GUEST BLOG: Tadhg Stopford – Our Economic Dashboard is Broken—And thus, the Ship of State. Who benefits?

The RBNZ got a kicking today from a neoliberal (act) economist for “engineering three recessions”. But New Zealand’s economic navigation system is malfunctioning. It’s got gremlins, and the liberals put them there. Thats why instruments meant to guide national policy—GDP growth, inflation targeting, employment rates—are either outdated, misleading, or deliberately designed to obscure the truth. This means we are steering blind, allowing the nation to drift into deeper inequality, foreign economic control, and a cost-of-living crisis that worsens with every passing year. That many politicians don’t care has been made clear by nacts determined culling and exclusion of evidence in policy making and assessment so far this term. Who benefits? Not us.

If we don’t fix our economic dashboard, we won’t just keep tanking—we will lose our ability to govern. That would be bad. We would then simply be prey for ‘the market.’ Historically, that’s oligarchy, or feudalism; neither of which are great for people or nations.

Flawed Metrics: The Instruments Leading Us Astray

1. Inflation & Interest Rates: A Blunt, Backward-Looking Tool

The Reserve Bank’s primary tool for managing inflation is interest rates—an outdated, ineffective response to a complex problem. Raising rates does nothing to control corporate price-gouging, supply chain failures, or rent-seeking behavior. Instead, it punishes mortgage holders, crushes businesses, and tightens credit for productive investment.

Problem: Inflation models exclude the very things that matter—housing, food, energy, transport.

Solution: A Real Cost of Living Index that tracks everyday expenses and mortgage stress in real time.

2. GDP Growth: A Deceptive Measure of Prosperity

GDP counts foreign investment, corporate profits, and real estate inflation as “growth” while ignoring wage stagnation, declining homeownership, and infrastructure decay. A rising GDP means nothing if most New Zealanders feel poorer, work longer hours, and struggle to afford basic necessities.

Problem: GDP hides the fact that wealth is being extracted, not created. Duh.

Solution: A National Wealth Index tracking household savings, public assets, and local industry health! Hell, why not?

3. Employment Figures: A Statistical Illusion

New Zealand’s “low unemployment” figures mask the reality of underemployment, multiple-job survival, and jobs that don’t pay enough to live on. The gig economy, short-term contracts, and rising debt reliance are symptoms of a labor market that looks good on paper but fails in reality.

Problem: The unemployment rate ignores whether people are earning enough to survive. Hmm. Should we care if businesses do not, or cannot, provide enough for workers to live on?

Solution: A Real Wages vs. Cost of Living Tracker measuring actual purchasing power. Because, why not?

4. Foreign Direct Investment: The Great Economic Mirage

We are told foreign investment “creates jobs.” But what does it really do? It buys up land, utilities, housing, and businesses—turning New Zealand into a cash machine for overseas investors. Our economy isn’t expanding—it’s being hollowed out and sold off. We all know this. We can feel it. If you’re old enough to have lived through the changes, you should know it.

Problem: Foreign capital is used to extract wealth, not build industries.

Solution: A Foreign Ownership Monitor tracking how much wealth leaves the country each year. Again, duh!

The 1984 ‘Economic Management’ Report: The Blueprint for Our Downfall

In 1984, Treasury’s Economic Management report paved the way for Rogernomics—the rapid neoliberal overhaul of New Zealand. It promised efficiency, growth, and global competitiveness. What it delivered was foreign debt, wealth concentration, and generational poverty. It should be repudiated, and its failures owned by labour. National too. Bolger basically tried, and get knifed for his troubles by

Empirical Failures of the 1984 Model

Economic Growth Stagnation – New Zealand grew just 4.7% between 1985-1992, while the OECD average was 28.2%.

Rising Unemployment – Joblessness soared from 3.6% in 1986 to 11% by 1992.

Housing Crisis Begins – The sell-off of state housing and financial deregulation turned homes into speculative assets.

Wages Flatline, Poverty Rises – Between 1989-1992, poverty rose 35%, and child poverty doubled to 29%.

Verdict? The report did not “save” New Zealand—it restructured the economy to favor banks, asset holders, and foreign investors at the expense of workers and local businesses. We’ve suffered from stagnation and inequality ever since.

Building a New Economic Dashboard: The Instruments We Need

National Prosperity Index → Tracks wages, homeownership, infrastructure, and public wealth—not just GDP.

Real Cost-of-Living Index → Measures rent, mortgage pressure, food, energy, and transport costs.

Public Investment Tracker → Reveals where money is actually going—public infrastructure vs. corporate handouts.

Foreign Wealth Extraction Report → Quantifies how much capital leaves New Zealand in bank profits, dividends, and rent-seeking.

The Bottom Line: Fix the Dashboard, Save the Nation

We are being steered off course by a self serving financial elite thanks to outdated and deceptive economic instruments. Who benefits?

Every time the government insists we must focus on GDP growth, foreign investment, and interest rates, it ignores the real economy—the one New Zealanders live in every day. Who benefits?

*We must redefine success if we are to save ourselves* A thriving nation is not one where GDP is high, but one where its people can afford homes, live without crippling debt, and build wealth locally.

We must control our economy: That means measuring what matters, rejecting failed neoliberal models, and putting economic sovereignty back in public hands.

New Zealand must take back the wheel—before this ship sinks completely.

Tadhg Stopford is a Teacher and Historian.