Rogernomics

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The term rogernomics describes the policies of former New Zealand finance minister Roger Douglas of the Labor Party . It was based on the term Reaganomics , which goes back to the US President Ronald Reagan .

Trigger of the reforms

As an export-dependent nation with a comparatively small domestic market, New Zealand is extremely susceptible to fluctuations in world trade. The difficult global political situation in the 1970s hit the economy hard. Since the entry of Great Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 New Zealand suffered for the first time from rising unemployment, one had to orientate oneself to new foreign trade partners and develop new markets. As a result of Great Britain's accession, New Zealand's exports to the EEC were limited, and foreign demand collapsed as a result of the first oil crisis , and important raw material imports became more expensive. In addition to the emerging economic problems, the state budget was burdened by high subsidies for agricultural products. Together with the fixed exchange rate of the New Zealand dollar, these economic problems caused the threat of New Zealand bankruptcy.

Goals & Consequences

The globalization of world trade presented New Zealand with new challenges. As a future-oriented measure, the hope was set in modernizing the New Zealand economy or the state on the basis of a largely free market economy . The withdrawal of the state from economic control towards a more liberal system and the curtailment of the welfare state should result in large savings and restore New Zealand's economic competitiveness. As a result, the Labor government cut taxes, privatized state-owned enterprises (such as the New Zealand Post Office , a state-owned postal company in 1987 ), cut public spending in the social sector and cut subsidies and tariffs.

literature

  • Jane Kelsey: Rolling back the state: privatization of power in Aotearoa / New Zealand . Bridget Williams Books, Wellington 1993, ISBN 0-908912-42-0 (English).

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