Economy

Southeast Asia’s digital surge is driven by scale and speed. With a population exceeding 650 million and a median age under 30 in many countries, the region is both young and highly adaptable. Smartphones have leapfrogged traditional infrastructure, bringing banking, commerce, and communication into the hands of people who, a decade ago, may have had limited access to all three.

For much of its modern history, New Zealand ran on four legs. Sheep paid for the roads, the schools, the hospitals, and the welfare state. They shaped the landscape, the economy, and the country’s sense of itself. At one point, there were more than 70 million sheep in a nation of barely three million people.

For much of the 20th century, New Zealand ran on a simple model. It exported agricultural products — mainly meat, dairy, and wool — mostly to Britain. In return, it protected its domestic economy with subsidies, price controls, tariffs, and tight regulations