Yes NZ and other tributaries to the US military and monetary hegemony definitely follow the lead of the Fed. It began really pumping early 2000s with Bush2s war on Iraq and massive loosening of housing lending discipline- pumping the middle classes wealth perception. It has gone right back to 1990 since interest rates declined globally from 20%+ until Covid when they reached zero or even below zero. The constant easing of monetary discipline combined with cheaper and cheaper mortgage finance inflated house prices- but from here on the price of fiat debt cannot go much lower and incomes are constrained- the rentseeking fiat debt slavery bankers/military industrial combine its extracting maximum tribute but the whole shebang is unravelling. Thats my hapennyworth view on it. You can only financialise, rentseek and debt farm up to a point and then it stops. We are at that point or close to it. We need to actually return at some point to producing things that other people want/need to buy to earn an honest crust- but the west has mostly forgotten that and needs a wake up call. NZ grass fed lamb beef and dairy are the best value BTW- not that I'm biased ;)