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Article: The incredible shrinking state. (New Zealand)(includes a related article on New Zealand's first general election under a proportional representational system)
- Article from:
- Reason
- Article date:
- May 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Reason Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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How New Zealand got up from down under its bureaucracy.
Life used to be pretty simple for Jim. A middle-aged career bureaucrat in New Zealand's Supply and Information Department, Jim had a job for life if he wanted it. The work wasn't too stressful: Some days Jim spent much of his morning reading the newspaper. But those days are gone, A few years back, SID was transformed into a "state-owned enterprise": It was required to pay taxes and dividends, raise capital, and operate according to commercial principles. They even brought in a brash young business whiz to run the agency. Employees were required to account for what they did all day, and for the first time, Jim ...