inequality. He claims that for twenty years outrage "has been muted", but "Alarm bells are finally beginning to sound. Recent polling shows three-quarters of New Zealanders think theirs is no longer an egalitarian country".


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand recorded its first case of COVID-19 on 28 February 2020. In response to the pandemic, the country closed its borders to everyone except New Zealand citizens and residents on 19 March, and went into full (Level 4) lockdown from 26 March to 27 April, followed by a partial (Level 3) lockdown from 28 April to 13 May.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The border closure combined with the lockdowns saw the retail, accommodation, hospitality, and transport sectors experiencing major declines. On 17 September 2020, New Zealand officially entered a recession, with the country's gross domestic product retracting by 12.2% in the June quarter. The GDP rebounded 14% in the September quarter to leave a 2.2% year-on-year retraction.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: After successfully containing the virus, the New Zealand economy had sharp growth in what is known as a V-shaped recovery and ended the year with an overall economic expansion of 0.4%, better than the predicted 1.7% contraction. Unemployment also dropped to 4.9% in December 2020, down from a peak Covid effected rate of 5.3% in September.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: By 23 September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses nationwide had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the loss of 13,000 jobs. In response, the Association lobbied the Government for Government for continued wage subsidies and incentives to boost customer rates. On 13 November 2021, the "Bay of Plenty Times" reported that 26,774 companies had been liquidated during the first eight months of 2021.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: On 27 January 2022, New Zealand's inflation rate hit a 30-year record high of 5.9% at the end of 2021. According to figures released by Statistics New Zealand, the rising cost of construction, petrol and rents pushed the consumer price index up 1.4 per cent between October and December 2021. Statistics NZ also recorded a two percent increase in household utilities expenses, which was fuelled by the rising costs of new dwellings (which rose by 16% from 2020) and a 30 percent hike in fuel prices (from NZ $1.87 per litre to $2.45 per litre). Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attributed the sharp inflation rate to rising crude oil prices overseas. By contrast, the opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon and Finance spokesperson Simon Bridges attributed rising inflation to the Government's alleged "wasteful" spending.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: On 1 February 2022, an annual report released by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identified the country's border restrictions and declining house prices as the main risks facing New Zealand's economy that year. While the OECD report credited New Zealand's elimination strategy and macroeconomic stimuli such as wage and socio-economic subsidies with helping the economy to bounce back to pre-COVID-19 levels, it also warned that excessive Government spending was causing the economy to overheat and substantial increases in household and government debt. The OECD welcomed the Reserve Bank's decision to raise interest rates but also urged the Government to raise the superannuation age, eliminate obstacles to building houses, and reduce government spending. The OECD also supported the introduction of a social insurance scheme for unemployed workers.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In 2015 the Social Progress Index, which covers such areas as basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and the level of opportunity available to citizens, ranked the New Zealand economy fifth. However, the outlook includes some challenges. New Zealand income levels, which used to be above those of many countries in Western Europe prior to the crisis of the 1970s, dropped in relative terms and never recovered. As a result, the number of New Zealanders living in poverty has grown and income inequality has increased dramatically.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand has also had persistent current-account deficits since the early 1970s, peaking at −7.8% of GDP in 2006 but falling to −2.6% of GDP in FY 2014. The CIA World Fact Book estimates New Zealand's 2017 public debt (that owed by the government) at 31.7% of GDP. Between 1984 and 2006, net external foreign debt increased 11-fold, to NZ$182 billion. gross core crown debt was NZ$84,524 million or 29.5% of GDP and net core crown debt was NZ$62,114 million or 21.7% of GDP.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Despite New Zealand's persistent current-account deficits, the balance on external goods and services has generally been positive. In FY 2014, export receipts exceeded imports by NZ$3.9 billion. There has been an investment income imbalance or net outflow for debt-servicing of external loans. In FY 2014, New Zealand's investment income from the rest of the world was NZ$7 billion, versus outgoings of NZ$16.3 billion, a deficit of NZ$9.3 billion. The proportion of the current-account deficit that is attributable to the investment income imbalance (a net outflow to the Australian-owned banking sector) grew from one third in 1997 to roughly 70% in 2008.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: At the national level the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) collects tax in New Zealand on behalf of the New Zealand Government. New Zealanders pay national taxes on personal and business income, and on the supply of goods and services (GST). There is no capital-gains tax, although certain "gains" such as profits on the sale of patent rights are deemed to be income. Income tax does apply to property transactions in certain circumstances, particularly speculation. Local authorities manage and collect local property taxes (rates). Some goods and services carry a specific tax, referred to as an excise or a duty such as alcohol excise or gaming duty. These are collected by a range of government agencies such as the New Zealand Customs Service. There is no social security (payroll) tax or land tax in New Zealand.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The 2010 New Zealand budget announced cuts to personal tax-rates, with the top personal tax-rate reduced from 38% to 33% The cuts gave New Zealand the second-lowest personal tax burden in the OECD. Only Mexico's citizens retained a higher percentage-wise "take home" proportion of their salaries.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The cuts in income tax were estimated to reduce revenue by $2.46 billion. To compensate, the National government raised GST from 12.5% to 15%. Treasury figures show that top income-earners in New Zealand pay between 6% and 8% of their income on GST. Those at the bottom end, earning less than $356 a week, spend between 11% and 14% on GST. Based on these figures, "The New Zealand Herald" predicted that putting GST up to 15% would increase living costs for the poor more than twice as much as for the rich.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand ranked 1st on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of 2017 with a score of 89 out of 100. In 2018 New Zealand ranked 2nd on the Corruption Perceptions Index with a score of 87 out of 100. In 2019, New Zealand ranked 1st on the Corruption Perceptions Index with a score of 87 out of 100.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Although New Zealand is one of the least corrupt countries in the world, corruption still exists in New Zealand.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In March 2022, Statistics New Zealand published details of the break-down of gross domestic product in the regions of New Zealand for the year ended March 2021:


