P J O’Rourke and Bill English’s mojo

Fran O’Sullivan wrote in her column, NZ Herald yesterday, about the P J O’Rourke lecture and her attendance in the company of some right thinking women, including some blogger. She linked her account of O’Rourke’s lecture with Cullen’s retirement, Ruth Richardson’s sppech at the O’Rourke function and Bill English’s forthcoming budget. She enjoined English to find his mojo. A phrase Adam is not very fond of.

In respect of Cullen:-

Cullen had plenty of policy mojo himself.

He constructed vast edifices like the NZ Superannuation Fund and KiwiSaver – both of which were long overdue and finally put Kiwis on the long-term savings path, afeat which had defied his predecessors.

Kiwisaver has design flaws to Adam’s way of thinking, especially in the concept of taxing people to then hand it back as a savings subsidy.

The huge pity of the Cullen years is that he did not kick in personal tax cuts till the eve of the 2008 election. He was so busy saving for the rainy day that he forgot to get out and enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.

He allowed too many of his colleagues to talk him into squandering too much of our precious booty on some barking mad policies, and, he allowed government departments to grow like topsy as they concentrated on outputs to the detriment of outcomes. A situation his successor is having to put into reverse to curb exploding government debt.

As Adam posted earlier today in Blame Michael Not Bill for the budget. Barking mad is a good description.

On Richardson Ms O’Sullivan wrote:-

There was no stopping the author of the “mother of all budgets” as she told of her discomfort at seeing “a politician who talks Adam Smith abroad and John Maynard Keynes at home” . Aka Prime Minister John Key.

Former finance ministers can get away with this. English couldn’t.

He has to somehow convince himself that Key is like a coin. He has two opposing sides – but you know what you are dealing with.

Adam has always thought the ‘mother of all budgets’ was not really deserving of that description. Richardson still seems to fail to recognise that to stay in government you have to take the people with you.

O’Sullivan concludes:-

government is never so simple, which is why English has brought in a bunch of top-level “purchase advisers” to help him and his ministers address the Government’s spending line.

What I think English will do in his upcoming Budget is to marry Cullen’s caution with Richardson’s certitude and O’Rourke’s fiscal contortions.

Expect plenty of painstaking rhetoric setting out New Zealand’s fiscal position (Cullen).

Expect confidence that the Government’s micro-reforms will aid economic recovery (Richardson). And a shuffling of the Government’s books to move some pesky liabilities “off balance sheet” (O’Rourke).

Let us see what happens.

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