New Zealand’s Next Liberal Milestone: A Budget Guided by ‘Well-Being’

After decades of discussion in classrooms and conferences, a good idea finally enters mainstream circles. But why did it have to take so long? We need a lot more of this. Which is why having a "non-exciting" Democratic President who will merely focus on restoring civility and reversing Trumpian polices, while necessary, will not be sufficient.

The ‘happiness index’ is simply a method of reducing personal expectations by soothing the population with a mantra of sorts. It has nothing to do with the potential an individual may have to contribute to society. Rather it rewards complacency.

What an excellent idea! But, if I may quibble a bit, It would be better if the actual policies improved the welfare of all of the people, not just the most down-trodden and needy. Government only actually works with the support of the people. (The U.S. is a perfect illustration; the people don't feel represented and the government can't seem to accomplish anything, while the nation slides into irrelevance.) Setting up dichotomies like the haves vs the have nots or native vs invasive just divides the electorate and compromises their support.

if Mexico is peaceful why are millions of migrants who are fleeing violence refusing to stay there?

“Liberals across the globe may have swooned this year when Ms. Ardern moved to ban semiautomatic weapons within days of the Christchurch terrorist attacks, but in reality her government is not a radically progressive one....” That liberals rejoiced so effusively over a relatively modest common-sense measure underscores how deeply regressive the United States is on gun violence and so many other issues.

Let me tell you what well-being is not.... paying 45% income taxes (state and Federal and SSDI) and then paying 8% sales taxes in CA. So.... excuse me if I pass on ever-higher taxes for OTHER people's "well-being." It is MY well-being that counts now.

To those that criticize military spending and support the confiscation of guns from there citizens, I ask.....if China or Russia decide that they would like to own New Zealand and make it a vacation destination, what country would stop them? The Sam question could be asked of Canada.

To those that criticize the amount of money a country spends on military, and those that support the confiscation of its citizens guns I must ask....... if China or Russia decided tomorrow that they wanted to own New Zealand and make it a vacation destination for there wealthy, what country would have to step in to stop that from happening? The same question should be asked of our Canadian friends as well.

It’s worth a shot! Inequality is rapidly dismantling all major democracies.

GO NZ.. We will work hard to follow you.. but let's get rid of this GOP virus out of our blood first.. starting with Trump and then Mitch M.

Prime Minister Ardern and her party are to be commended for their vision and hope for the future of New Zealand. Bhutan merits some mention in this discussion. While not a "major country," the government of this small Himalayan country has made a longstanding commitment to societal well-being -- as a determinant of government policy, a measure of effective governance, and equally (if not more) important than economic growth. We can all learn from the examples of New Zealand and Bhutan.

Whether this works or not is highly debatable. What is less debatable is that the citizenry is not feeling the effects of simple economic growth model. Under President Obama the unemployment rocketed downwards from nearly 10% in 2009 to a tad over 4% when he left office and growth was a healthy 2% per year. Yet despite this good economy a large part of President Trump's vote was as a reaction to Obama. Similarly Britain's economy was doing quite well in 2016 and yet a large number of people still voted for Brexit. Clearly deeper issues need to be addressed than the simple growth numbers indicate. The Adhern budget is not a lolly-scramble and sound financial management will be integral to achieving these aims. But it is also an attempt to provide more holistic solutions to societal issues.

NZ Labour Party and its telegenic leader Jacinda are right and noble to place budget planning emphasis under a rubric of well-being. That said, the marketing has outpaced the realities of structural economic issues and there are already large scale failures in Labours policies here. The effort to build 100,000 affordable houses in ten years ( Kiwibuild) has so far produced only about 80 houses in 8 months. Cost of living in NZ is now outstripping many other developed nations as anyone in Auckland will attest to. A reform of the capital gains tax died on the table and was shelved. Free year 1 university education failed to produce the results expected. Yes, we have a nice PM. But her policy advisors and ministers have far from proven themselves. I have no great expectations of the well-being budget and suspect a large amount of redistribution of wealth in pursuit of votes will triumph as well as some newly packaged rationale for more taxes.

Laws need to be put in place to punish the police who worked the case; prosecutor, judge and perhaps even the jurors who were responsible. With the improvements in forensics that technology provides, more cases will be overturned. I recently read of a situation where the child of someone executed is pushing to reopen the case and have evidence DNA tested. If I were in those shoes and DNA proved a gross miscarriage of justice had occurred I would want ALL those responsible to pay that same price. I’m against capital punishment but if governments are wrongly taking lives, no amount of money can bring back the individual they murdered, which is what happens when governments finally admit they screwed up. And those responsible need to be willing to lay their own lives on the line if they are pushing to take another’s life.

It is a good idea. Though I fear there is only so much 'branding' of the budget that can impact the realities of the outcome. What is she going to do? Cut the cost of living in Auckland? It's appalling. Hang on, can she do that?