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Prior to the economic shock created by Britain's decision to join the EEC in 1973, which removed the UK as New Zealand's primary market for exports, unemployment in New Zealand was very low. A recession and a collapse in wool prices in 1966 led to unemployment rising by 131%, but still represented only a 0.7% percentage point increase in the unemployment rate.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: After 1973, unemployment became a persistent economic and social issue in New Zealand. Recessions from 1976 to 1978 and from 1982 to 1983 greatly increased unemployment again. Between 1985 and 2012 the unemployment rate averaged 6.29%. After the stock market crash of 1987, unemployment rose 170% reaching an all-time high of 11.20% in September 1991. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 sent unemployment upwards again, by 28%. By 2007 it had dropped again and the rate stood at 3.5% (December 2007), its lowest level since the current method of surveying began in 1986. This gave the country the 5th-best ranking in the OECD (with an OECD average at the time of 5.5%). The low numbers correlated with a robust economy and a large backlog of job positions at all levels. Unemployment numbers are not always directly comparable between OECD nations, as members do not all keep labour market statistics in the same way.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The percentage of the population employed has also increased in recent years, to 68.8% of all inhabitants, with full-time jobs increasing slightly, and part-time occupations decreasing in turn. The increase in the working population percentage is attributed to increasing wages and higher costs of living moving more people into employment. The low unemployment also had some disadvantages, with many companies unable to fill jobs.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: From December 2007, mainly as a result of the global financial crisis, unemployment numbers began to rise. This trend continued until September 2012, reaching a high of 6.7%. They began to recover after that point, sitting at 3.9% .


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Shamubeel Eaqub, formerly a principal economist at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), said in 2014 that thirty years prior, an average house in New Zealand cost two or three times the average household income. House prices rose dramatically in the first years of the 21st century and by 2007, an average house cost more than six times household income. International surveys in 2013 showed that housing was unaffordable in all eight of New Zealand's major markets – "unaffordable" being defined as house prices which are more than three times the median regional income.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Demand for property has been strongest in Auckland. In 2014 the average sales price there went from $619,136 to $696,047, a rise of 12% in that 12-month period alone. In 2015, prices rose another 14%. This made Auckland New Zealand's least affordable market and one of the most expensive cities in the world with houses costing 8 times the average income. Between 2012 and April 2016, the average Auckland home increased in price by just over two-thirds reaching $931,000 – higher than the cost of an average home in Sydney.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: As a result, more people are being priced out of the property market. Those on low incomes are hardest hit, affecting many Maori and Pacific Islanders. New Zealand's relatively high mortgage-rates are exacerbating the problem making it difficult for young people with steady jobs to buy their first home. According to a 2012 submission made to the Housing Affordability Inquiry, escalating house prices are also impacting on many middle income groups, especially those with large families. Mortgage adviser Bruce Patten said the trend was "disturbing" and added to the gap between the "haves and have-nots".


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Property-analysis company CoreLogic said that 45% of house purchases in New Zealand are now made by investors who already own a home, while another 28% are made by people moving from one property to another. Approximately 8% of purchases go to overseas-based cash buyers – primarily Australians, Chinese, and British – although most economists believe that foreign investment is currently too small to have a significant effect on property prices.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Whether purchases are made by New Zealanders or by foreigners, it is generally those who are already well off who are buying the bulk of properties on the market. This has had a dramatic effect on home-ownership rates by Kiwis, now at its lowest level since 1951. Even as recently as 1991, 76% of New Zealand homes were occupied by their owners. By 2013, this had reduced to 63%, indicating that more and more people are having to rent. Raewyn Cox, chief executive of the Federation of Family Budgeting, says: "High prices and high interest rates (have) sentenced a rising number of New Zealanders to be lifetime tenants" where they are "stuck in expensive rental situations, heading towards retirement."


