The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1972. U.S. and N.Z. prices

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33077, 18 November 1972, Page 14

The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1972. U.S. and N.Z. prices

The range of prices for consumer goods in the United States and New Zealand quoted by the United States charge d’affaires (Mr Ben Wood) in an address in Napier this week deserves to be studied by politicians as well as housewives. The goods compared by Mr Wood ranged from bath towels—s3.9s in New Zealand compared with $1.25 in the United States—to electric food blenders—s43.so in New Zealand compared with S 15.75 in the United States. The seven commodities totalled $204.68 in New Zealand and $86.51 in the United States. "Since the United States per capital “ gross national product is about double New " Zealand’s, their cost to the New Zealander in per “ cent of his income is about four times as high as “ for the American ”,

Mr Wood went on to urge the easing of New Zealand restrictions on imports from the United States; but this is not the only—or, from New Zealand’s point of view, the most important—moral to be drawn from the comparison of prices. That the United States, which has the highest wage structure in the world, can produce everyday commodities so much more cheaply than New Zealand is a commentary on New Zealand’s industrial policies as well as on its trade policies. Over-protection of industries which, because of the limited size of the local market, can never be expected to become competitive, prevents local consumers from enjoying the full advantages of mass production.

An excessive concern for the continuance of overfull employment has blinded the country’s politicians to the price being paid by every household to protect jobs. Not since 1935 have the basic assumptions on which today’s industrial policy has been built been questioned by the Government of the day. Is it too much to expect that the next Government —of whatever political hue—might start its term of office by asking whether the policies appropriate in 1935 have outlived their usefulness?