Figure 1: GDP per capita relative to the OECD, 1970 - 2008
Figure 1.2: Net emigration to Australia and the income gap
An the NZ Herald reports;
New Zealand will lose another 400,000 people to Australia over the next 15 years, based on current projections of the income gap between the two countries, the 2025 taskforce says.
Dr Brash says that we can catch Australia, but.....
The 'but' is government.
Finance Minister Bill English said the Government would consider some of the taskforce's ideas, but disagreed with the report's authors on the ideal speed of the reform.
"History shows that reforms done at breakneck speed tend to be fairly counterproductive," he said.
"If you don't take the time to convince people of the benefits of change there's a good chance the next government will simply reverse them."
But while governments continue to procrastinate, those who would support reforms are buggering off. I just can't see an economically bright future for the country.
National has to put up reforms as policy next year and get a mandate to make them. If they won't there is no point to the party as a government.
Hell. I have never voted National in my life but if they put up some decent policy based on the report recommendations, I would. Honestly.
5 comments:
"National has to put up reforms as policy next year and get a mandate to make them."
The challenge is to find policy which will gain a mandate and not drive voters into the arms of the opposition.
All due respect Ele, that's nonsense. Now is the perfect time to do it; there *is* no opposition. If they wait until 2014, Andrew Little will be party leader and will have energised the unions to revitalise Liarbore. It's now or never.
The charts are interesting Lindsay, if for no other reason that (with the exception of what I'll call the Douglas blip and the Richardson blip) the last 40 years has been a pretty constant slide, showing the massive success of the socialist experiment.
If only ACT had got their act together.
"History shows that reforms done at breakneck speed tend to be fairly counterproductive," he said.
Bullsh*t!! Especially if you reform the electoral system first, then there can be no counteraction.
The challenge is to find policy which will gain a mandate and not drive voters into the arms of the opposition.
Crap. They are already in government. They've got an enabling act for Christsakes! There is absolutely no excuse not to ac immediately, swiftly, and finally!
It's not as if this is a mystery. It's not as if we don't know what needs to be done. It's not as if JohnKey wasn't elected on a mandate to fix NZ - of course he was!!!
We all know what needs to happen:
* welfare terminated
* state "health" and "education" terminated
* super terminated
* all SOEs sold off
* all debt repaid - public and private
* ACC levies terminated
* Business taxes terminated
* Unions terminated
* MMP repealed - replaced by exporters franchise
* Robust sanctions against corrupt government 2000-2010
None of these are complex. None of these are in any way controversial with anyone who is economically literate, and that includes the bureaucrats in the treasury. None of these require difficult or extensive legislation. All of them could be easily enacted with about a week of urgency in the house.
Instead of this we sit around worrying hobbits.
"The Taskforce believes that these changes can be made without the major transitional impacts experienced during the economic reforms of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Of course, it doesn't help that the taskforce is kidding itself. Even if the changes could be made without "major transitional impacts" we don't want them to!
Kick the bludgers to the gutter & let 'em starve.
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