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Between 1982 and 2011 New Zealand's gross domestic product grew by 35%. Almost half of that increase went to a small group who were already the richest in the country. During this period, the average income of the top 10% of earners in New Zealand (those earning more than $72,000) almost doubled going from $56,300 to $100,200. The average income of the poorest tenth increased by 13% from $9700 to $11,000.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Statistics New Zealand, which keeps track of income disparity using the P80/20 ratio, confirms the increase in income inequality. The ratio shows the difference between high household incomes (those in the 80th percentile) and low household incomes (those in the 20th percentile). The inequality ratio increased between 1988 and 2004, and decreased until the onset of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, increasing again to 2011 and then declining again from then. By 2013 the disposable income of high-income households was more than two-and-a-half times larger than that of low-income households. Highlighting the disparity, the top 1% of the population now owns 16% of the country's wealth – the richest at one point 5% owned 38% – while half the population, including beneficiaries and pensioners, earn less than $24,000.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand has a universal superannuation scheme. Everyone aged 65 years old or over, who is a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident and who normally lives in New Zealand at the time they apply is eligible. They must also have lived in New Zealand for at least 10 years since they turned 20 with five of those years being since they turned 50. Time spent overseas in certain countries and for certain reasons may be counted for New Zealand superannuation. New Zealand superannuation is taxed, the rate of which depends on superannuitants' other income. The amount of superannuation paid depends on the person's household situation. For a married couple the net tax amount is set by legislation to be no less than 66% of net average wage.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Because of the growing number of elderly becoming eligible, superannuation costs rose from $7.3 billion a year in 2008 to $10.2 billion in 2014. In 2011 there were twice as many children in New Zealand as elderly (65 and over); by 2051 there are projected to be 60% more elderly than children. In the ten years from 2014, the number of New Zealanders over the age of 65 was projected to grow by about 200,000.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: This poses a significant problem for superannuation. The government gradually increased the age of eligibility from 61 to 65 between 1993 and 2001. In that year the Labour Government of Helen Clark introduced the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (known as the "Cullen Fund" after Minister of Finance Michael Cullen) to part-fund the superannuation scheme into the future. As at October 2014, the fund managed NZ$27.11 billion, 15.9% of which it invested within New Zealand.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In 2007 the same Government introduced a new individual saving-scheme, known as KiwiSaver. KiwiSaver principally targets growing people's retirement savings, but younger participants can also use it to save a deposit for their first home. The scheme is voluntary, work-based and managed by private-sector companies called "KiwiSaver providers". KiwiSaver had 2.3 million active members (60.9% of New Zealand's population under 65). NZ$4 billion was contributed annually, and a total of NZ$19.1 billion has been contributed since 2007.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealanders see themselves as first-world consumers with first-world tastes and habits - mitigated only slightly by the country's remoteness from main global producers.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: According to the National Infrastructure Unit of the Treasury, New Zealand "...continues to face challenges to its infrastructure; all forms of infrastructure are long-term investments, and change does not come about easily or quickly." A report prepared for the Association of Consulting and Engineering New Zealand in 2020 claimed that there was an infrastructure deficit of $75 billion (about one quarter of GDP), following decades of under-investment that began in the 1980s.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The New Zealand state highway network consists of 11,000 km of road, with 5981.3 km in the North Island and 4924.4 km in the South Island, built and maintained by the NZ Transport Agency, and paid for from general taxation and fuel excise duty. Heavy road users must pay Road User Charges as well, there is limited use of tolling on state highways. There is also 83,000 km of local roads built and maintained by local authorities.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The railway network is owned by state-owned enterprise KiwiRail and consists of 3,898 km of railway line, built to the narrow gauge of . Of this, 506 km is electrified.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: There are seven international airports and twenty-eight domestic airports. Air New Zealand, 52% government-owned, is the national carrier and a state owned enterprise. Airways New Zealand, another state owned enterprise, provides air traffic control and communications.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Present-day telecommunications in New Zealand include telephony, radio, television, and internet usage. A competitive telecommunications market has seen mobile prices drop to some of the lowest in the OECD. The copper wire and fibre cable networks are mostly owned by Chorus Limited, a publicly listed company. Chorus wholesales services to retail providers (such as Spark). In the mobile sector, there are three operators: Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand has a high rate of internet use. , there are 1,916,000 broadband connections and 65,000 dial-up connections in New Zealand, of which 1,595,000 are residential and 386,000 are business or government. The majority of connections are digital subscriber line over phone lines.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The Government has two plans to bring Ultra-Fast Broadband to 97.8% of the population by 2019, and is spending NZ$1.35 billion on public-private partnerships to roll out fibre-to-the-home connection in all main towns and cities with population over 10,000. The program aims to deliver ultra-fast broadband capable of at least 100 Mbit/s download and 50Mbit/s upload to 75% of New Zealanders by 2019. In total, 1,340,000 households in 26 towns and cities will be connected.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Gigabit internet (1000Mbit/s download speeds) was made available to the entire Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) footprint on 1 October 2016, in an announcement from Chorus.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: A$300 million Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has also been introduced by the Government, with the aim to bring broadband of at least 5Mbit/s to 86% of rural customers by 2016.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: From 1995 to 2013, the energy intensity of the economy per unit of GDP declined by 25 percent. A contributing factor is the growth of relatively less energy-intensive service industries. New Zealand will be potentially among the main winners after the global transition to renewable energy is completed; the country is placed very high – no. 5 among 156 countries – in the index of geopolitical gains and losses after energy transition (GeGaLo Index).


