Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 28, No. 3. 1965.
Wages
Wages
Consider for instance, the following figures on wages and salaries, and company profits in New Zealand over the last twelve years.
wages and Salaries | Company profits | |
£ m | ||
1951-52 | 328 | 80 |
1952-53 | 348 | 78 |
1953-54 | 384 | 90 |
1954-55 | 431 | 97 |
1955-56 | 468 | 94 |
1956-57 | 495 | 98 |
1957-58 | 534 | 106 |
1958-59 | 558 | 110 |
1960-61 | 639 | 145 |
1961-62 | 682 | 143 |
1962-63 | 723 | 159 |
1963-64 | 776 | 179 |
Dr. Sutch, New Zealand's most prominent public servant was generally regarded as an inflexible opponent of any relaxation of import controls, and an advocate of "development in depth." During his reign as Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce he managed to persuade Governments of both parties to use import controls as a major weapon to promote industrial development in New Zealand. He was a vigorous and eloquent spokesman for the "mature economy" he wished New Zealand to become. However, most academic economist opposed his policies.
Behind the scenes, debate on the Sutch policy of import controls was bitter. His supporters regarded him as the man who began to push New Zealand into a modern era of industrial development. His opponents charged him with striving to achieve industrialisation at all costs, and doing more damage to the New Zealand economy than Khrushchev's virgin lands policy did to Russia. The anti-Sutch school pointed to the fact that be fore Dr. Sutch became Secretary of Industries and Commerce New Zealand had the third highest standard of living in the world By the end of the Sutch era New Zealand had slipped to sixth or seventh place.