Craig, your article brings to mind a key question. Why is the current government failed to consider following the example of other countries and adopt an appropriate industrial policy or set of industrial policies to help solve NZ’s deep structural economic problems? (The exception perhaps is the promotion by Shane Jones of mining which hardly counts given it will make such a meagre contribution to innovation, incomes, productivity etc) Is the failure caused by Willis’s mental rigidity? Ignorance of overseas developments? Lack of capacity in the public service? Opposition from Treasury? The trauma of Muldoon’s think big projects? There are many well developed policies that are obvious candidates, including Starmer’s policy on AI in Britain, the Rewiring Aotearoa proposal by Saul Griffith, the large scale roll out of domestic solar in Australia, the promotion of Hitech in numerous countries, the promotion of green energy by the Biden administration etc etc.
Special economic zones should be a no go. They are used to avoid labour regulations, health and safety, union organising, minimum wage etc, all of which I'm sure you are familiar with.Thanks for your good work Craig.
I recall ACT had a fun-sounding pre-election policy for a SEZ in the Hawkes Bay, involving such euphemisms as "Trusting" employers and their (cyclone-battered or fast-tracked immigrant) employees to negotiate their own pay and conditions outside of existing employment legislation....
Craig, your article brings to mind a key question. Why is the current government failed to consider following the example of other countries and adopt an appropriate industrial policy or set of industrial policies to help solve NZ’s deep structural economic problems? (The exception perhaps is the promotion by Shane Jones of mining which hardly counts given it will make such a meagre contribution to innovation, incomes, productivity etc) Is the failure caused by Willis’s mental rigidity? Ignorance of overseas developments? Lack of capacity in the public service? Opposition from Treasury? The trauma of Muldoon’s think big projects? There are many well developed policies that are obvious candidates, including Starmer’s policy on AI in Britain, the Rewiring Aotearoa proposal by Saul Griffith, the large scale roll out of domestic solar in Australia, the promotion of Hitech in numerous countries, the promotion of green energy by the Biden administration etc etc.
Special economic zones should be a no go. They are used to avoid labour regulations, health and safety, union organising, minimum wage etc, all of which I'm sure you are familiar with.Thanks for your good work Craig.
I recall ACT had a fun-sounding pre-election policy for a SEZ in the Hawkes Bay, involving such euphemisms as "Trusting" employers and their (cyclone-battered or fast-tracked immigrant) employees to negotiate their own pay and conditions outside of existing employment legislation....
Thanks Craig, interesting thoughts.
JK Lund writes on the same issue this morning, from the other side of the table:
https://open.substack.com/pub/jlund/p/stepping-stones-to-the-future?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2nzl7