Letter for publication
Sir
You report (DominionPost of 24 June) that our current account deficit has blown out to its worst level in 19 years, and will depress economic growth. That’s right.
According to the Department of Statistics figures, as a country, we spent over ten billion dollars more than we earned from exports in the year to March.
Your report states that “ current account deficits can be a trigger for a collapse in investor confidence in an economy and its currency.” That’s scary, and it is not new. We have been living beyond our means for many years. The last time we paid our way in the world was in 1973.
How to achieve growth is the silent issue that underpins all the current debate about tax cuts and spending priorities. A much more open and vigourous debate is needed. Personally, I think that voters should support the parties that make consistent and high rates of economic growth the centrepiece of their policies this election.
John Bishop
Highbury
© Copyright; Foundation for Economic Growth and various authors. Individual authors retain their own copyright.
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