Want to know why productivity is low in NZ? Go read the report into "the circumstances that resulted in the loss of HMNZS MANAWANUI off Upolu, Samoa, on 6 October 2024". It is an allegory for why our economy is not performing better. My latest view is we shouldn't be blaming our economic institutions (which are the rules, or structures, that we work within and which constrain our behaviors). Instead the reason is that a large bunch of the people in charge are nothing short of useless. How come?
The Court of Inquiry into the Manawanui's sinking explains. Nothing was defective with that $100 million ship - nothing at all. So why did it go on the rocks? In the words of the Military Court's President, abominable "training & experience .. planning, orders, instructions, procedures .. operational release, supervision, violations, haste, leadership, distraction & interruption & hollowness". All human error.
You can have the best ship, designed by the best engineers, but get a group of bad leaders in charge, and they will drive it on the rocks. NZ has an abundance of natural resources. Most of our institutions compare favorably to other nations in terms of quality. Our courts work pretty well, our democracy has been quite well designed, our Central Bank was set up well, most regulations aren't too bad, infrastructure is actually pretty good when compared to most. Our systems & rules are on the whole decent. But you can have the best equipment in the world, but put fools in charge, and it will be wrecked.
You can have the best ship, designed by the best engineers, but get a group of bad leaders in charge, and they will drive it on the rocks. NZ has an abundance of natural resources. Most of our institutions compare favorably to other nations in terms of quality. Our courts work pretty well, our democracy has been quite well designed, our Central Bank was set up well, most regulations aren't too bad, infrastructure is actually pretty good when compared to most. Our systems & rules are on the whole decent. But you can have the best equipment in the world, but put fools in charge, and it will be wrecked.
No NZ Minister has specific knowledge of their portfolio. The Education one never worked in education; Defense never worked in defense; Justice Minister no background in law; Health Minister no background in health. The Finance Minister is an English debater & never owned a business. That's not the point. The Heads of Departments they preside over were meant to be the experts to advise. But they're not. Most have little specific knowledge. Same in our big public firms. Most are run by lawyers, accountants and marketers with no knowledge of the core business. The sinking of the Manawanui is an allegory to the story of low productivity in NZ. Great ship. Shambolic commanders and leaders. Fire our Useless Human Resources Departments.
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.
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.
11 comments:
New governments can't change the direction of the ship without changing the personnel. Unfortunately, the present government hasn't done this therefore we see much the same policies being enacted. In the US new governments install their own personnel immediately. This is what their voters voted for.
The net result of employment should be the same. Old employees out, new employees in. The only change should be the change of direction.
It seems to me that apart from not having expertise, some of the new ministers are just as woke and actually pretty timid in confronting issues. There are always a few exceptions like Simeon Brown.
Amen to sacking HR. People who, in most companies I have experienced, contribute nothing to the money-making side of the company that employs them, yet when times are tough, they push for keeping their jobs and downsizing the real workforce
I've read and watched the reporting on the report.
Not one mention of who promoted the hapless captain, why the hapless captain was promoted, the qualifications and experience of other officers surpassed by the hapless captain, and what role the Clark Ardern axis of evil played in the $140 million dei disaster.
A problem cannot be solved if the true cause of the problem is not understood.
>"The Heads of Departments they preside over were meant to be the experts to advise. But they're not. Most have little specific knowledge."
They can't have been selected on the basis of merit, then. Probably a bunch of race/sex DEI political appointees. No wonder it's a shambles.
Let’s start with this. The world economy and financial system is not run by Presidents, Kings, Queens, Dictators or Monarchs. The entire Babylon System is run by central banks who have an ultimate goal… and that is to become the buyers and lenders of last resort. To extort control from all of us and thereby make themselves stronger.
What we are seeing here is a massive push, as a collective effort, to thrust the world into some kind of deep recession/depression. Thrusting the economy into a dramatic, engineered, massive slowdown will allow central banks to cut rates dramatically, possible even negative.
Rate cuts will allow central banks to vastly inflate itself, which is the goal of every central bank, and we the people lose.
Trump is working with the Fed, directly, to make certain that this is a reality. His calls for a weaker dollar, and demands for lower rates plays right into the ultimate goal of the Fed and all “privately owned” central banks.
Completely agree with Janine’s comment - we can only dream of having a govt bold enough to actually implement real change.
Instead, we get spineless mouthpieces who tinker round the edges/shift the deck chairs on what feels very much like a sinking ship.
We have a large business network and I have yet to see any evidence of any tangible improvement. The govt can post about some stats improving, yet so many businesses are still reporting substantial drops in revenue compared to pre Covid levels.
The pot holes and water leaks seemed to have improved a little, so I guess that’s something….since we’re having to set the bar so low.
A good book I once read "Bullshit Jobs" covers this very well.
I think DOGE could form the starter for the change also the "rent seekers" are designing the system.
Think of Lawyers they are an important resource but for a board they should occupy the advisory location not in the board but as brief when needed.
I was told that not being a Lawyer on a NZ board is risky.
The problem is a mistake that a lawyer could avert are probably far less important than a mistake a Lawyer/accountant filled board make by poor commercial decisions.
Should they go to jail for destroying peoples lives with poverty.
And the "hapless" captain is/was one a of group of three women captains... DEI... clearly not working. All three clearly lesbian... Shows that appointing on other than topmost skill available is costly..... Send the bill to Ardern.
Oh.... good insight. HR has grown into its OWN INDUSTRY..... largely hot air
My latest tangle with young lawyers shows they are just there to protract, bulls**t and charge fees. Tried to play moi.... and I dropped them and took the court case myself. Seniors can do that without court fees.
You ask why productivity is low in nz. Simple. Incompetence. The woke tosspots would rather have DEI than competence.
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