Nice summary of NZ’s reforms

A long but good read by Nick Kerr on the NZ economic reforms and the part his Dad played in them. A reminder of the past:

• To protect dairy farmers, for a period of time you needed a prescription from your doctor if you wanted margarine.
• To protect the government monopoly on rail, trucks were banned from carrying loads more than 30 miles – that’s from here to Tacoma.
• Bars couldn’t open past 6pm, resulting in a culture of binge drinking.
• If you think Bernie Sanders’s policy of free college tuition is crazy, he’s got nothing on New Zealand. College wasn’t just free; the Government paid all students who attended university – as a result it became a lifestyle choice for many.
• During the oil crisis in the 1970s, the government didn’t bother with price controls, it simply banned people from driving their own cars, with a policy known as ‘carless days’.

This is what some call the good old days!