1997

Some gifts Santa could give the economy
Question: What's the best thing Santa could bring all the people of New Zealand ? Answer: Changes to economic and social policy which deliver a sustained economic growth rate of 4% pa, reduce unemployment to less than 5%, and produce a New Zealand dollar with sufficient global purchasing...
23 December 1997 - govt spending / budget - Gareth Morgan

Cheap Korean Cars
A glut of cars loomed over the world’s auto markets even before Asia’s economies crashed into reverse. The Economist estimated in May this year that by 2000 the world would have more spare car building capacity than all of North America’s production put together. And it will get worse thanks to a slump in demand in Asia. Capacity might well exceed demand by close to 40% by 2000. Not only will ...
17 December 1997 - overseas economies - Andrew Gawith

And as for those in poverty, let them eat cake
The public hates change, even that from which it benefits. Its opposition to GST, privatisation of Telecom and closure of Post Offices are all examples. So it is with terminating middle class welfarism - a deformity which is halving the size of the economic cake. While public consensus before its demolition is impossible, afterwards it will be natural....
16 December 1997 - welfare - Gareth Morgan

Waste not, want not
NZ has one of the highest percentage of skilled immigrants of any country in the world. Yet, between 1991 and 1995, the high calibre of migrants seeking permanent residence in NZ appeared to leave us with more suitable applicants than we had jobs for and a narrower occupational mix among new migrants than was desirable. Many highly skilled professional migrants, specifically targeted by ...
9 December 1997 - labour market / jobs - Bridget Smith

This is Ground Control to Major Tom
Employment is plummeting, wages are falling and unemployment is rising! We’re heading for oblivion faster than a Russian astronaut on Mir! Well, you could be forgiven for believing that given some of the commentaries in recent weeks. Real life ain’t so bad though. According to the Household Labour Force Survey, employment fell 0.1% between June and September and it is now lower than it was ...
3 December 1997 - labour market / jobs - Tony Booth

Benefits, taxes, queen beens - and drones
One of the common problems in setting rules for economic and social policy is that conditions are continually changing and even the presence of a policy intervention rule can change human behaviour to such an extent that it impairs the effectiveness of the original policy in meeting its goals. This can be so pronounced that the policy has to be...
2 December 1997 - taxation - Gareth Morgan

We Want The World ... And We Want It Now
The tariff review being carried out by the Ministry of Commerce is flushing out a number of arguments against tariff removal. Although dressed up as being in the public interests, all these arguments remain vested interest arguments that primarily benefit the proponents’ interest group. The arguments so far can be put into 5 broad headings: 1) tariff reduction should be linked to industrial ...
26 November 1997 - markets / regulation - David Grimmond

Of super and old folk and poor person's benefit
The avalanche of responses (some published, some not, most anonymous) to my accusation that the retired generation has become too greedy, confirms that weaning them from the state pension is no taking of candy from a baby. Given our numbers, how much harder this will be when my generation gets its hands into the same jar. The quality of...
25 November 1997 - retirement / super - Gareth Morgan

Referendum not the way to go on health fund issues
The quest by former Auditor General Bryan Tyler for a referendum on health spending is unconstructive. The intended question is to ask people to support an increase in the public health spend from 6% to 7% of GDP. Never mind what we actually get back from that extra spending let's just measure the success of our health system by how much we pour down...
18 November 1997 - health - Gareth Morgan

Leadership change needs to be more than cosmetic
Why would National want its change at the top to be just cosmetic? In view of the slippage in economic policy performance under the coalition, someone who just aims to articulate more clearly what government has been up to will not fill the leadership vacuum. Far more importantly they need to actually do more. The US just recorded its lowest...
11 November 1997 - politics - Gareth Morgan

Deregulate or Stagnate
After decades of being a world leader in terms of economic performance, Japan’s economy has now well and truly fallen from grace. From an average annual growth rate of 6.4% pa between 1960 and 1991, growth has averaged less than 1% in the past five years. This is dismal by any standards. Japan’s economy can barely be counted on to provide rising living standards for its people. The question ...
11 November 1997 - markets / regulation - Bridget Smith

Export reforms good for consumers
Back in the dark ages, we used to subsidise our exporters and protect domestic producers. We used to hand out money to unprofitable industries to keep them afloat and producing. Or we introduced tariffs to stop other countries competing fairly with our domestic market. Now, subsidies and tariffs are all-but-eliminated. The result is that our vehicle assembly, clothing and footwear ...
5 November 1997 - govt spending / budget - Tony Booth

Good luck to Peters and the whinging grey Greedies
It's not often I find myself agreeing with Winston Peters but I have to say the spectacle of the whinging Grey Power Mob at the Wellington Town Hall on Wednesday last did just that. As Mr Peters put it, they only have Health left to whinge about now that their universal entitlement to national superannuation has been restored. So with the spleen...
4 November 1997 - retirement / super - Gareth Morgan