The Myth of Free Trade Agreements

-

I have attempted numerous time to comment on Ele Ludemann's Home Paddock blog in response to her post on Free Trade Agreements and promoting the false perception that they are vital to our economy. While I can't imagine that Ele would be deliberately blocking my comments, none of them have been allowed to appear. Here is what I was attempting to say:

Most FTAs favour the larger nations and Australia's FTA with the US has been a disaster for employment and the environment and the balance of trade favors the US by $13 billion. The growth of imports from the US continues to grow far faster than their exports to them.

Our CER deal with Australia has not actually served us that well when Australian supermarkets can block our products and New Zealanders working and paying taxes in Aussie can't access the services that they help fund.

I recently attended a presentation from the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank and when he was asked about the importance of the FTA with China he actually couldn't put a value on it. Apparently there was no evidence to show that the increased demand for our primary commodities wouldn't have occurred without it.

As for the TPPA, all evidence from leaked documents so far show that corporate lobbying and influence provide real threats to Pharmac, patent rights for our IT industry and the potential for our Government to be sued for loss of profits.

Our open borders may make us the 3rd easiest country to do business in but that doesn't mean that is an economic advantage, it actually exposes us to exploitation and is one of the reasons why our Current Account deficit is one of the largest in the OECD. The real fear should not about the loss of FTA's but the real consequences of having them in the first place.

The IMF has indicated that our economy is actually quite fragile and it is interesting that an ex IMF official compares our economy with Ireland's and suggests we are at the point of collapse.

Key is obviously aware of this and Pattrick Smellie suggests that the early election date was really to get it done before the economy dips again and the fragility of the recovery is properly revealed.



Comments

robertguyton said…
Yes, the race is on - National must conceal what's really happening to the economy long enough to drag themselves and their motley partners over the line before the downward trajectory becomes apparent to the ordinary person. They'll do a good job of it too, as they are set up to act that way. Ele's part of the constant misleading of anyone who reads her blog or listens to her on the wireless.
June 13, 2014 at 8:43 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The US is actually unique for not valuing life!

-
Image
"...that’s what sets America apart from every other country; we value life. That is what makes us unique.” - Sarah Sanders There is a high level of delusion operating in the White House. The stream of mistruths that come out of President Trump and Sarah Sanders' mouths are clearly blatant lies but millions of US citizens believe them. With daily diets of Fox News and living in a very insular culture , there is little that challenges these false perceptions of US "greatness".  When comparing the United States of America with most other developed nations it becomes clear that it probably places less value on life than most and doesn't compare well with many developing countries too: If the US really valued life then it would abolish the death penalty, it is the only Western Country that executes people under law ( 23 people were executed in 2018 ).  If the US really valued life then it would have an equitable and universal health care system. The cur...
Read more

NZ Olympic Team Exposes Inequality

-
Image
The inequalities within our New Zealand society has been starkly revealed in our Olympic Team according to sports journalist Dylan Cleaver. The team is largely white, with the rugby sevens sneaking in the few brown faces. This is a damning indictment on the lack of inclusiveness in many of our sporting codes and their spending. When one considers how many of our   internationally successful athletes  are Polynesian then it seems shortsighted to make participation in so many sports dependent on family income. By 2038 the Super Diversity Stocktake has determined that 51% of New Zealanders will be Maori, Pasifika or Asian and those of European descent will be in the minority. Despite this reality the majority of the funds coming from High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) goes to sports that require considerable expense to participate in: rowing, cycling, sailing, equestrian, triathlon. Even sports like athletics and swimming, that don't have such a heavy equipment outl...
Read more

The Destruction of New Zealand's Public Education System

-
Image
In 2008 New Zealand was internationally ranked in the top seven for educational achievement, and when you compared us with other countries that were also culturally diverse and experiencing growing inequality, we were extremely successful. At that time our Early Childhood sector had received a much overdue boost in funding from the Labour Government after being underfunded (as a % of GDP) compared to other OECD nations for years. The sector was working towards a target of having 100% qualified teachers in all centres. We were also in the process of implementing a new National Curriculum and a complementary curriculum for Maori ( Te Marautanga o Aotearoa ). Teachers were excited about putting all their energies into the new ideas and approaches that were espoused in these co-constructed documents that had taken around seven years to review and write. Evidence, research and practitioner input had created something that would allow us to prepare New Zealand children to become ...
Read more