tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post709219216152325148..comments2024-03-28T15:05:33.781+13:00Comments on Economics New Zealand: Looking for ideas?Donal Curtinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687495556590450225noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post-50521940421876965012017-10-22T16:41:48.696+13:002017-10-22T16:41:48.696+13:00Thanks for the comment. Sure, some of these things...Thanks for the comment. Sure, some of these things can be boondoggles, as the Americans call them, and you'd want to keep the process honest. We haven't always been great at following proper cost/benefit analysis and prioritising the biggest payoff projects - a few months back I gave evidence at the East West Link motorway inquiry where I said I couldn't see why lower payoff options were being picked ahead of higher payoff ones - and like a lot of other places we haven't been terrific at controlling infrastructure project costs.<br /><br />That said, I think everyone would agree that NZ currently has a long list of worthwhile but unbuilt infrastructure projects. We've picked off very few - the Waterview tunnel is an all too rare example of a good one (http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/10/waterview-tunnel-slashes-commuting-times.html) - so we're some distance from the 'monuments' phase (though I have my doubts about the plans to shift Auckland port operations north, which look to have some aspects of the monumental to them).Donal Curtinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03687495556590450225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post-20182276790394281362017-10-22T10:31:19.157+13:002017-10-22T10:31:19.157+13:00Like all those shovel ready infrastructure project...Like all those shovel ready infrastructure projects Obama put in place. <br />It can easily spin out into Keynesian pump priming. <br />The South Australian government went into a spate of monument building and thereby wrecked the economy.Ancient Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10636493033052831876noreply@blogger.com