Australian vs NZ economy

Fran O’Sullivan writes:

English’s prowess as Finance Minister is acclaimed internationally; if not at home. There’s not many countries in the OECD that sport strong economic growth.

And in Australia, the Key Government’s philosophy of “incremental radicalism” is being talked up as a model that the Turnbull Government should adopt.

New Zealand’s annual growth rate of 3.6 per cent is more than double the OECD rate of 1.6 per cent and compares with 3.3 per cent in Australia, 2.2 per cent in the United Kingdom, 1.2 per cent in the United States and 0.8 per cent in Japan; it is in fact third highest growth rate in the OECD. And something to skite about when it comes to transtasman rivalry. Except English is unlikely to do that.

Of course the Government only has a small role in the economic performance of a country 9 (it is individual businesses that drive the economy) but they do have a role.

It is interesting to compare NZ and Australia on some key stats:

• Economic Growth: 3.6% (NZ) vs 3.3%
• Unemployment 5.1% vs 5.7%
• Inflation 0.2% vs 1.0%
• Surplus: $1.8b surplus vs $40 billion deficit

Of course Australia has a larger economy but even taking that into account they have a deficit problem, with surpluses being at least four to five years off.