In yesterday’s Top 10, Interest.co.nz’s David Chaston explained that the high popularity of the National Government, which won its third consecutive general election last month in a landslide, can perhaps be explained by surging income growth in New Zealand, which rose to record levels in the June quarter:
…there is a better way to measure economic activity [than GDP], “real gross national disposable income” (RGNDI). This measures the real purchasing power of national disposable income, taking into account changes in the terms of trade, and real gains from net investment and transfer income with the rest of the world. Effectively, it is a measure of the volume of goods and services New Zealand residents have command over.