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The electricity market is regulated by the Electricity Industry Participation Code administered by the Electricity Authority (EA). The electricity sector uses mainly renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The 83% share of renewable energy sources makes New Zealand one of the most sustainable economies in terms of energy generation. New Zealand suffers from a geographical imbalance between electricity production and consumption. The most substantial electricity generation (both existing and as remaining potential) is located on the South Island and to a lesser degree in the central North Island, while the main demand (which is continuing to grow) is in the northern North Island, particularly the Auckland Region. This requires electricity to be transmitted north through a power grid which is reaching its capacity more often.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: As of 2021, almost all of the three waters assets (drinking water, stormwater and wastewater) are owned by local councils and territorial authorities. There are currently 67 different asset-owning organisations in total.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The challenges for local government include funding infrastructure deficits and preparing for large re-investments that are estimated to require $110billion over the next 30 to 40 years. There are also significant challenges in meeting statutory requirements for the safety of drinking water, and the environmental expectations for management of stormwater and wastewater. Climate change adaptation, and providing for population growth add to these challenges.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: A nationwide reform programme is underway, with the intention of amalgamating the three waters assets into a small number of large regional publicly owned utilities.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand's small size and long distances from major world markets creates significant challenges in its ability to compete in global markets. Australia, New Zealand's closest neighbour, is New Zealand's biggest trading partner. In 2018, New Zealand's main trading partners were China, Australia, the European Union, the United States and Japan. Together, these five partners account for 66% of New Zealand's two-way trade. In March 2014, the total value of goods exported from New Zealand topped $50 billion for the first time, up from $30 billion in 2001. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) offers strategic advice and support to New Zealand businesses wanting to export goods and services to other countries.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Since 1960s New Zealand has pursued free trade agreements with many countries to diversify its export markets and increase the competitiveness of New Zealand's exports to the world. As well as reducing barriers to trade, Trade Agreements New Zealand has entered into are designed to ensure existing access is maintained. Trade agreements establish rules by which trade can take place and ensure regulators and officials in countries New Zealand is trading with work closely together.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Australia is New Zealand's largest bilateral trading partner. In 2013, trade between New Zealand and Australia was worth NZ$25.6 billion. Economic and trading links between Australia and New Zealand are underpinned by the "Closer Economic Relations" (CER) agreement, which allows for free trade in goods and most services. Since 1990, CER has created a single market of more than 25 million people. Australia is now the destination of 19% of New Zealand's exports, including light crude oil, gold, wine, cheese and timber, as well as a wide range of manufactured items.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The CER also creates a free labour market which allows New Zealand and Australian citizens to live and work freely in each other's country together with mutual recognition of professional qualifications. This means individuals who are registered to practise an occupation in one country can register to practise an equivalent occupation in the other country. Banking regulation and supervision are co-ordinated through the Trans-Tasman Council on Banking Supervision and there are also ongoing discussions about co-ordinating Australian and New Zealand business law.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: China is New Zealand's largest trading partner buying primarily meat, dairy products and pine logs. In 2013, trade between New Zealand and China was worth NZ$16.8 billion. This has occurred primarily because of soaring demand for imported dairy products, following the Chinese milk scandal in 2008. Since then demand for milk products has been so strong that in the 12 months to March 2014, there was a 51% increase in total exports to China. The increase was facilitated by the New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement which came into force on 1 October 2008. Since that year exports to China have more than tripled.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The United States is New Zealand's third largest trading partner. In 2013, bilateral trade between the two countries was valued at NZ$11.8 billion. New Zealand's main exports to the United States are beef, dairy products and lamb. Imports from the US include specialised machinery, pharmaceutical products, oil and fuel. In addition to trade, there is a high level of corporate and individual investment between the two countries and the US is a major source of tourists coming to New Zealand. In March 2012, the United States had a total of $44 billion invested in New Zealand. A number of US companies have subsidiary branches in New Zealand. Many operate through local agents, with some joint venture associations. The United States Chamber of Commerce is active in New Zealand, with a main office in Auckland and a branch committee in Wellington.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Zealand and the United States "share a deep and longstanding friendship based on a common heritage, shared values and interests, and a commitment to promoting a free, democratic, secure and prosperous world". This common background has not translated into a free trade agreement between the two countries.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Japan is New Zealand's fourth largest trading partner. In the 21st century, Asian economies have been developing rapidly providing significant demand for New Zealand's exports. New Zealand also trades with Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, India and the Philippines and this now accounts for around 16% of total exports. New Zealand initiated a free trade agreement with Singapore in September 2000 which was extended in 2005 to include Chile and Brunei and is now known as the P4 agreement.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: A growing number of New Zealand companies use the United Kingdom as a base to supply their products to the European market. However trade with the European Union is declining as demand from Asia continues to grow. The EU currently takes only 8% of New Zealand exports but provides around 12% of imports.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In July 2014, negotiations on the Partnership Agreement on Relations and Cooperation (PARC) between New Zealand and the European Union were concluded. The agreement covers the trade and economic relationship between the EU and New Zealand with a view to further liberalisation of trade and investment and acknowledges the intention of the European Union to upgrade its diplomatic presence in New Zealand with a resident ambassador.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The Pacific region with numerous islands is New Zealand's sixth largest trading market and is growing every year. In 2011 exports to Pacific Islands were worth over $1.5 billion up 12% on the previous year. Fiji is the biggest individual market followed very closely by Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia and New Caledonia. Goods exported to the islands include refined oil, construction materials, medicines, sheep meat, milk, butter, fruit and vegetables. New Zealand also assists Pacific Islands with defence and regional security, and with management of the environment and fisheries.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Because of their small size, the Pacific Islands are some of the most vulnerable environments in the world and are on the receiving end of numerous cyclones every year. When disasters occur, they often have severe social and economic effects which last for years. Since 1992, New Zealand has co-operated with Australia and France to respond to disasters in the Pacific. New Zealand provides emergency supplies and transport, funding for roading and housing and the deployment of specialists to affected areas.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand also provides international aid and development funding to help stimulate sustainable economic development in underdeveloped economies. The New Zealand Aid Programme, allocated about $550m a year, is focused primarily on promoting development in the Pacific. The allocation of $550 million represents about 0.26% of New Zealand's gross national income (GNI).


