Hooton on shrinking the economy!

Matthew Hooton writes:

Yesterday’s shock 0.3 per cent decline in GDP in just the September quarter makes New Zealand the worst-performing economy in the developed world.

Even then, the result was inflated by record net migration, despite yet another massive brain-drain.

Per person, GDP fell an extraordinary 0.9 per cent in just three months.

On an annual basis, GDP fell 0.6 per cent. That compares with our main trading partners all growing respectably over the same period: Australia up 2.2 per cent; the US up 3.0 per cent; and China up 4.9 per cent. …

It’s too easy to blame the Ardern-Hipkins Government alone for yesterday’s calamity.

Any remaining vestige of integrity it had was shattered by Wednesday’s Auditor-General’s report on its $12 billion pre-Covid New Zealand Upgrade Programme and the $3b Covid-era Shovel-Ready Programme.

So much money wasted which could have done so much good, if spent well.