Free market, not freebies, key to New Zealand’s wellbeing

According to Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s new prime minister, capitalism has failed New Zealand. She doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about. Let’s go back some years to 1991, an important year in New Zealand’s history. The country was in the doldrums, but Ardern won’t remember because she was just 11 years old. The unemployment rate was 11%, one of the worst in the developed world. Today it is 4.7%. Per capita income was $23,782 in constant 2010 dollars, a level at which it had been lounging for a full decade without significant change. Now it is $36,842, an improvement of 55%. In 1991, its workforce participation rate was 64%. Today it is above 70%. In 1991 government debt was about 55% of GDP. Today it is 25%. What brought about these hugely beneficial changes? In about 1991, the New Zealand government started undertaking drastic economic reforms towards becoming a free market. Today it is the third-freest market in the world, according to the Economic Freedom of the World ...