Economics 101

Marie from Waikanae

The National party assures us that their proposed tax cuts are funded in a way that is not inflationary. But according to a number of economists, the income streams they are counting on to fund the tax cuts do not exist. National will have to cut core services.
Tax cuts are inherently inflationary. Once the tax cuts are realized, National has no control over how the money is spent. As the money supply increases, that is the amount of money in circulation, inflationary pressures arise. Not only do National not have the money to fund their proposed tax cuts, any gains to the taxpayer will be quickly given back by rising inflation. And cuts to core services may mean that things like access to health care are adversely affected. Whether the tax cuts are funded in a non-inflationary way or not is irrelevant. The real inflationary pressure occurs when the money is spent. National has no control over that.
Poor old Adrienne Orr must be tearing his hair out listening to Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis. For all their right wing think tank expertise, they appear to have a scant understanding of monetary policy. As one former Secretary to the Treasury once commented to me;
"If only politicians understood the basics of Economics 101, we would be a lot better off". These tax cuts would not make the country better off.