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: New Zealand welcomes and encourages foreign investment, which is overseen by the Overseas Investment Office. In 2014 foreign direct investment totaled NZ$107.69 billion. From 1989 foreign investment increased from $9.7 billion to $101.4 billion in 2013 – an increase of over 1,000%. Between 1989 and 2007, foreign ownership of the New Zealand sharemarket went from 19% to 41% but has since dropped back to 33%.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: In 2007, around 7% of all New Zealand agriculturally productive land was foreign-owned. In 2011, economist Bill Rosenberg said that the figure is closer to 9% if foreign ownership of forestry is included. In March 2013 the financial sector, which includes the four big Australian owned banks, was worth $39.3 billion accounting for the largest portion of the $101.4 billion foreign ownership of New Zealand companies.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: Between 1997 and 2007, foreign investors made $50.3 billion profit, 68% of which went overseas. The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) says this has a negative impact on the economy arguing that when foreign investors buy up New Zealand companies, they tend to cut staff and push down wages. Foreign ownership has also done nothing to improve New Zealand's foreign debt. In 1984, private and public foreign debt was $16 billion ($50 billion in March 2013 dollars) which was less than half New Zealand's Gross Domestic Product at the time. By March 2013, total foreign debt stood at $251 billion, well over 100% of New Zealand's Gross Domestic Product.


title: Economy of New Zealand

text: The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2020 (with IMF staff estimates in 2021–2026). Inflation below 2% is in green.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: The Quarter Pounder is a hamburger sold by international fast food chain McDonald's, so named for containing a patty with a precooked weight of 4 oz, a quarter of a pound (113.4 g). It was first introduced in 1971. In 2013, the Quarter Pounder was expanded to represent a whole line of hamburgers that replaced the company's discontinued Angus hamburger. In 2015, McDonald's increased the precooked weight to .


title: Quarter Pounder

text: The Quarter Pounder was created by Al Bernardin, a franchise owner and former McDonald's Vice President of product development, in Fremont, California, in 1971. Bernardin had moved to Fremont in 1970 after purchasing two company-owned McDonald's restaurants.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: Bernardin began experimenting with new menu items for his McDonald's franchises. According to a 1991 interview, Bernardin noted that he "felt there was a void in our menu vis-à-vis the adult who wanted a higher ratio of meat to bun." In 1971, Bernardin introduced the first Quarter Pounders at his McDonald's in Fremont using the slogan, "Today Fremont, tomorrow the world." The Quarter Pounder became such a success, it was added to the national American menu in 1973. Since May 2018, McDonald's is using fresh beef with no preservatives added for their Quarter Pounders at their continental U.S. locations. On October 1, 2018, McDonald's announced that it would remove all artificial preservatives, flavors, and coloring from the Quarter Pounders.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: In November 2008, McDonald's Japan (which until then had never offered the Quarter Pounder as a regular item) converted two Tokyo restaurants into "Quarter Pounder"–branded restaurants which only sold Quarter Pounder meals. These promotional branches closed on November 27, 2008, coinciding with the re-introduction of the Quarter Pounder at regular McDonald's branches throughout the Kantō (Tokyo) region from November 28. The Quarter Pounder was launched at one McDonald's restaurant in the Kansai (Osaka) region on December 23, 2008. It was later reported that 15,000 customers had visited the restaurant on the first day, generating a record 10.02 million yen in sales for a single restaurant in one day. However, it was also revealed that McDonald's had hired 1,000 "extras" to queue up on the first day. McDonald's Japan explained that the hirees were used for "product monitoring purposes".


title: Quarter Pounder

text: The Quarter Pounder was discontinued in Japan as of April 4, 2017. McDonald's Holdings Co. has to date given no official reason for the removal. It was replaced by a line of three "Gran" (グラン) burgers around the same date.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: The burger comprises a beef patty weighing before cooking and 3 oz. prepared, pickles, raw onion, ketchup, and mustard. In the United States, Portugal and South Africa there are three variations: the Quarter Pounder with cheese, Quarter Pounder with Cheese & Bacon and the Quarter Pounder Deluxe. In all or much of the New York City area, it is served without mustard, as are burgers made with the smaller 1.6-ounce (45 g) patties.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: The nutritional content of the Quarter Pounder varies between countries and locations. For example, in Australia, which uses local beef for its McDonald's products, the average Quarter Pounder has 33.7 g of protein per serving, a higher value than that stated for the same burger in the United States.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: In English-speaking countries the product retains the Quarter Pounder name despite metrication; in French-speaking Canada, it is known as "Quart de livre". The term "Quarteirão com Queijo" is used in metric Brazil, "Cuarto de Libra con Queso" in Spain and in Hispanic America, "Quarter Pounder Cheese" is used in Finland, and "QP Cheese" in Sweden. Some European countries, like Norway and the Netherlands simply refer to it as the "Quarter Pounder". In Hong Kong, the Quarter Pounder is known as a "full three taels" () in Chinese because three taels is exactly equal in weight to a quarter pound, while the English name Quarter Pounder is retained. In Taiwan it is known as the "four-ounce beefburger" (). The Quarter Pounder is unavailable in mainland China. In Japan, the name was a katakana representation of "Quarter Pounder" ( ).


