What do the partners in the City law firms earn in NZ? Reputedly incomes way over a million dollars a year. A bunch of them took the wage subsidy, even though business boomed for many of their firms during the lock-downs as they were called upon to sort out disputes, like who should pay the rent on commercial buildings. They never disclosed their incomes, since partnerships don't have to disclose their accounts publicly. They hid behind a wall of silence. Most only returned the subsidy after Sir Roger Douglas and myself called them out in the Media. You can read the story here. Many repaid the day after we put them on the front page news - not before.
Lawyers dominate our boardrooms, even though most have no industry specific knowledge - whether its the Big Banks, Kiwi Rail, or Fletchers. You name a monopoly in NZ and you will likely find the boardroom stacked with lawyers. Its a proper old boys & old girls club. Chapman Tripp threatened Auckland University with defamation unless it took down an article written by a colleague of mine about Foodstuff's monopoly powers. Lawyers, more than any other group, are putting up the cost of living in NZ.
Now the Kings Counsels have written a letter saying that much of the Constitution of this country is only entitled to be written by judges - no-one else is allowed to tell us what are the "principles" behind the Treaty - even though most Kiwis don't believe such principles even exist. Forget Māori having a say in the matter. Forget Parliament. Let alone plumbers, shop-keepers, doctors, nurses, builders, teachers, or engineers. None of us count. Why has the letter that Kings Counsels wrote to the PM, quoted in Parliament by MP Willie Jackson, gone & wrecked the Kiwi economy? Because it has thrown into chaos the security & clarity of our property rights, and as this year's Economics Nobel Prize reminded us, it is that security & clarity that determines long run productivity growth. My advice to investors, domestic or foreign, is to not invest in NZ. Why? Since a bunch of self-interested lawyers and their judge mates now run the show in this country. They're playing those who identify as Māori off against those identifying as non-Māori, all for their fee income. Wait until the big law firms bleed the Iwi Trusts dry, since those firms thrive on disputes & now have whole departments set up to "advise" the Trusts. It is judges who are writing the legal principles which now govern the economic incentives faced by all of us - that affect the opportunities of our children. How hard to work as a student is now dictated by NZ's legal profession - since university places and jobs have come to be decided on how much applicants align with the chosen constitutional "principles" our judges have decided upon.
New Zealand's legal profession has got too big for its boots. The Kings Counsels who wrote to PM Luxon should disclose their incomes, since they have entered the political arena, and in that arena you must disclose your finances so people can work out your conflicts of interest. What did the Counsels earn during Covid, when the rest of the country suffered? How much have they siphoned off the Māori economy as fee income? Go on, tell us. Of course you wont. You will just go and slink back into the darkness & leave none of us not knowing where you are coming from.
Now the Kings Counsels have written a letter saying that much of the Constitution of this country is only entitled to be written by judges - no-one else is allowed to tell us what are the "principles" behind the Treaty - even though most Kiwis don't believe such principles even exist. Forget Māori having a say in the matter. Forget Parliament. Let alone plumbers, shop-keepers, doctors, nurses, builders, teachers, or engineers. None of us count. Why has the letter that Kings Counsels wrote to the PM, quoted in Parliament by MP Willie Jackson, gone & wrecked the Kiwi economy? Because it has thrown into chaos the security & clarity of our property rights, and as this year's Economics Nobel Prize reminded us, it is that security & clarity that determines long run productivity growth. My advice to investors, domestic or foreign, is to not invest in NZ. Why? Since a bunch of self-interested lawyers and their judge mates now run the show in this country. They're playing those who identify as Māori off against those identifying as non-Māori, all for their fee income. Wait until the big law firms bleed the Iwi Trusts dry, since those firms thrive on disputes & now have whole departments set up to "advise" the Trusts. It is judges who are writing the legal principles which now govern the economic incentives faced by all of us - that affect the opportunities of our children. How hard to work as a student is now dictated by NZ's legal profession - since university places and jobs have come to be decided on how much applicants align with the chosen constitutional "principles" our judges have decided upon.
New Zealand's legal profession has got too big for its boots. The Kings Counsels who wrote to PM Luxon should disclose their incomes, since they have entered the political arena, and in that arena you must disclose your finances so people can work out your conflicts of interest. What did the Counsels earn during Covid, when the rest of the country suffered? How much have they siphoned off the Māori economy as fee income? Go on, tell us. Of course you wont. You will just go and slink back into the darkness & leave none of us not knowing where you are coming from.
Professor Robert MacCulloch holds the Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at Auckland University. He has previously worked at the Reserve Bank, Oxford University, and the London School of Economics. He runs the blog Down to Earth Kiwi from where this article was sourced.
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