“I would argue that the title is somewhat misleading. The New Zealand approach is a balanced economic one. The revenue from taxation is moved from personal and corporate earnings to consumption. It is not revenue foregone. Expenditure on productivity is rewarded. The other budget measures include restrictions on revenue loss through tax concessions - often overlooked as an issue, and a very big hole in Australian finances. There are fewer subsidies for inefficient or end of life businesses. In contrast, when tax cuts are the only measure applied, in an environment where the tax rate is not excessive, the empirical evidence suggests economic decline is the expected outcome.”

And:

“All good, as they say, though NZ Banking was not a basket case after the 2008 world events.”

David Fuller's view

3) The title comes from The Telegraph.  Thanks for your informative comments on New Zealand’s governance. 

And in response to the fourth email:

I agree and so does Matthew Lynn, in my opinion, judging from his last sentence in second paragraph of the section I posted on Tuesday.