The Shock Doctrine Continues to Operate
Full marks to Maori Television (27.5.13) for screening the 2009 documentary “The Shock Doctrine”. (For background see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shoc...)
This documentary portrayed a convincing case of how, in a number of countries, application of the economic theories of Milton Friedman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_F... ) cheated the less well-off of their public assets, their well-being and, sometimes, of their freedom and even their lives. The theories also played a part, through the banking system, in the world’s current economic woes.
In true Friedman style, the National Government in New Zealand is down-sizing the public sector and selling off public assets. The Prime Minister touted the latter as allowing most of the floated shares to be in the hands of New Zealanders through opportunities provided to domestic “mum and dad investors”. But, as commentators have pointed out (e.g. Gordon Campbell in Kapi-Mana News, 28.5.13) that “seems to [have been] a fiction created by the political spin machine”.
The recent sale of shares in a major state asset actually resulted in overseas investors getting to buy a similar amount to the “mum and dad” investors.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Key ) says this about New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key:
“In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis.”
Mr Key is still smiling.
This documentary portrayed a convincing case of how, in a number of countries, application of the economic theories of Milton Friedman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_F... ) cheated the less well-off of their public assets, their well-being and, sometimes, of their freedom and even their lives. The theories also played a part, through the banking system, in the world’s current economic woes.
In true Friedman style, the National Government in New Zealand is down-sizing the public sector and selling off public assets. The Prime Minister touted the latter as allowing most of the floated shares to be in the hands of New Zealanders through opportunities provided to domestic “mum and dad investors”. But, as commentators have pointed out (e.g. Gordon Campbell in Kapi-Mana News, 28.5.13) that “seems to [have been] a fiction created by the political spin machine”.
The recent sale of shares in a major state asset actually resulted in overseas investors getting to buy a similar amount to the “mum and dad” investors.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Key ) says this about New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key:
“In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis.”
Mr Key is still smiling.
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