Richard Meadows
Thursday was ‘‘Buy NZ Made’’ day, so I made a point of wearing my favourite American boots and brewing a pot of Colombian coffee before flipping open my laptop – the components of which were manufactured and designed in at least six countries.
According to a survey by the software company Xero, more than half of New Zealanders would prefer to buy local goods.
We’re even willing to pay a premium of 5 per cent to avoid the stuff made by Johnny Foreigner. Is it worth it?
The most obvious argument for buying locally is patriotism: Make New Zealand Great Again!
After all, we have to look after our own. There’s a huge difference between Kiwis and foreigners: their mothers gave birth to them over there, on the other side of a squiggly line on the map. If they don’t like it, perhaps they should have been born here instead.
Patriotism implies New Zealanders are in some way more deserving than, say, Somalians. How much more? Ten times? Or is that too gauche? If anyone knows the exchange rate between Canadians and Bangladeshis, let me know.
If we accept this argument, we also have to be okay with no-one else buying our products. We can’t have it both ways: it’s only fair that all our trading partners promote their own ‘‘buy local’’ campaigns, and do their best to strangle our lucrative export industry.
That way, the world can segregate into isolated, self-contained nations. We can abandon the magic of comparative advantage, in which both parties to a trade get richer, and start making our own over-priced, inferior TVs and cars again. We’ll be dirt poor. But at least it’ll be NZ Made dirt!
And think of the environmental impact. Much better to buy stuff here, rather than shipping it halfway across the world. Right?
Well, no. If we all bought our produce from the local farmers’ market, the world would be on fire right now. Transport only accounts for
We can’t have it both ways: it’s only fair that all our trading partners promote their own ‘‘buy local’’ campaigns, and do their best to strangle our lucrative export sector.