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Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

marginalrevolution.com

101–110 of 169 posts

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#101
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and those who realize they have enough ignore the rich If you only could. The problem is that in the US a great portion of taxes are locally raised and spent, and the way of dealing with poverty is to price the poor out of areas where they aren't wanted. To get access to halfway decent schools you need to move to the suburbs, and what's available there in housing is hugely outsized. You cannot save on heating, coolin…

"Locally raised and spent" If only. That would be a great form of funding community governance. Where local communities help themselves up, instead of practically begging for scraps from a wealthy government that really doesn't care until it gets them votes. Change has to come from within. And it won't come so long as people think like you. i.e. "Change can come when funding comes from better places" Which completely…

Local funding means wealthy neighborhoods are lavished with infrastructure, and can provide top of the line schooling and opportunities for their precious offspring.

Meanwhile any child unlucky enough to grow up poor is greated with decay and dysfunction at every turn, is never given the education nor the opportunities to succeed, or have interests much above basic survival. Upward mobility is basically zero. Welcome to feudal America.

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#102
post #77
post #52

Living in NZ is, by and large, a lifestyle choice for smart, capable New Zealanders. It's trivial to work in Australia [1], reasonably easy [2] to work in the UK, and NZers have a good enough reputation to go to any other majority English-speaking country with little trouble. Because the country is so small - and generally without a class system - it's possible, on a relatively small income, to have everything you mi…

That sounds amazing. Are boats and beach houses that much cheaper in NZ? In the US, you have to be quite wealthy, or quite an avid sailor, to own anything more substantial than a dinghy. Houses anywhere near a semi-desirable beach community cost >$1M. Even successful people in their 30s don't often buy second homes in that price range.

It's not a beach house, it's a bach, which is usually just a wooden shed in a nice spot.

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#103
post #77
post #52

Living in NZ is, by and large, a lifestyle choice for smart, capable New Zealanders. It's trivial to work in Australia [1], reasonably easy [2] to work in the UK, and NZers have a good enough reputation to go to any other majority English-speaking country with little trouble. Because the country is so small - and generally without a class system - it's possible, on a relatively small income, to have everything you mi…

That sounds amazing. Are boats and beach houses that much cheaper in NZ? In the US, you have to be quite wealthy, or quite an avid sailor, to own anything more substantial than a dinghy. Houses anywhere near a semi-desirable beach community cost >$1M. Even successful people in their 30s don't often buy second homes in that price range.

Way way less than that. I'm in this town on holiday currently. Check the prices!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/CategoryAttributeSearchResul...

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#104

Given its comparative geographical isolation, it makes sense for NZ to invest in it's digital economy. NZ has its own competitive advantages: (1) An educated population; (2) An English-speaking population (yes, this is an advantage. Regardless of the rise of the East, English is still the international language of business.) But, clearly, it has certain disadvantages. Geographical isolation is one of those. It is dif…

When you say that China is geographically close to NZ, do you mean that it's closer to NZ than other big players like the US and Europe? I ask because I got confused due to the order you listed the countries and thought you were saying that China was closer to NZ than others, and it's not really. Even considering NZ's distance, China isn't too much closer than the US. Wellington to Los Angeles is almost exactly the same distance as Wellington to Beijing, for example.

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#105
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good friend of mine studied abroad in Australia, and then met and moved in with a Kiwi and then lived in New Zealand with him for a while. He has now moved to the US with her. Her brother is a good friend of mine, and is incredibly irritated with his lack of drive and motivation. I've hiked with the guy, and I don't think he's lazy at all. He just doesn't value money, and his view on life is that he's going to teac…

Fuck your family. Make money for your own reasons, or don't. It has to come from you or you'll never feel successful.

example of why I wouldn't want to live in the US

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of the nordic countries. Edit: Huh? Why the down vote?

Because you are so off-base The point of the post is that NZL has 20% below OECD average GDP per capita, when it would be predicted for them to be 20% above. The key figure is Figure 3 from http://www.productivity.govt.nz/sites/default/files/internat... In that, you can see NZL at the far bottom right. On the other hand, Norway, Sweden, and Finland are all above the line, meaning they have higher GDP per capita than…

On the other hand, Norway, Sweden, and Finland are all above the line, meaning they have higher GDP per capita than predicted. The only nordic country below the line is Denmark, and they are barely below the line.

