If you had the opportunity to interview Dr Michael Cullen, what is the one thing you would most like to ask him?
A friend-of-a-friend who works for a local radio station will be interviewing Dr Cullen at the end of the month, but is apparantly at a bit of a loss as to what to ask. It was suggested that I - or rather you people out there reading this - help out. So, any suggestions?
(I'll kick off with a couple of questions from me in the comments...)
10 comments:
OK, there's the obvious questions, such as "why are you running such big surpluses" and "why aren't you cutting taxes", which everyone will want asked, even if the answers are pretty obvious. But what else?
Asking for his take on the argument that tax cuts lead to higher economic growth or on the reasons why wages in New Zealand lag behind Australia might be interesting. But I think a more interesting line of inquiry would be Labour's long-term plans for the economic framework. Assume their wildest dreams come true and they get not just a third term, but a fourth, approaching the duration of the First Labour Government and effectively overthrowing National as the "natural party of government". How would they reshape the economy? Would we see a rollback of the Reserve Bank Act so they could once again pursue full employment, or are they happy with an independent central bank (and the implicit acceptance that at least 3 - 4% of us will be thrown on the scrapheap and sacrificed to the god of low inflation)? Would they shift the tax burden - either to a more progresive system, to a greater emphasis on GST, or to greater use of environmental taxes (like the carbon tax)? Would they try and move towards a universal basic income and a leisure society, or continue down the current path of seeing New Zealand as a work camp, where people have to be forced to slave in jobs they don't want to do in the name of an ever-larger economy?
Cullen is also Attorney-General, so asking him whether he thinks the Supreme Court has been successful so far would be interesting - especially if the Zaoui case is used as an example. Or about Stephen Franks' suggestion that we ought to be able to vote judges out of office - does Cullen think this is a good idea (even for the ones who rule against him?)
Any other suggestions?
Posted by Idiot/Savant : 6/02/2005 04:10:00 PM
"How big would the surplus have to be, and how long would they have to be predicted for, before you would cut tax rates"
Also:
"Why do you not take the advice of the McLeod report that you commissioned, which essentially advocates ACT's tax policy?"
Posted by Anonymous : 6/02/2005 04:24:00 PM
When are you intending to retire and what are your post retirement plans?
Posted by Unknown : 6/02/2005 04:36:00 PM
"Why havent you taken the opportunity in the past Budget, with the size in the surplus, to lower tertiary education fees and bring in a universal student allowance?".
(Yeah, I know I have a bee in my bonnet about this one..)
"With the renationalisation of Air New Zealand and the railway network, do you forsee the government taking ownership of other essential parts of our infrastructure such as telecommunications or electricity generation?"
"If a large multinational corporation came to you and said they want to purchase, say 40% of Solid Energy, with a view to injecting capital, what you your view be on that?"
"How do you see our public health and education systems functioning in 10 years time?"
Just a few questions that I would pose.
Good luck to your friend.
Posted by Anonymous : 6/02/2005 05:06:00 PM
Why does 92% of your massive superannuation fund get invested overseas when you say we are short of capital and have a massive balance of payments deficit?
The Reserve Bank say the NZ dollar is the 11th most traded currency in the world - does that mean our dollar is too high because of speculators? - what do we gain from that? - does it make our dollar unstable? - is that why we have the highest interest rates in the developed world?
What proposals from Treasury have you flatly turned down?
Did Dr Brash's professionalism as Reserve Bank Governor impress you?
If we stopped immigration, or had it at a net zero what would happen to our economy? - would it make housing more affordable?
Would you be comfortable with the home ownership rate falling further?
What other country or jurisdiction do you most admire or see ourselves emulating and why?
Posted by Bomber : 6/03/2005 12:06:00 AM
If a couple's income is considered shared for the purposes of determining each member's eligibility for state benefits, why should it not be shared for the purpose of determining each member's tax burden?
Why are our mortgage interest rates approximately double those of Canada, which also has a strong economy, a budget surplus, and relatively low unemployment?
Posted by dc_red : 6/03/2005 09:30:00 AM
Why are we giving $35 million to the Yacht race and $20 million to the Rugby Union and telling Universities that there will be less money available to them?
Posted by Anonymous : 6/03/2005 01:49:00 PM
Just because the PM won't goto Zimbabwe (neither would I) doesn't mean the govt should stump up my dollars to pay for a private organisation not to go somewhere.
Posted by Anonymous : 6/03/2005 10:06:00 PM
"Why was the decision made to direct so much media attention on the somewhat minimal tax relief in this year's Budget? Why was the multi-billion dollar increase in the Health vote played down?"
Posted by Anonymous : 6/07/2005 01:32:00 PM
"Why was the decision made to direct so much media attention on the somewhat minimal tax relief in this year's Budget? Why was the multi-billion dollar increase in the Health vote played down?"
Posted by Anonymous : 6/07/2005 01:32:00 PM
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