Year: 2020

How do you get an economy going again when entire industries are destroyed? How do you encourage private consumption when families are trying to make ends meet? How do you run a government when public finances are in disarray?

Nobody knows what exactly our future will look like. But we do know that an economic framework with secure property rights, sound money, competition, freedom of contract, open markets and a functioning price system will give us the flexibility we need to weather the storms and grow out of this crisis.

No matter how much fiscal support he will receive, it will do nothing to reverse Italy’s productivity trajectory. And for as long as Italy remains part of the Eurozone, none of the above issues can be resolved.

The Covid-19 crisis does not and will not change the principles of economics – but that will not stop politicians from trying. We should not let them.

What happens over the coming weeks and months will determine our political and economic fate for decades to come. Governments can follow Attlee or Erhard. The hopeful victory against coronavirus will be a Pyrrhic one if we allow it to destroy our liberal, free-trading economic order.

In the Western Roman Empire’s case, it was the barbarian soldier Odoacer who finished off the ruins of a once-proud Empire. In the EU’s case, the coronavirus seems on track to achieve the same result.

Who will talk about the future of this country when the crisis is over? Which investigative reporters will uncover political scandals? Which commentators will offer new ideas to enlighten or enrage?

Physically separated but united in spirit, our team has done what we do best. To work towards good policy. We cannot pretend this crisis is an opportunity. But we do believe we can help New Zealand in responding to it.