The debut of Anna Breman, the first foreigner to run New Zealand's central bank in the modern era, was notable for its cool. But it would be wrong to describe the Swede's initial stab at setting interest rates as a non-event. While it’s early days, she may be conducting an experiment with big consequences. It would be a shame if it ends with the economy contracting again.

There was none of the combativeness or witty retorts that characterized the leadership of her predecessor Adrian Orr, who left the Reserve Bank a year ago after clashes with the government. Also missing from Breman's first post-meeting press conference: Any major concern about inflation, which accelerated above target. This from the head of an authority that pioneered setting formal targets for the pace of price increases back in the 1990s, a practice that came to steer vastly more powerful institutions like the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

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