May 11, 2014 9:00am by David Farrar

Exports, jobs and wages

New Zealand’s exports hit $50 billion for the first time ever, Finance Minister Bill English revealed in Queenstown today. …

In the hard data department, 84,000 new jobs were created last year. Government spending had also lost a chunk of its importance to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, meaning private sector earning was on the rise.

”In 2008 government spending was 35 per cent of our GDP,” he said.

”Now that has dropped to 30 per cent, and we want that to be dropping to 26 per cent and 25 per cent in the next six and seven years.”

It would be great to get spending to 25% of GDP. There is a wealth of data showing that economies grow faster if the Government isn’t spending and taxing too high a proportion of the economy.

In the prediction department English weighed in with two sure to prick up voters’ ears: firstly that the average income would rise by $7,500 to $62,000 in the next four years, and that economic growth would increase by 10 per cent in the next three years.

Both sound good.

”In 2008 there were 4,300 people under 20 on a single parent benefit, and figures show each one of those people usually remains on a benefit for 20 years, which equates to about $350,000.

“On the left they might say ‘it’s not your fault’ and give them another $20 per week just to show they care. Today there are 2,800 sole parents under 20 on a benefit. We are dealing with those young people on a case by case basis, and want to say it is not a hopeless situation if you are a parent at 17 – but we want people to have aspirations and be a government that is there to help them achieve.”

That figure that being on a sole parent benefit at under 20 normally means you stay on it for 20 years is shocking. I think the welfare work being done is the most important.