Citizens to be changemakers
2017 offers hope, but not without action.
New Zealand can help all nations respond well to the intense political, economic, social, technological and environmental disruptions roiling the world.
History tells us we’re good at this. We’ve often been at the forefront of change. We have to be because we’re tiny and vulnerable with no place to hide. Yet, small also makes us creative, adaptable and distinctive.
Examples at home include the Treaty of Waitangi, votes for women, universal provision of health, education and other social necessities, and economic reforms.
Examples abroad include our intellectual contributions to the development of the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and its predecessor, and to the Paris climate agreement.
But now we need to step up, here and overseas, with unprecedented confidence and ambition. The pressures are too great to ignore.
If you believe in ‘‘open economies and open societies, where the free exchange of goods, capital, people and ideas is encouraged and where universal freedoms are protected from state abuse by the rule of law, then this has been a year of setbacks,’’ so wrote The Economist in December.
This year will offer no respite, as the World Economic Forum lays out in its annual assessment of global risks. The top three are rising income and wealth disparities, increasing polarisation of societies, and climate change. Its report is available at nz2050.com/ WEFrisks2017
On the first, the Forum’s analysis shows New Zealand has some strengths. We rank ninth in its index of inclusive development, thanks to low unemployment and government debt, and social support policies that are more effective and less distorting compared with those of many other countries.
But our weaknesses include weak productivity, low GDP per capita, low wages, poor educational outcomes for many, high rate of income inequality, and high wealth inequality. As a result, we rank 16th on inclusivity and 18th on intergenerational equity.
The NZ profile is available at nz2050.com/InclusiveIndexNZ and the Forum’s full inclusivity report at nz2050.com/WEFinclusive
Incremental change through the fine-tuning of existing policies won’t address the causes of economic inequality here or anywhere else in the world, the Forum argues.
Likewise, the OECD asserts ‘‘inequality can no longer be treated as an afterthought. We need to focus the debate on how the benefits of growth are distributed.’’
Its extensive work at www.oecd.org/inclusive-growth/ shows that ‘‘there doesn’t have to be a trade-off between growth and equality. On the contrary, the opening up of opportunity can spur stronger economic performance and improve living standards across the board.’’
Our strong economic growth in recent years has helped alleviate some inequality for some people. But the boom has not addressed the
We rank 16th on inclusivity and 18th on intergenerational equity
deep, underlying causes, particularly low productivity and wages, and the property bubble.
Likewise, we’re being far too cavalier about the two other great risks identified by the World Economic Forum - the increasing polarisation of society and climate change.
We’re enjoying the easy, shortterm benefits of booming immigration and lax environmental standards. But we’re failing to ensure all New Zealanders are deeply integrated into society, and make our economy deeply sustainable.
We could be brave and ambitious. We could start to devise distinctively New Zealand ways to achieve a truly sustainable economy, society and ecosystem to the benefit of all. Doing so, we would attract help from, and offer hope to, many people around the world.
There are a few glimmers of hope. The new leader of National, Bill English believes in making social investment work for the most vulnerable of people; Labour’s Grant Robertson is leading analysis on the way technology is radically changing the nature of work and education which will hopefully yield some effective new policies; and the Greens co-leader James Shaw is articulate on the rich rewards of the economy working within the environment, not against it.
What we need, though, is an up swell of citizens clamouring for much more and better change.