Yes, we're pretty much top of the pops. Ever since Jacinda Ardern & Chris Hipkins declared we beat the world at fighting Covid and enjoyed the world's best response, the Comms & Marketing teams at our central bank, universities, airports and more have become fully aware of their powers to tell their own version of the truth. The leadership team of Te Pūtea Matua (Reserve Bank of NZ) is busy delivering on being ‘Great Team, Best Central Bank', according to itself. Forget the US Federal Reserve - what does it know? Not to be outdone, Otago University, although pretty much these days a medical school and not a lot else, has declared itself our best university, "ranked in the top 1% in the world", right up there with Harvard. As for Auckland Airport, where I nearly had a nervous breakdown last week in an attempt to walk several kilometers through a maze to find a taxi which would have left most elderly customers collapsed on the streets, my experience must have been mistaken. It is actually one of the leading airports on the planet, as verified by its own management team. Forget Singapore. Auckland Airport's Board is busy making it far better than that dump, namely "the world’s most outstanding and welcoming airport". So don't despair and don't listen to those putting us down. Ardern's legacy has been that to be the best, the secret is to keep repeating to yourself, your customers and your voters that you are best. Just look at what it did for her. It took her to Harvard where she got an honorary degree and it took her Finance Minister, Grant Robertson, to Vice Chancellor of the Harvard of the South Pacific (Otago) as reward for running the world's best economy.
rmacculloch