Jacinda Ardern has got to be the most forward-thinking, courageous leader in the world. And as she did with gun laws, she will make it happen. Thank you, Ms. Ardern, for giving us hope in a world where there is plenty of room for cynicism.

Not one of the priorities addresses basic functions of government to serve the commons nor to rely upon funding that does not result in fiscal problems. They are all desirable objectives but they need to be sustainable or they will just be temporary actions that serve no lasting value. Ardern was praised for her semi-automatic guns ban and support of censoring content on social media. These are headline getters but neither addresses the problems that motivated the moves. New Zealand was set upon by a foreign terrorist. The gun ban only applies to New Zealanders who are unlikely to ever engage in terrorism. It gets a lot of press because it abridges gun rights which is an ongoing issue, but otherwise it was irrelevant. Similarly, the censoring of social media does not address the source of hatred, bigotry, and or violence, it just drives discussion between the people who are the most serious problems for society to other venues to converse. It appears to solve a problem but only hides it.

Perhaps I'm just dreaming but I could have sworn that the Preamble of our Constitution goes something like this... "... in order to form a more perfect union...(and) promote the general welfare...". Also that there was once a famous man, who said something like "... government of the People, by the People and for the People...". It's only intellectual laziness and gullibility that prevents us from making these things happen. So, three cheers for Ardern! She's a gust of fresh air in a very stuffy world.

I've been watching the new PM with interest. A classic Modern Socialist. It's the paying for it thing that going to be interesting. Many of the so called Socialist paradises that get mentioned, such as Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Canada, etc have huge sovereign wealth funds, SWF, and/or generate large amounts of revenue for government programs from corporate taxation as well as mineral royalties. While NZ does have a SWF it amounts to only $4600/capita. Say they can get 2% return on the $22 billion, that's around $450 million against a Federal budget of almost $80 billion. Once they run out funds from SWF investments the taxes will start going up. We all know what happens in a free country when taxes start going up. And NZ currency doesn't have the gold standard that the USD does so they can't sucker in buyers for their Federal debt like the US can.

New Zealand is simply a "we" society rather than an "I" society. I am lucky to live in one as well, where there are super majorities supporting ideas like the need for a diverse society, dealing with climate change and the mandate for well being for every citizen. Not surprising that OUR ban on needless plastic object, such as plastic bags, goes into effect this summer in Prince Edward Island

It may well be that GNP and traditional measures of economic health are outdated or at least in need of a re-think. And that New Zealand is planning to adopt a budget process emphasizing "well-being" is to be applauded. But what happens in NZ has little import for the rest of the world. NZ has fewer that 5 million people, 60% of New York City's population, and is stuck out in the Pacific all by itself, some 1,500 miles from Australia. No troublesome neighbors (or any neighbors), no onerous defense budget. If any place can spend its money on well-being, it's NZ. But to describe NZ as a "major country" is a joke.

Jacinda Ardern - such a star!

The dog wagging its tail, not the other way around. Finally. In the US, we are all getting whiplash as the tail that is the “Market” wags the people, our country and our democracy. Our people are fed a “campaign” (for decades now) which says that government and our institutions are the problem and the free market and private capital is the solution. But that is wrong. Our government and our institutions are being crippled and driven into the ground by private interests so they cannot govern and function as they should (as effectively as possible for all not only the few, with accountability, and from the various perspectives of the people). Then private interests (with their corporate welfare and tax avoidance cash multipliers) grandstand that they are our saviors. We should be so lucky as to have the kind of leadership in NZ which understands that Markets are beneath and beholden to the Democracies in which they thrive, rather than seeing themselves as having the right to decide which policies are put forward, what laws are passed, and how funds are allocated to the entire population.

The name is nice, but Ardern's 'well-being' budget is not free. The price tag has been announced today, though with much less fanfare, as it means pushing the nation into debt. The NZ government said it would now be allowed to borrow every year additional 5% GDP from future generations. So the vocabulary of 'well being' might be very pleasing to the ear today, but our children will have to pay for our not their pleasure tomorrow. It is as short-sighted and selfish as with climate change deniers who do not make changes today despite the consequences that will come tomorrow.

Well-being (豊かな生活) was the core of the Japanese government's 10-year plan for the 1990s. It came from recognition that Japan's high growth had not benefited people's day to day quality of life.

Jacinda is very enlightened!

Wow. What a beacon of hope in this frightening world is Jacinda Arden and her government. A government pushing policies which would actually help their citizens, what a concept.

There’s more to inspiration than hard numbers. Just that NZ is talking about prioritizing something other than GNP is remarkable; that the proposed alternative has to do with the baseline mental and physical health of its people even more so. Maybe it all isn’t completely worked out, maybe some things are left behind for the moment - but this is an inspiring, positive step for NZ and the world. Take heed.