How do you define success?

The Herald reports:

Labour leader Phil Goff said yesterday that KiwiSaver – which workers can opt out of – had been a great success, but had had little impact on overall net savings.

Well then, how can you claim it was a great success? Was that not the entire purpose of KiwiSaver?

This was what many people said at the time – KiwiSaver will not increase overall savings – it will just lead to people moving them into KiwiSaver due to the subsidies.

“We absolutely have to increase our savings as a country. If we want to own our own future we’ve got to have the money to invest,” he told TV3’s The Nation.

“We’re looking to have a universal KiwiSaver programme. Now how we do that, the details of how we do that we’re still working through.”

So because KiwiSaver has failed to increase the overall savings rate of the nation, we will make it compulsory?

Here’s what will over time impact the savings rate – lowering the tax rates on earning and investing, and increasing the tax rate on consumption – the very stuff just done by the Government but opposed by Labour.