Otago University Press, 1997. 343pp.

A detailed look at the New Zealand economy in the twentieth century, and in particular its course since World War II. This is not just a history but a narrative about a problem’, defining, and ‘hopefully contributing to an understanding that will aid to its solutions’.

In Stormy Seas asks pertinent questions about some of our favourite national myths. The intial chapters examine the ongoing debate about the New Zealand economy, looking at such factors as external impact and internal response, the business cycle and growth, and problems of financing investment. Structural transformation, the farm sector, industry and energy, efficiency and flexibility, and ‘the market’ are all explored before the book closes with a discussion of the aftermath of Rogernomics and the decade of greed. (Publisher’s blurb)

CONTENTS

Preface

PART I
Prologue: An Economy Apart?
1. The Course of the New Zealand Economy
New Zealand’s Post-War GrowthPerformance
Unpublished appendix on ‘The Measurement of Output’
T

2. The Economic Debate

PART II
3. Towards a Political Economy of New Zealand
Towards A Political Economy of New Zealand: the Tectonics of History
4. The Economy from the First World War

PART III
5. The External Impact
Exchange Rate
6. The Internal Response
Reserve Bank of New Zealand
How Representative Are Changes in the CPI of Inflation?

7. The Business Cycle and Growth
8. Financing the Economy

PART IV
9. Change and Diversification
10. The Farm Sector
11. Industry and Energy
12. Efficiency and Flexibility
13. To more Market

PART V
14. The Supply-side
Capital and Technological Change

PART VI
15. The Relevance of Rogernomics
16. The Decade of Greed

Epilogue: A Society Asunder

APPENDICES
1. The Social Impact
2. Measuring Problems
3. Performance over Time
4. Note of the Four Approaches
5. GDP and GNP: Nominal and Real

Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Some subsequent writing on the book includes
Open and Closed: Is the US Economy a Good Model for New Zealand? (April 1998)