title: Quarter Pounder

text: In several countries that do not customarily use United States customary units as a unit of weight, the Quarter Pounder is sold under different names. In France, Belgium and Cyprus it is called the "Royal Cheese" and includes cheese. In German-speaking Europe it is known as a "Hamburger Royal"; in Germany it includes lettuce and tomato and is branded "Hamburger Royal TS" (TS standing for „Tomate und Salat“, tomato and lettuce). In Russia and Ukraine, it was known as "Royal Cheeseburger", and since 2016 in Russia it is called "Grand Cheeseburger".


title: Quarter Pounder

text: In some Middle-Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, McDonald's offers both a Quarter Pounder and a McRoyale burger, the McRoyale having slightly different ingredients.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: "Quarter Pounder" is a trademark in the United States, but restaurants in other countries have been able to use similar names for their own products, such as the British Wimpy chain's "Quarterpounder". rendered as one whole word.


title: Quarter Pounder

text: A competing chain, A&W, attempted to introduce a similar, but larger burger in the 1980s which contained a ⅓ pound beef patty rather than the quarter pound patty, but met with customer disinterest due to the perception by the denominator (lower number) of the fraction that a patty which was a third of a pound (or ) was smaller than a quarter pound () patty. The restaurant later jocularly introduced the "/ Pound Burger" anew in 2021 amid Internet folklore relaying the story.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, marking the end of the "ancien régime" in Switzerland. Throughout its existence, the republic incorporated most of the territory of modern Switzerland, excluding the cantons of Geneva and Neuchâtel and the old Prince-Bishopric of Basel.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The Swiss Confederacy, which until then had consisted of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance (and ruling over subject territories such as Vaud), was invaded by the French Revolutionary Army and turned into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic". The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place. Resistance was strongest in the more traditional Catholic cantons, with armed uprisings breaking out in spring 1798 in the central part of Switzerland. The French and Helvetic armies suppressed the uprisings, but opposition to the new government gradually increased over the years, as the Swiss resented their loss of local democracy, the new taxes, the centralization and the hostility to religion. Nonetheless, there were long-term effects.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The Republic's name "Helvetic", after the , the Gaulish inhabitants of the Swiss Plateau in antiquity, was not an innovation; rather, the Swiss Confederacy had occasionally been dubbed ' in humanist Latin since the 17th century, and ', the Swiss national personification, made her first appearance in 1672. In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represents an early attempt to establish a centralized government in the country.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: During the French Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s, the French Republican armies expanded eastward. In 1793, the National Convention had imposed friendship with the United States and the Swiss Confederation as the sole limit while delegating its powers in foreign policy to the Committee of Public Safety, but the situation changed when the more conservative Directoire took power in 1795 and Napoleon conquered Northern Italy in 1796. The French Republican armies enveloped Switzerland on the grounds of "liberating" the Swiss people, whose own system of government was deemed feudal, especially for annexed territories such as Vaud.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: Some Swiss nationals, including Frédéric-César de La Harpe, had called for French intervention on these grounds. The invasion proceeded largely peacefully since the Swiss people failed to respond to the calls of their politicians to take up arms.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: On 5 March 1798, French troops completely overran Switzerland and the Old Swiss Confederation collapsed. On 12 April 1798, 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic, "One and Indivisible". On 14 April 1798, a cantonal assembly was called in the canton of Zürich, but most of the politicians from the previous assembly were re-elected. The new régime abolished cantonal sovereignty and feudal rights. The occupying forces established a centralised state based on the ideas of the French Revolution.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: Many Swiss citizens resisted these "progressive" ideas, particularly in the central areas of the country. Some of the more controversial aspects of the new regime limited freedom of worship, which outraged many of the more devout citizens.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: In response, the Cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden raised an army of about 10,000 men led by Alois von Reding to fight the French. This army was deployed along the defensive line from Napf to Rapperswil. Reding besieged French-controlled Lucerne and marched across the Brünig pass into the Berner Oberland to support the armies of Bern. At the same time, the French General Balthasar Alexis Henri Antoine of Schauenburg marched out of occupied Zürich to attack Zug, Lucerne and the Sattel pass. Even though Reding's army won victories at Rothenthurm and Morgarten, Schauenburg's victory near Sattel allowed him to threaten the town of Schwyz. On 4 May 1798, the town council of Schwyz surrendered.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: On 13 May, Reding and Schauenburg agreed to a cease-fire, the terms of which included the rebel cantons merging into a single one, thus limiting their effectiveness in the central government. However, the French failed to keep their promises in respecting religious matters and before the year was out there was another uprising in Nidwalden which the authorities crushed, with towns and villages burnt down by French troops.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: No general agreement existed about the future of Switzerland. Leading groups split into the "", who wanted a united republic, and the "Federalists", who represented the old aristocracy and demanded a return to cantonal sovereignty. Coup attempts became frequent and the new régime had to rely on the French to survive. Furthermore, the occupying forces insisted that the accommodation and feeding of the soldiers be paid for by the local populace, which drained the economy. The treaty of alliance of 19 August with France, which also reaffirmed the French annexation of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel and imposed French rights over the Upper Rhine and the Simplon Pass for evident strategic reasons towards Germany and Italy, also broke the tradition of neutrality established by the Confederation. All this made it difficult to establish a new working state.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: In 1799, Switzerland became a virtual battle-zone between the French, Austrian, and Imperial Russian armies, with the locals supporting mainly the latter two, rejecting calls to fight with the French armies in the name of the Helvetic Republic.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: Instability in the Republic reached its peak in 1802–1803; it included the ' uprising and the ' civil war of 1802. By then, the Republic was 12 million francs in debt, having started with a treasury of 6 million francs. This, together with local resistance, caused the Helvetic Republic to collapse, and its government took refuge in Lausanne.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: At that time, Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, summoned representatives of both sides to Paris in order to negotiate a solution. Although the Federalist representatives formed a minority at the conciliation conference, known as the "Helvetic Consulta", Bonaparte characterised Switzerland as federal "by nature" and considered it unwise to force the country into any other constitutional framework.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: On 19 February 1803, the Act of Mediation abolished the Helvetic Republic and restored the cantons. With the abolition of the centralized state, Switzerland became a confederation once again, called the Swiss Confederation.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: Before the advent of the Helvetic Republic, each individual canton had exercised complete sovereignty over its own territory or territories. Little central authority had existed, with matters concerning the country as a whole confined mainly to meetings of leading representatives from the cantons: the Diets.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The constitution of the Helvetic Republic came mainly from the design of Peter Ochs, a magistrate from Basel. It established a central two-chamber legislature which included the Grand Council (with 8 members per canton) and the Senate (4 members per canton). The executive, known as the Directory, comprised 5 members. The Constitution also established actual Swiss citizenship, as opposed to just citizenship of one's canton of birth. Under the Old Swiss Confederacy, citizenship was granted by each town and village only to residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of the old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the "new citizens", who were generally poor. The compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created. The first, the so-called municipality, was a political community formed by-election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the former local citizens who were gathered together into the "".


