@ my wits’ end

Since I last investigated our dreadful economic performance the plot has thickened. Tbe table below is the most current comparison of GDP per capita for the richest 51 countries in the world. These figures are taken from the CIA’s world factbook. You may not like the CIA, but they do their homework.

Per Capita GDP

Mr Bollard and Mr Key please note:

• Since the 2007 update Australia has moved up 5 places, New Zealand have moved down 5 places.
• Before leaping to the conclusion that the Aussies are just digging dollars out of the ground please bear in mind that minerals (including oil & gas) comprised only 8% of their GDP in 2007.
• If you wish to find New Zealand in a hurry on this chart, we’re at the bottom of the table at #51.
• When I was very young we were #2.

Pray tell me:

• What resources do Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Jersey, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Iceland have that New Zealand can’t match or exceed?
• Why can’t we compete, for instance, with the Danes? Stand on a box and you can see their whole damn country. Like many other economies on this list they have very few natural resources apart from people.
• Greenland! Are they selling ice as well as fish?

We need action. Some hints:

• More Research and development.
• Proactive mentoring for small and medium sized businesses.
• Better Education services.
• More jobs.
• Less Bureaucracy.
• Bring the public sector into the real world.
• In case it’s escaped notice, the much-mailigned employers are the people who create jobs and wealth.