Auckland University Press, 1997. 288pp.

Well-known economist and commentator Brian Easton describes the origins, theory, history and politics of the dramatic change in economic policy in New Zealand from Robert Muldoon’s interventionism to Roger Douglas’s commercialisation and beyond. It is graphically illustrated with case studies including health, education, broadcasting, environment and heritage, government administration, the labour market, cultural policy and science. Lively broad ranging and controversial, this is a valuable commentary on the ‘more-market’ prevalent in New Zealand from the mid 1980s. (Publisher’s blurb)

CONTENTS

Preface

Prologue: A Coiled Spring

The Ideas
1. The Genesis of the Commercialisation Strategy – From ‘Think Big’ to Privatisation.
2. The Economic Theory of Commercialisation
The Efficacy of Markets
Appendix: Applying More-Market to the Environment
Reforms, Risks, and Rogernomics
3. The Abandoning of Equity
4. Commercialisation versus Culture
Appendix: The Broadcasting Reforms

The Politics
5. The Troika and the Blitzkrieg
6. The Treasury: Philosopher Kings for Commercialisation
Appendix: The Treasury View of the Labour Market
7. The Private Sector
Appendix: The Growing Up of the Unions
8. Was there an Alternative?

Case Studies
9. The Health Reforms
Appendix: The Fallacy of the General Manager
10. Central Governmet
The Public Finance Act
Appendix: The Heritage Assets
11. Local Government
Local Government and Globalisation
12. Core Education
13. The Tertiary Education Reforms
Appendix: A Question of Ownership
The Debt Burden of Student Loans
The Sustainability of Student Loans
Capital Cattle
14. Science Policy
Science and Nationbuilding
Crises in the CRIs

Epilogue: Towards an Alternative
Appendix: Studying Policy

Notes
Bibliography
Index