Hooton warns of Ministers deciding on which industries should be “saved

Matthew Hooton writes:

There are early signs of megalomania in the Government’s economic response to Covid-19. It needs to be nipped in the bud.

In recent days, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson have signalled that they don’t see their role as limited to providing a general economic framework and guaranteed family-income system from which the post-Covid economy will evolve. Instead, it seems they want to personally pick which industries are doomed and which are set to thrive. …

We need to speak very plainly about this: these three career politicians have absolutely no idea what sectors of the economy are doomed, which have a future, and whether any particular commercial proposal makes sense. Add Economic Development Phil Twyford to the mix, and it risks the appearance of a circus run by clowns.

Winston thinks that we should and can compete with pharmaceutical giants and manufacture our own medicines. Bet you he won’t invest a cent of his own money in his ideas.

Free-market capitalism works not because it is individualistic — although it is — but because it collectivises everyone’s best guesses and analysis. In contrast, collectivist economic systems reply on the brilliance of individuals or, worse, committees. Again, we should speak plainly: central planners are not just often wrong, but invariably wrong, just like most of us.

Excellent analysis.