NZ unmiracle

[Bill Cochrane]

Things have gone pretty subterranean these days, due in part to an impending
election (November), a series of monumental blunders by the government and
to lesser extent the local neolibs and free traders looking pretty silly
after you yanks stuck tariffs/quota's on our lamb exports. This said the
dismantling of our system of producer boards, particularly the dairy
industry, has proceeded although in a watered down form. The implementation
of the tertiary sector (ie universities/trade training and what you'd call
community colleges) reforms has been put on hold as have various other
"clean up" operations.
Despite "hyperliberalization" the welfare state is still very much alive
here with a wide range of benefits- cheap/free health care - state funded or
heavily subsidized tertiary education ect , more a sick or wounded situation
than the death of social democracy in NZ that is sometimes reported.
Interestingly the vast bulk of public opinion is firmly behind the welfare
state, particularly state provision of pensions (ie out of general
taxation), free health and welfare. How this translates into action should
be apparent with the next election.
On another issue I've got to express my profound gratitude to who ever was
responsible for Mike Moore going to the WTO, the man is a vindictive nut
with the attention span of a gnat who has been a thorn in the side of his
own party for years. thankyou thankyou thankyou.

Bill Cochrane
Archivist
Department of Political Science & Public Policy
University of Waikato
Hamilton
New Zealand

----------
>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>Subject: Re: The Irish Miracle
>Date: Fri, Jul 23, 1999, 5:39 AM
>


> Bill Cochrane wrote:
>
>>down here in sheepland (by the way thanx for the tariffs) we cast our eyes
>>covetously upon the emerald isles economic progress; the offical line is
>>contained in the Treasury document The Irish Economy: Lessons for
>>New Zealand? (http://www.treasury.govt.nz/workingpapers/98-1.pdf) which is a
>>useful if somewhat snide overview of the Irish experience.
>>If anyone has any academic references on the Irish economy I'd greatly
>>appreciate them, thanx
>
> By the way, what's going on in NZ these days? You guys still the
> OECD's laboratory for hyperliberalization?
>
> Doug
>
>