Was New Zealand's Lockdown Worth It? | IEA Interview
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of New Zealand's lockdown and its broader economic and political context.
In this Institute of Economic Affairs interview, IEA Director General Lord Hannan speaks with Katherine Rich, Chief Executive of BusinessNZ and a former National Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. The conversation covers the difference between being pro-market and merely pro-business, New Zealand’s decades-long shift towards deregulation, the rise of populism across Anglosphere politics, the long-term economic and social effects of Covid lockdowns, and the state of free trade in an increasingly protectionist world. Katherine explains how BusinessNZ, representing around 70,000 businesses, tries to resist the pull towards vested interests and protectionism that so often creeps into business lobbying. She and Lord Hannan compare New Zealand’s proportional voting system, which has produced separate parties for libertarian, conservative and populist voters, with Britain’s first past the post system. They also discuss the lasting damage from lockdowns, including welfare dependency, shoplifting and a coarsening of public life, and Katherine sets out why New Zealand’s export driven economy has had to stay nimble in the face of tariffs and rising protectionism, including a debate…
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