Ireland becomes first euro-zone nation in recession (New Zealand First in Pacific)

From MarketWatch:
Housing bust drags down economy, with worse still to come

The Irish economy, plagued by a collapsing property market, became the first in the 15-nation euro zone to meet a widely accepted definition of recession, government data showed Thursday....MORE

From FT Alphaville:
Ireland’s stock market crash

Irish SE Index down 12.71 per cent on Monday.

From the BBC:
New Zealand falls into recession

The New Zealand statistics agency says the economy has gone into recession for the first time since 1998.

Gross domestic product shrank 0.3% in the first quarter, and 0.2% in the second quarter this year. But annual growth until June remained positive.

Economists define recession as two straight quarters of economic decline.

New Zealand is suffering from the global credit crunch, rising food and fuel prices, and drought which cut production in agricultural industries....MORE