2021 ending with a whimper

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news the virulent Omicron is casting a pall over the close of 2021.</p><p>The run-up to the holidays will be all about retail sales (and whether the softness from supply chain issues and inflation can be overcome). There will not be not much economic news, although China is reviewing its prime rates and Taiwan's export order levels in November will come through later today. And many countries will report their final Q3 GDP results.</p><p>And there is another dairy auction on Wednesday morning.</p><p>Over this past weekend, an American regulator <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-opens-inquiry-into-buy-now-pay-later-credit/" target="_blank"><strong>said</strong></a> it was investigating the buy-now, pay-later industry with an investigation into the largest operators there, which includes two of Australia's largest (AfterPay and Zip). Shares in both fell heavily after the announcement. The US regulator is concerned about accumulating debt, regulatory arbitrage, and data harvesting in a consumer credit market already quickly changing with technology.</p><p>And it is not only regulators. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/equifax-to-add-more-buy-now-pay-later-plans-to-credit-reports-11639915203" target="_blank"><strong>Consumer credit reports</strong></a> are now getting this BNPL debt added, the obligations for which have been a blind spot for lenders. Having BNPL debt can seriously hurt your chances of getting a loan or mortgage.</p><p>In China, they reported that <a href="https://www.yuantalks.com/chinas-fiscal-revenue-fell-faster-in-november-land-sale-revenue-declined-for-5th-straight-month/" target="_blank"><strong>fiscal revenue is still falling</strong></a>, and falling faster with a fifth straight month of dec