title: Helvetic Republic

text: After an uprising led by Alois von Reding in 1798, some cantons were merged, thus reducing their anti-centralist effectiveness in the legislature. Uri, Schwyz, Zug and Unterwalden together became the canton of Waldstätten; Glarus and the Sarganserland became the canton of Linth, and Appenzell and St. Gallen combined as the canton of Säntis.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: Due to the instability of the situation, the Helvetic Republic had over 6 constitutions in a period of 4 years.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The Helvetic Republic did highlight the desirability of a central authority to handle matters for the country as a whole (as opposed to the individual cantons which handled matters at the local level). In the post-Napoleonic era, the differences between the cantons (varying currencies and systems of weights and measurements) and the perceived need for better co-ordination between them came to a head and culminated in the Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848. The Republic's 5-member Directory resembles the 7-member Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland's executive.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The Helvetic Republic is still very controversial within Switzerland. Carl Hilty described the period as the first democratic experience in Swiss territory, while within conservatism it is seen as a time of national weakness and loss of independence. For cantons such as Vaud, Thurgau and Ticino, the three who in 1898 celebrated the centenary of their independence, the Republic was a time of political freedom and liberation from the rule of other cantons. However, the period was also marked by foreign domination and instability, and for the cantons of Bern, Schwyz and Nidwalden it signified military defeat.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: In 1995, the Federal Assembly chose not to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the Helvetic Republic but to allow individual cantons to celebrate if they wished. The Federal Councilors took part in official events in Aargau in January 1998.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The Helvetic period represents a key step toward the modern federal state. For the first time, the population was defined as Swiss, not as inhabitants of a specific canton.


title: Helvetic Republic

text: The Helvetic Republic reduced the formerly sovereign cantons to mere administrative division, though keeping the denomination of cantons, while also raising to such status unrepresented territories previously ruled as subjects of the Confederation. In order to weaken the old power-structures, it defined new boundaries for some cantons. The Act of 1798 and subsequent developments resulted in the following cantons:


title: Helvetic Republic

text: As well as the Old Swiss Confederacy, the following territories became part of the Helvetic Republic:


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: Fisherman's Friend is a brand of strong menthol lozenges manufactured by the Lofthouse company in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England.


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: Fisherman's Friend was originally developed by pharmacist James Lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems suffered by fishermen working in the extreme conditions of the northern deep-sea fishing grounds. Though he developed it as an extremely strong liquid remedy containing menthol and eucalyptus oil, Lofthouse later made the liquid into small lozenges, which were easier to transport and administer. According to the manufacturer, the fishermen began to refer to the lozenges as "friends", hence the name. The company expanded its reach after the 1963 marriage of Doreen and Tony Lofthouse, a grandson of the founder, following which Doreen became a director; it transitioned from direct sales to stocking by retailers and subsequently spread abroad, initially to Norway in 1974, and different flavours were added to appeal to regional tastes. The shape of the lozenges was reportedly based on the buttons of a dress worn by Mrs Lofthouse.


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is said to have used the product when her throat became strained from public speaking. French president Emmanuel Macron uses them too: "He finds his energy in les Fisherman's, those lozenges which rip your throat out. He keeps them in his pockets and in the car-seats. When speaking publicly, he needs water, some slices of lemon and a small dish of Fisherman's. During the Presidential campaign, he literally devoured crates of them, delivered to his campaign headquarters."


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: The lozenges are relatively unchanged since their creation. The original paper packets later became foil-lined and packaged in a cardboard carton.


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: Lofthouse of Fleetwood has won the Queen's Award to Industry for Export Achievement on three occasions.


