On Morning Report this morning [audio], NZSE Chief Executive Mark Weldon asked an important question: how do our politicians plan to respond to the global financial crisis?
"...Look if things have changed, if credit is no longer cheaply available, if the dairy sector's at risk and the housing market's falling - what are your policies that actually are going to allow the productive sector to help New Zealand earn its way out of this?It's an important question, and one we should be asking ourselves. US and European banks are still falling over due to the frozen credit market, and there's a possibility that "our" (well, the Australians') banks, who borrow short on international markets to lend long on mortgages, will face similar pressures. What will our politicians do if this happens? What will they do to ensure that otherwise stable New Zealand businesses have access to credit? Above all, what will they do to help kiwi families cope with the inevitable effects of economic recession? They've been completely silent on this issue."...The debate has been appallingly silent actually on what these guys on both sides are going to do to address these changed conditions."
Even if the financial crisis is all just panic (which its not), it will dominate at least the first year of the next government. If its anything like its cracked up to be, it could dominate the entire term. How they plan to cope with it should be the most pressing policy question of the entire election, and its aftereffects may have a significant influence on the next one. So shouldn't they be standing up and telling us, so we can elect the best government for the job?
