Paulnz -> RE: right all along? (10/2/2008 1:10:06 AM)
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ORIGINAL: dreamysubmale Maybe the Fashion Industry in the 80’s was from the 50’s era, but not the manufacturing of goods .A vibrant economy? I doubted it. Not since the mid 80’s when the Labour led Government (the Party that stood for good socialism) adopted the theories of an accountant/pig-farmer Roger (now Sir Roger) Douglas, LP’s Finance Minister at the time had we had stable economy. Many considered his ideas to be some sort of a joke in bad taste. NZ in 1984 was backward. The manufacturing industry was making stuff that made the 1950's look old. Businesses in Christchurch like Anderson Engineering and Paintin and Nottingham were making stuff ( agricultural machinery ) that if looked at now seems like from the ark. It was laughable. They were making stuff that was mechanical, not even using hydraulics. I remember seeing some of the first fully hydraulic stuff imported to NZ and it drew crowds wonder struck at the modernity of it all. Removing tariff protection got rid of those industries, and we became productive ovrenight. It was like one day we were in the dark, and then next day the light had arrived. The transformation was that swift. quote:
Prior to that, NZ had a mixed socialist/capitalist economy and the socialist part of this meant that the less fortunate were looked after by the more fortunate. But NZ was prosperous back then. Unemployment was at less than 1%; even 0.4%, as a result most NZlanders had the essentials for a good and reasonable life, and the NZ economy was in these regards much envied by other countries. NZ was a world leader in many activities This sounds like some Jim Anderton speech or some BNZ ad' hankering after the good old days. Well the old days weren't that good. NZ before 1984 had hyper inflation, and simple basics were scarce. To travel overseas you needed permission to be allowed to use foreign exchange. Buying a car you had to put your name down and wait for the one you would be allowed. No colour choice even. In the town I grew up in there were three eateries for a population of 30,000. The hotel was for guests only, the licensed restaurant only let people in properly dressed, which left the Fish & Chip shop grill room out the back. Trading hours were limited. If you wanted to buy shoe polish on the weekend the shop owner could be prosecuted. You needed special permission to transport a load more than 30 miles. On and on and on. And the figures which show we enjoyed a high standard of living overlook that much of the rest of the World was being rebuilt after the war. We didn't have to worry about any of that. quote:
It was a controlled economy for sure. But this had the good spin-off that what the country could not import was manufactured here. Hence there were strong and wide skills and industry bases in NZ. See above, too simplistic. quote:
The LP (through Rogernomics) removed all direct Government assistance to producer groups, removed tariffs, the control of imports and import licensing, then proceeded to sale most if not all of the Government assets, (including strategic assets) sometimes at fire-sale prices. The effects of that great sell-off of the activities and resources that all New Zealanders had so assiduously created and maintained during the preceding 50 years have been apparent to many; transfer of wealth to a few and overseas, greatly increased unemployment, increasing poverty, increasing lawlessness, casualisation of the workforce, huge loss of skills and so on. The transformation saw NZ become a fully developed modern economy. It acquired a high standard of living for the first time, with innovative businesses that can take on the World. High unemployment was brief and never as bad as predicted. Many of the government owned businesses were featherbedding and inefficient. Most of them were better off being sold off. Some mistakes were made in the way they were sold, but overall the outcome was beneficial. quote:
Our healthcare system once the envy is busting at the seams. The few Hospitals that remained open can’t cope with the influx of patients and they result in keeping them in the corridors. The problem with the health care system is that with any public system, there is a problem with the allocation of resources. In effect you can see what the price is for certain procedures by looking at the length of the queue. The hospitals have become a soak pit for money. However hospitals now are much better places than they were pre reforms. If you went to hospital in the 1970's, it was likely you were there to die.
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