Oil revenues make such comparisons tricky at best. You would need to consider the hypothetical case of a New Zealand with lots of oil to sell, or a Norway without any.

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Nobody pressures you to achieve a certain level of material success." I live here in New Zealand and thats quiet true. There are 3 billionaires in NZ and almost no one knows who they are. The only guy that is living a noticeable extravagant lifestyle is Kimdotcom, but that guy's german.

Didn't James Cameron build himself a luxurious eco ranch out in wine country?

he's not a kiwi though

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#108

Singapore is also a tiny island with a limited population that has to import most everything. Over 40 years they've somehow created a culture of hard-working over-achievers and have one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world (they're currently #3). Being dependent on imported goods doesn't seem to be much of a problem here, so perhaps the secret lies in their carefully planned cultural shift. (But if it were me,…

A non-insubstantial amount of Singapore's GDP comes from tax evasion and money laundering from corrupt businesses and individuals.[1] Most corrupt Asian wealth is stored or laundered through Singapore. From Ferdinand Marcos[a], Robert Mugabe[b], Suharto's closest advisors[c], the Chinese princelings[d], Burma's military junta[e], Russia's oligarchs[f] etc etc.

This is in addition to their 'legal' tax avoidance-derived GDP. In 2012, Apple did $14 Billion in revenue in Singapore, which was more than they had in the rest of Asia combined, yet they didn't have a single store or manufacturing center in the city-state.[2] Microsoft actually beat Apple to setup a Singapore-based affiliate for the same purpose.

I'm curious to see how they fare in a decade after these sources of 'income' are greatly restricted in the global crackdown.[3]

One of these days, I'm going to devote a few hours to calculating how much of Singapore's GDP / Tax base only exists due to their status as a tax haven.

[1] - http://www.icij.org/search/node/singapore

[a] - http://globalnation.inquirer.net/95743/pnb-gets-marcos-loot-...

[b] - http://www.icij.org/offshore/mugabe-crony-among-thai-names-s...

[c] - http://www.icij.org/offshore/billionaires-among-thousands-in...

[d] - http://international.sueddeutsche.de/post/74093618828/chinas...

[e] - http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/singapore-a-friend-indee...

[f] - http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/036282b4-be65-11de-b4ab-00144...

[2] - http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/24/us-singapore-tax-i...

[3] - http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-singapore-bank...

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#109
post #47
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Circumventing the globe while traveling is a pretty impressive feat, unless you're an astronaut.

Well, I went around the globe rather than through it.

He's suggesting you meant circumnavigated, not circumvented.

Re: Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fuck your family. Make money for your own reasons, or don't. It has to come from you or you'll never feel successful.

If your family invested tremendous amount to raise you and send you to a good school, is it bad that they want you to be successful[0]? [0] I think part of the issue is that in U.S. success is judged by how much money you have.

> If your family invested tremendous amount to raise you and send you to a good school, is it bad that they want you to be successful?

I have trouble here with the word "invested". There's nothing wrong with giving your children a good education, and there's nothing wrong with wanting them to be successful for themselves and on their own terms. But an "investment" is exactly the wrong way to look at it. An "investment" is something people expect a return on. Having your child do well in life is not a return to you on your "investment".

Look again at what JPKab wrote:

>> I envy [the lack of pressure in NZ]. I have tremendous pressure from my extended family to make money, so I do.

Someone who feels this way is not living their own life.

I work hard to make money and be successful too. But I don't do it because someone else wants me to. I do it because I want to, and I do it the way I want to do it. So I don't envy the bucolic New Zealand lifestyle. It's right for some people, I'm sure, but it would bore me to tears in a matter of days. (I'm not saying I couldn't live in NZ, but I would still want to do the kind of work I'm doing.)

I used strong language quite intentionally. JPKab needs to figure out what he/she really wants to do in life, and that's going to require putting an emotional wall up to block out all that pressure. It won't be easy, but the reward will be an authentic life.

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