Productivity: any hope from Treasury?

Unfortunately this analysis is spot on and highlighted some of our major issues – which you do so cogently on a regular basis

croaking cassandra

In my post yesterday I noted briefly the dismal productivity record in New Zealand in recent years, nicely captured in this chart.

That poor record builds on decades or underperformance, dating back to the 1950s.  In all the time since then, there has never more than a year or two at a time when New Zealand has outperformed other advanced countries, and mostly we’ve achieved less productivity growth than they have.  As a result, we’ve moved from being among the very richest and most productive economies in the world to one where the top-tier of OECD countries have rates of labour productivity about two-thirds higher than those in New Zealand (and countries like Turkey and various former eastern-bloc countries –  where market economies were unknown for decades –  are nipping at our heels).  This table is from a chapter on New Zealand economic performance in a forthcoming book (which I foolishly…

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