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August 16, 2023
Chris Hipkins slaps back at nay-sayer economists
Claudette Hauiti
Posted On August 16, 2023
Download AudioLabour leader Chris Hipkins says economists aren’t the best people to evaluate the party’s policy of taking gst off fruit and vegetables.
Eric Crampton from the right-leaning New Zealand Initiative says it’s betting on voters being too stupid to understand tax policy, while
Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen says it’s the sort of policy that sound good on paper but won’t deliver in reality.
Mr Hipkins says at least 160,000 low income New Zealanders will see a direct benefit from the gst exemption and the increase in the in work tax credit, which is part of the same cost of living package.
“Ultimately economists will always find reasons to not do things. This policy is very clearly targeted at the people who are struggling to pay their grocery bills at the checkout – I’m yet to meet an economist that fits in that category,” he says.
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