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Why isn’t New Zealand richer and more productive?

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

#31

Post by ThomPete »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #13

It's refreshing to click on a headline in the form of a question and have the article explain why it's the right question to be asking, and not just following Betteridge's Law. I lived in New Zealand for about 5 or 6 years, and I saw huge numbers of people just living on welfare because they could - that's probably got a lot to do with low GDP. Normally, I would see that as a bad thing, but I think New Zealand's rela…

Reminds me of the nordic countries.

Edit: Huh? Why the down vote?

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

#32

Post by jamesfranco »

JPKab wrote: post #24
TallGuyShort wrote: post #13

It's refreshing to click on a headline in the form of a question and have the article explain why it's the right question to be asking, and not just following Betteridge's Law. I lived in New Zealand for about 5 or 6 years, and I saw huge numbers of people just living on welfare because they could - that's probably got a lot to do with low GDP. Normally, I would see that as a bad thing, but I think New Zealand's rela…

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…

"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.

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

#33

Post by cylinder »

JPKab wrote: post #24
TallGuyShort wrote: post #13

It's refreshing to click on a headline in the form of a question and have the article explain why it's the right question to be asking, and not just following Betteridge's Law. I lived in New Zealand for about 5 or 6 years, and I saw huge numbers of people just living on welfare because they could - that's probably got a lot to do with low GDP. Normally, I would see that as a bad thing, but I think New Zealand's rela…

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…

If someone is a bit more ambitious but still wants a mix of the aforementioned lifestyle I would recommend Australia. Much bigger population and resources and better opportunities than NZ with a good safety net that doesn't cost the government much and doesn't suffer rampant abuse. I wouldn't recommend NZ for an American, except for perhaps retirement; it would just be too tough, the isolation and small pop. would be crushing for someone used to living in a giant country of 330M consumers.

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

#34

Post by silvestrov »

antipodean wrote: post #19

Early-rising New Zealander here (it's 5am folks!). Bullet points for starters: 1. We are genuinely relaxed people, life is good, weather not too hot or too cold, food easy to get or grow, housing not horribly expensive, healthcare obtainable for all, education as close to free as we can make it and an overall low crime and corruption rate. So the majority of us go to sleep at night, overall, not worried about losing…

Item 1 + 2 are true for Scandinavia too (except weather).

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

#35

Post by cylinder »

ekpyrotic wrote: post #14

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…

Xero is a NZ startup success story but they have moved their main offices to Australia and the US. Tiny population and geographic and time-zone isolation are big obstacles for anyone trying to do things on a global scale.

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

#36

Post by grecy »

atmosx wrote: post #22
TallGuyShort wrote: post #13

It's refreshing to click on a headline in the form of a question and have the article explain why it's the right question to be asking, and not just following Betteridge's Law. I lived in New Zealand for about 5 or 6 years, and I saw huge numbers of people just living on welfare because they could - that's probably got a lot to do with low GDP. Normally, I would see that as a bad thing, but I think New Zealand's rela…

So what you're saying basically is that although the avg income is low, the quality of life is generally (way?) higher than the OECD?

I would say yes, from my experience.

I genuinely think it's time for an overhaul of how we rate standard of living. Consumption is not a good measure, and it's too closely tied to "more money means better"

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

#37

Post by monochr »

atmosx wrote: post #22
TallGuyShort wrote: post #13

It's refreshing to click on a headline in the form of a question and have the article explain why it's the right question to be asking, and not just following Betteridge's Law. I lived in New Zealand for about 5 or 6 years, and I saw huge numbers of people just living on welfare because they could - that's probably got a lot to do with low GDP. Normally, I would see that as a bad thing, but I think New Zealand's rela…

So what you're saying basically is that although the avg income is low, the quality of life is generally (way?) higher than the OECD?

Not necessarily higher but at least equal to the best. According to its HDI[1] New Zealand is ranked 6th, bellow the USA but above Japan, Switzerland and South Korea.

This is similar to the way that European countries seem to lose out to the US in wages yet when you take into account the time spend on holidays and lack of overtime you see that the gap essentially disappears.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

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

#38

Post by monochr »

cylinder wrote: post #35
ekpyrotic wrote: post #14

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…

Xero is a NZ startup success story but they have moved their main offices to Australia and the US. Tiny population and geographic and time-zone isolation are big obstacles for anyone trying to do things on a global scale.

As someone in Australia our decrepit internet makes it impossible to do anything resembling a startup. I can't imagine New Zealand would be so bad that they need to move here.

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

#39

Post by thathonkey »

grecy wrote: post #30
cryoshon wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also the related phenomenon that in the US, the rich are in the spotlight of society and the poor are decidedly disliked.

...and those who realize they have enough ignore the rich and are out living how they want to be (camping, hiking, taking photos, etc.)

I think what you're describing is generally just known as "the middle class"

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

#40

Post by thathonkey »

Goosey wrote: post #28
TallGuyShort wrote: post #13

It's refreshing to click on a headline in the form of a question and have the article explain why it's the right question to be asking, and not just following Betteridge's Law. I lived in New Zealand for about 5 or 6 years, and I saw huge numbers of people just living on welfare because they could - that's probably got a lot to do with low GDP. Normally, I would see that as a bad thing, but I think New Zealand's rela…

I had not heard of Betteridge's Law, so I had to look it up [0]. Given I only just became aware of it due to your comment (thank you, by the way: good comment) it feels strange to be pedantic about it, but the question in the headline is not a yes/no question and therefore seems immune to Betteridge's Law. :) [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines

I went through the same exercise and came to the conclusion that the commenter just name-dropped Betteridge to sound smart. (At least that is what I would have done.)
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