User:Tymentyne/sandbox

Between 2000 and 2007, the New Zealand economy expanded by an average of 3.5% annualy driven primarily by private consumption and residential investment. During this period, inflation averaged only 2.6% a year, within the Reserve Bank's target range of 1% to 3%. Although the economy was growing, at the same time there was a growing instability 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 (GFC).

With dozens of finance companies collapsing in in New Zealand, the government wanted to prevent a flight of funds from New Zealand institutions to those in Australia. So it set up 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 space of time. The largest of these was South Canterbury Finance which ended up costing the taxpayer $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.

While this financial turbulence was going on, domestic activity in New Zealand slowed. High fuel and food prices dampened domestic consumption and falling house prices led to a decline in residential investment. In an attempt to stimulate the economy, the Reserve Bank lowered the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from 8.25% (July 2008) to an all time low of 2.5% at the end of April 2009.

In the 21st century New Zealand became regarded as one of the world's premier locations to make large budget films. Some of the most successful feature films made in recent years were filmed here, such as Avatar and The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.