How can Professor Blakely, who is co-author of NZ's Royal Commission Report into Covid, write a report critiquing our government's approach to Covid when he was the intellectual architect of that approach? He co-authored the British Medical Journal article with Professor Michael Baker called, "Elimination could be the optimal response strategy for covid-19". That paper falsely claimed, "A goal of eliminating community transmission of the pandemic virus causing covid-19 is achievable and sustainable". It was not sustainable. That paper asserted elimination "will be facilitated by the introduction of effective vaccines". Bollocks.
Funny that my father, who has been three times vaccinated, is in bed today with Covid. I must be imagining it. But don't let facts get in the way of a good narrative. Professor Baker & Blakely asserted in their paper, "One of the perceived barriers to applying .. elimination .. is the belief that this might sacrifice the economy .. Our preliminary analysis suggests the opposite is true .. the effect on GDP .. was more favorable for countries with elimination goals than for those with suppression goals". God oh dear. Seems Blakely, who lives in Australia, has never heard about how the bottom has fallen out of NZ's economy. The paper by Baker and Blakely was used by Finance Minister Robertson to support the view that good health outcomes & good economic outcomes went hand-in-hand during the pandemic. "We're protecting lives & livelihoods", he said. This Blog argued at the time it was a load of garbage. And the government responded by setting their media attack dogs onto us.
At the very start of the Royal Report it says, "A generous economic response cushioned people from the worst of the pandemic’s immediate impacts and – initially at least – Aoteaora New Zealand’s social and economic outcomes were better than most other OECD countries". How slimy of the authors to slip in the word "initially". On it goes, spewing a load of pompous, intellectually-pretentious twaddle that appears to have been written by someone who's never studied economics, at least properly. It says, “NZ's [economy] is doing pretty well in a global context if you’re just talking about levels of credit ratings.” What the hell does that mean? The Royal Commission never reports how NZ is near the bottom of the 190 countries surveyed by the IMF in terms of how fast GDP is growing. There are only around 10 countries below us, most of which are in civil war, like Yemen and Sudan. But hey, Professors Baker and Blakely were all part of that "podium of truth" back in in 2020 and 2021, and now with this report, seems they're still in the "podium of truth" game. Our economy is doing fine, apparently. Just focus on those credit ratings. I'm sure Kiwis are pleased to hear the government isn't bankrupting, when they are. We're thrilled to hear our government has a higher credit rating than us, the average Joe. But hey, I do recommend you read the Royal Report. Stay away from nonsense on the web-o-sphere and social media, like this Blog. For your Single Source of Truth on the Economic Impacts of Covid-19, written by those who were the Single Source of Truth during the pandemic, please do and go read the Royal Report. Its a great read for anyone who wants to be brainwashed.
At the very start of the Royal Report it says, "A generous economic response cushioned people from the worst of the pandemic’s immediate impacts and – initially at least – Aoteaora New Zealand’s social and economic outcomes were better than most other OECD countries". How slimy of the authors to slip in the word "initially". On it goes, spewing a load of pompous, intellectually-pretentious twaddle that appears to have been written by someone who's never studied economics, at least properly. It says, “NZ's [economy] is doing pretty well in a global context if you’re just talking about levels of credit ratings.” What the hell does that mean? The Royal Commission never reports how NZ is near the bottom of the 190 countries surveyed by the IMF in terms of how fast GDP is growing. There are only around 10 countries below us, most of which are in civil war, like Yemen and Sudan. But hey, Professors Baker and Blakely were all part of that "podium of truth" back in in 2020 and 2021, and now with this report, seems they're still in the "podium of truth" game. Our economy is doing fine, apparently. Just focus on those credit ratings. I'm sure Kiwis are pleased to hear the government isn't bankrupting, when they are. We're thrilled to hear our government has a higher credit rating than us, the average Joe. But hey, I do recommend you read the Royal Report. Stay away from nonsense on the web-o-sphere and social media, like this Blog. For your Single Source of Truth on the Economic Impacts of Covid-19, written by those who were the Single Source of Truth during the pandemic, please do and go read the Royal Report. Its a great read for anyone who wants to be brainwashed.
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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