Roger Partridge: What Did New Zealand Do With Its Trillion Dollars?

A familiar lament has resurfaced in recent weeks: that Robert Muldoon’s decision to cancel Norm Kirk’s 1975 compulsory superannuation scheme cost New Zealand a trillion-dollar nest egg. The Government’s weekend signal of higher KiwiSaver contributions has given that argument new life, encouraging some to reach again for the comparison. New Zealand, we are told, might otherwise be an “Antipodean Tiger.”