When a $5 fee costs us all $2.65 billion

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey · Feb 7, 2023 · 14m

TLDR: The phrase ‘penny wise and pound foolish’ is one that applies across much of the Government’s approach to spending and investment over the last 30 years. Both National and Labour Governments have kept sinking lids on real spending and investment on the likes of housing, transport, health and education spending since the early 1990s in a reflexive and deep-seated drive to lower taxes and Government debt to at or below 30% of GDP. It seemed like a good idea at the time, especially if you believe previous generations (pre-1984) had ‘over-invested’ in public infrastructure and services and…