How does NZ Labour compare to National on State Size?

Some readers of ours are writing to say that even though Prime Minister Luxon could not be bothered turning up to the single most important day in Parliament these past fifty years to debate the constitutional foundation stones of our country, we shouldn't give him such a hard time. The consensus seems to be that the thought of having Lock-Down Labour, Lost-Their-Moral-Compass Greens, and State-within-a-State Te Pāti Māori back in power next year is so unthinkable that by comparison Mr Luxon looks pretty good. They have a point. The Opposition's Coalition of Chaos hasn't come up with one sensible idea since losing power. Now the only brain in the Opposition, David Parker, can't bear his own colleagues anymore and is leaving Parliament. Having said so, David only uses the left side of his brain. Lets, however, be objective, stop the slanging match, and put numbers on it. I've not seen a more striking difference between left and right in terms of Real Government Consumption per Capita anywhere than the following graph, sourced from the NZ Treasury. We've highlighted the periods during which Labour versus National governed:

This graph makes National look like one of the most fiscally responsible governments in the world. Under PM Helen Clark's Labour, government consumption per capita rose by around 25%. Under PM John Key's National government it rose by 0%. Zero. It was held constant by Finance Minister English. Under Alice in Wonderland PM Ardern's Labour government it rose nearly 30%. Yes, Queen of Hearts Ardern stole the Tarts. By comparison, under current PM Luxon's National Government it has fallen and is forecast to fall more. To those saying this Blog goes too hard on National, isn't this a good news story about the New Coalition?

The US President has united NZ (and World) Leftist Main Stream Media in an Embrace of Free Market Economics

For over a decade I tried, and failed, to persuade our politicians, media folks, and Kiwis more generally how free markets, competition & trade could improve welfare outcomes in this country. More competition in education with Charter Schools; improving health-care through utilizing markets more in the supply of such services; how more competitive markets could lower prices in banking, food supply, power, housing, and construction in NZ. Not to mention making our labour markets more competitive, instead of "jobs for the boys and girls" that is so prevalent here. There was scant interest from even National, let alone Labour. As for Stuff, Radio NZ, The Herald, Newshub, leftist academics, they actively hated the whole idea of free markets, calling it a "neo-liberal conspiracy". How ironic today that those very outlets are united in a wild embrace of the wonders of free markets, of not taxing (or "tariffing") goods & services, not even at 10%, because it totally ruins the integrity of the supply-and-demand pricing mechanism that is best suited to allocate scarce resources.

Yesterday the Editor of the NZ Herald called the entire US cabinet "a [White House] room full of powerful morons". He quotes the wisdom of "Kiwi billionaire & Zuru co-founder Nick Mowbray" and "Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman" who are against tariffs. Yes, the Herald now loves billionaires who dispense advice on the virtues of free markets. Lets not mention how Mowbray has all of his factories not in NZ, but in China, which has one of the highest levels of protectionism in the world. Amusingly, the UK's most left-leaning anti-globalization newspaper, the Guardian, has now discovered the wonders of free markets. It calls Trump's tariffs, the "worst self-inflicted wound by any successful economy". As for the swathe of Kiwis who voted Labour and have their funds in KiwiSaver, they are incandescent with rage about the US President interfering with the functioning of free markets. Why? Because of falls in the value of their KiwiSaver stocks. According to the logic of ardent leftists in NZ's media & around the world this past week, should anyone produce at lower cost, cheaper, and at better quality, not just in your own country, but anywhere on the planet, then in the interests of competitive advantage, and comparative advantage, let it happen. Hayek-style creative destruction rules. Because its good for Consumers. Good for Taxpayers. Good for share prices. Good for the economy. Hang on - that's sounding like the Association for Consumers and Tax Payers, which is how the ACT Party started.

So lets thank President Trump for one thing - for uniting the world in the belief that the way to prosperity is through free markets, without the interference in the price system which happens whenever taxes, or government ownership, come into play. I bet that's not how our twisted Main Stream Media will play things. After embracing the ability of unfettered world trade to better allocate resources and launching nuclear attacks on Trump, next week Big Media in NZ will be back to pushing for capital gains & asset taxes, attacking charter schools, calling privatization evil, attacking the transparent pricing and competition in the health-care reforms folks that like me have promoted for years, and lecturing us how trade unions which undermine competitive labor markets, are all great things. Mafia Godfather Michael Corleone told a corrupt US Senator who called him a sleaze ball in the famous movie, "Senator, we're all part of the same hypocrisy". Thank goodness for the events of the past week. They've been beneficial to the world. The hypocrisy of the left has been exposed.