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: Original extra strong lozenges contain sugar, liquorice extract, menthol, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, dextrin, tragacanth, and capsicum tincture.


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: The sugar-free versions of the lozenges contain sorbitol, aspartame, menthol, vegetable-sourced sucralose, and acesulfame K. Often they have anti-caking agents added such as magnesium stearate. Each different flavour has unique ingredients. For example, the blackcurrant flavour variant includes elderberry juice extract.


title: Fisherman's Friend

text: Fisherman's Friends are available in a variety of flavours. Some flavours are sugar-free, for which the bags are striped.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining, and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as cokes. Petcoke is the coke that, in particular, derives from a final cracking process—a thermo-based chemical engineering process that splits long chain hydrocarbons of petroleum into shorter chains—that takes place in units termed coker units. (Other types of coke are derived from coal.) Stated succinctly, coke is the "carbonization product of high-boiling hydrocarbon fractions obtained in petroleum processing (heavy residues)". Petcoke is also produced in the production of synthetic crude oil (syncrude) from bitumen extracted from Canada’s oil sands and from Venezuela's Orinoco oil sands.


title: Petroleum coke

text: In petroleum coker units, residual oils from other distillation processes used in petroleum refining are treated at a high temperature and pressure leaving the petcoke after driving off gases and volatiles, and separating off remaining light and heavy oils. These processes are termed "coking processes", and most typically employ chemical engineering plant operations for the specific process of delayed coking.


title: Petroleum coke

text: This coke can either be fuel grade (high in sulfur and metals) or anode grade (low in sulfur and metals). The raw coke directly out of the coker is often referred to as green coke. In this context, "green" means unprocessed. The further processing of green coke by calcining in a rotary kiln removes residual volatile hydrocarbons from the coke. The calcined petroleum coke can be further processed in an anode baking oven to produce anode coke of the desired shape and physical properties. The anodes are mainly used in the aluminium and steel industry.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Petcoke is over 80% carbon and emits 5% to 10% more carbon dioxide (CO) than coal on a per-unit-of-energy basis when it is burned. As petcoke has a higher energy content, petcoke emits between 30 and 80 percent more CO than coal per unit of weight. The difference between coal and coke in CO production per unit of energy produced depends upon the moisture in the coal, which increases the CO per unit of energy – heat of combustion – and on the volatile hydrocarbons in coal and coke, which decrease the CO per unit of energy.


title: Petroleum coke

text: There are at least four basic types of petroleum coke, namely, needle coke, honeycomb coke, sponge coke and shot coke. Different types of petroleum coke have different microstructures due to differences in operating variables and nature of feedstock. Significant differences are also to be observed in the properties of the different types of coke, particularly ash and volatile matter contents.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Needle coke, also called acicular coke, is a highly crystalline petroleum coke used in the production of electrodes for the steel and aluminium industries and is particularly valuable because the electrodes must be replaced regularly. Needle coke is produced exclusively from either fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) decant oil or coal tar pitch.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Honeycomb coke is an intermediate coke, with ellipsoidal pores that are uniformly distributed. Compared to needle coke, honeycomb coke has a lower coefficient of thermal expansion and a lower electrical conductivity.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Petcoke, altered through the process of calcining which it is heated or refined raw coke eliminates much of the component of the resource. Usually petcoke when refined does not release the heavy metals as volatiles or emissions.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Depending on the petroleum feed stock used, the percentage of carbon in petcoke can be as high as 98-99%. This creates a carbon-based compound containing hydrogen in concentrations between 3.0- 4.0%. Raw (or green) coke contains between 0.1- 0.5% nitrogen and 0.2- 6.0% sulfur which become emissions when coke is calcined.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Through process of thermal processing the composition in weight is reduced with the volatile matter and sulfur being emitted. This process ends in the honeycomb petcoke which according to the name giving is a solid carbon structure with holes in it.


title: Petroleum coke

text: Fuel-grade coke is classified as either sponge coke or shot coke morphology. While oil refiners have been producing coke for over 100 years, the mechanisms that cause sponge coke or shot coke to form are not well understood and cannot be accurately predicted. In general, lower temperatures and higher pressures promote sponge coke formation. Additionally, the amount of heptane insolubles present and the fraction of light components in the coker feed contribute.


title: Petroleum coke

text: While its high heat and low ash content make it a decent fuel for power generation in coal-fired boilers, petroleum coke is high in sulfur and low in volatile content, and this poses environmental (and technical) problems with its combustion. Its gross calorific value (HHV) is nearly 8000 Kcal/kg which is twice the value of average coal used in electricity generation. A common choice of sulfur recovering unit for burning petroleum coke is the SNOX Flue gas desulfurisation technology, which is based on the well-known WSA Process. Fluidized bed combustion is commonly used to burn petroleum coke. Gasification is increasingly used with this feedstock (often using gasifiers placed in the refineries themselves).


title: Petroleum coke

text: Calcined petroleum coke (CPC) is the product from calcining petroleum coke. This coke is the product of the coker unit in a crude oil refinery. The calcined petroleum coke is used to make anodes for the aluminium, steel and titanium smelting industry. The green coke must have sufficiently low metal content to be used as anode material. Green coke with this low metal content is called anode-grade coke. When green coke has excessive metal content, it is not calcined and is used as fuel-grade coke in furnaces.