From The Jolly Contrarian
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| In June 1982, faced with rampant inflation brought about by years of interventionist economic mismanagement — much of it his own — New Zealand Prime Minister [[Robert Muldoon]] bet the farm<ref>Literally: in 1982, New Zealand was basically one big farm, with 70 million sheeple. I mean sheep. In fact, 1982 was peak sheep for New Zealand, with 70.3 million of the buggers. these days, there are 29.5 million, according to [http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/mythbusters/3million-people-60million-sheep.aspx NZ’s official statistics folk].</ref> on the most radical intervention a guy could make short of nationalising the means of production altogether: He ''banned'' inflation. By executive fiat, Muldoon announced a total [[wage and price freeze]]. Henceforth it would be ''illegal'' to increase wages or prices in New Zealand.<ref>Where was the minister of finance in all of this, you might ask? Right there. Muldoon was the Minister of Finance, too.</ref>
| | #redirect[[David Lange: My Life]] |
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| Overnight, he said, inflation would be fixed! Startlingly easy, right? Things stayed this way for two and a half years until Muldoon was, at last, thrown out of office, by which time the economy was so demoralised the incoming Labour government led by [[David Lange]], had no choice but to implement the sweeping reforms the economy needed. there was so little money left that New Zealand’s international diplomatic staff around the world were instructed to max out their credit cards. Lange’s book {{br|David Lange: My Life}} is a ripsnorting read.
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Latest revision as of 15:18, 6 March 2024